Doomscrolling

We can go through hundreds of reels or shorts in one sitting without paying attention to what it’s about at all. The next time you scroll, think about whether you found the post enjoyable or not. If not, click “not interested” so that type of video shows up less in your For You page.

You can also stop the algorithm from recommending certain accounts or channels. By doing this, you spend more time thinking about each video and can actually enjoy the ones you watch, instead of wasting hours on boring content.

It is always tempting to pick up your phone when you are focusing or doing something else. Instead of checking your phone every 5 minutes, set a timer of 30 minutes (or longer/shorter depending on what you want to do), then challenge yourself to not touch your phone for that period of time.

You can also download a focus timer/study timer app that gives you virtual rewards after a focus session. I find this helpful as completing a challenge makes me feel very good about myself, and I have more time to finish my tasks!

In your settings, you can set up how much time you want to be using your phone per day. In some phones, you can also specify which types of apps you want to limit, so you can have a limit of 2 hours a day for entertainment and social media, but you can still use apps for homework.

This doesn’t work for everyone — if you can, ask a family member, carer, or friend to set up a password for your screentime settings, so you can’t just go and disable the limits whenever you want to scroll.

The best way to keep yourself off your phone is to keep yourself busy with something else. You can read a book or learn something new, go for a walk or play some sports, hang out with friends or spend time with family — just try to focus on the activity instead of being online.

For me, playing board games in my local group helped a lot with keeping my mind off scrolling. You don’t need your phone when you’re having fun!