How to Stop Doomscrolling
For anyone who has picked up their phone for one minute and looked up an hour later, feeling worse than before.
To stop doomscrolling, make it harder to start and easier to stop. Move the apps that pull you in off your home screen, set a time when the phone goes away each night, replace the scroll with a specific activity, and notice the feeling you are trying to escape when you reach for your phone. You do not need to quit your phone. You need to decide when it gets your attention instead of letting it decide for you.
When I was writing my book, I did most of it in the evenings, often at the gym between eight and ten at night. In many ways it would have been easier to relax, watch television, scroll social media or simply call it a day.
Those evening hours are exactly where a lot of lives quietly leak away. Not in big decisions, but in small, ordinary minutes that do not feel important while you are living them.
There were seasons when I would sit at one of my kids’ games physically present but mentally somewhere else, thinking about a problem, an email or the next day’s meeting. If you had asked me where I was, I would have said I was with my family.
The truth is, part of me was still at work. A phone in your hand does the same thing. Being present and being available are not the same.
Research suggests the phone costs more than time. In one widely cited 2017 study, Adrian Ward and colleagues at the University of Texas found that people performed worse on attention-heavy tasks when their phone was simply on the desk, even turned face down, than when it was in another room.
You do not need more time. You need to stop assuming you have it.
Seven ways to stop doomscrolling
Name what you are escaping
Doomscrolling is rarely about the content. It is usually an escape from boredom, stress, loneliness or a task you are avoiding. Next time you reach for the phone, pause and name the feeling. Awareness alone often breaks the autopilot.
Add friction
Move the apps that pull you in off your home screen, log out after each use or delete them from your phone and use them only on a computer. Every extra step gives your decision a chance to catch up with your habit.
Set a phone curfew
Choose a time, such as 9 p.m., when the phone goes to charge in another room. Buy a cheap alarm clock if you need one. Nights are when scrolling hurts the most, because it steals sleep as well as time.
Replace it, do not just remove it
An empty gap pulls you back to the phone. Decide in advance what you will do instead: a book on the nightstand, a walk after dinner, ten minutes on a project you care about. The goal is not less phone. It is more life.
Keep the phone out of sight when it matters
During dinner, games, conversations and focused work, put the phone in another room. Putting the phone down and just listening changes conversations. You can see it when someone realizes you are actually present.
Check your screen time weekly
Most people guess low. Look at your screen time report once a week, and multiply your daily average by 365. That number is not to shame you. It is to show you what is available if you take some of it back.
Use the time you win back on purpose
If you take back even 30 minutes a day, that is more than 180 hours a year. Decide now where those hours go: the book you want to write, the health you want to build, the people you want to be present for.
Being present and
being available
are not the same.
Is it really that bad?
Not every minute on your phone is wasted. Staying connected, learning and unwinding all have value. The problem is the scroll you did not choose, that leaves you feeling worse and that takes time from things you said matter. If it is costing you sleep, focus or presence with people you love, it is worth changing.
See where your week is really going with Where Is My Time Actually Going?, then read How to Stop Wasting Time and How to Make Time for Yourself.
Common questions
What is doomscrolling?
Doomscrolling is scrolling through bad news or endless feeds for long stretches, often without meaning to and usually feeling worse afterward. It tends to happen when you are tired, stressed or avoiding something.
How do I stop doomscrolling at night?
Set a phone curfew, charge your phone outside the bedroom, use a separate alarm clock and keep a book or other activity by your bed. Nights are when scrolling costs you the most, because it takes sleep as well as time.
Why can I not stop scrolling?
Feeds are designed to keep you going, with endless content and unpredictable rewards. Scrolling also numbs uncomfortable feelings like boredom or stress. Adding friction and naming the feeling you are escaping both help.
How much time do people waste on their phones?
It varies widely, but many people spend several hours a day. Check your own screen time report and multiply your daily average by 365 to see what is at stake for you.
Doomscrolling is a habit, not a character flaw. Name what you are escaping, add friction, set a phone curfew and give the time you win back to something that matters.
You Are Capable
of More.
Ten principles for becoming the person you know you are capable of being, built from real stories of people who doubted themselves and did it anyway. Winner of the How-To category at the 2026 Paris Book Festival.
When I’ve got something worth sending.
Just a story or an idea I picked up that I think will help you.
Sometimes that’s twice in a month. Sometimes it’s not for a while.