Guide

How to stop doomscrolling

Doomscrolling isn't a lack of willpower. Infinite feeds have no natural stopping point, so you need to add one. These steps add friction where the scroll starts and give you a clear point to stop.

1. Notice where it starts

For a day, note what you opened and when: the first tab in the morning, the reflex when a task gets hard, the last thing at night. Most doomscrolling starts at the same few moments.

2. Remove the shortcuts

Log out, delete the bookmarks, and take the apps off your home screen. Every extra step between you and the feed is a chance to change your mind.

3. Replace the reflex

When you reach for the feed because a task got hard, have something small ready instead: a glass of water, a two-minute walk, one line of the task.

4. Keep the bedroom feed-free

Charge your phone outside the bedroom. Late-night scrolling costs sleep, and a tired tomorrow makes scrolling more likely again.

5. Give the scroll an ending

Feeds don't end, so the stop has to come from you. A timer works if you obey it. A blocker that closes the site when your time is up works even when you don't.

6. Allow some, on purpose

Cutting social media to zero tends to fail. Ten deliberate minutes beat an hour of accidental ones.

7. Earn your scrolling time

That's the idea behind Onus. It seals Reddit, X, Instagram or TikTok, and every 25 minutes on your work sites buys 10 minutes back. You see the minutes you've earned before you spend them, and when they run out, the site seals again. Onus works in Chrome and Edge, seals apps on Windows, and seals apps like Instagram and TikTok on Android.

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