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How to stop doomscrolling when you already feel mentally worn out? Start smaller than a dramatic digital detox. A few low-energy, phone-free changes can interrupt the stream of bad news, give your attention somewhere else to land, and bring you back into the day actually happening around you.
Sometimes you really do need to know what is going on.
Then you know.
And somehow you are still scrolling.
One terrible story becomes another. Then another opinion about the story. Then a video explaining why the first story is even worse than you thought. Twenty minutes later, you’re still sitting in exactly the same place except now the entire world appears to be falling apart before dinner.
This is not about pretending difficult things aren’t happening. And it’s not about becoming uninformed.
It is about recognizing the moment when being informed has quietly turned into being saturated.
The phone is addictive – we know it – and we can solve for it.
How do you stop doomscrolling?
You interrupt the loop.
Start here.
1
Decide You Know Enough for Now
There is no finish line on a news feed.
Recognizing this – actually letting that sink in matters. You can read ten articles and there will still be another update, another reaction and another person explaining what might happen next.
Create your own stopping point. Read the story. Check one source you trust if you need clarification. Then say: I know enough about this for now. Not forever. For now.
You can check again later if you feel it’s necessary.
The internet will still be there.
2
Move the Phone Away From Your Hand’s Easy Reach and Out of Sight
You don’t need to throw your phone into a lake. You do need to move it though. Move it six feet. Put it on the kitchen counter. Plug it in across the room. Leave it in your purse.
Our hands become remarkably talented at reopening the exact thing we just decided to stop looking at. What you may feel is a little inconvenience actually helps. Put something else where the phone was.
A magazine. A puzzle book. A deck of cards. The book you’ve been meaning to continue. Your coffee. Anything with an actual ending.
3
Finish One Thing the Internet Cannot Keep Extending
The feed never ends, so YOU have to end it. Do something that ends it.
– Wash a mug
– Water a plant
– Take the trash out
– Organize a messy shelf
– Fold towels and put them away
– Spray and wipe off the kitchen table.
– Put the mail in a pile. Then sort the mail and toss the junk.
– Make toast. Have tuna on the toast. Or grilled cheese.
Nothing impressive has to happen, but you’ve seen pictures with an organized shelf of towels. Go do that. Go Do Something. The point is that you begin something, complete it and get the small satisfaction of done.
Towels are an easy start. Shake, Fold, Care (about how you put them away).
Sometimes your attention needs a finish line.
Give it one.
4
Give Your Senses Something Else to Do
Bad news can make the world on your screen feel like the only world currently happening.
Look somewhere else.
* Step onto the porch.
* Open a window.
* Stand outside for two minutes.
Feel whether the air is warm or cold.
Listen for a bird, wind, somebody mowing a lawn, kids playing outside or the neighbor fixing something up that needs fixing or to be reorganized. Note to self: none of these sounds relate to being consumed by a cell phone.
Look for something moving.
* Clouds.
* Leaves.
* A squirrel doing squirrel business.
You are not trying to achieve inner peace.
You are simply reminding your brain: There is also this.
5
Give Your Hands Something Else to Do
Scrolling occupies your hands as much as it occupies your attention.
So give your hands another job.
– Stretch
– Shuffle a deck of cards. Get good at shuffling.
– Peel an apple. Eat it. Cook it.
– Doodle on a piece of paper
– Color
– Organize your pens
– Decorate bookmarkers to use to give away
– Make Shrinky Dinks to give away for the next holiday
– Brush the dog
– Knit a few rows
– Sort the loose change in the bowl
– Clean out your backseat
– Repot a plant
– Cut up vegetables for later
– Work on the puzzle you left out
Even not productive is still Way more productive for your brain and mental health than the phone. None of it has to become a project. It can just be an ongoing something to do.
You’re replacing the automatic motion of scroll, scroll, scroll with something physical happening in the room you are actually sitting in.
And taking back 10 more minutes of your life.
6
Change the Input Instead of Demanding Silence
Sometimes putting the phone away leaves a blank space for your other senses too.
Sometimes we want to fill that space. Sometimes we don’t know.
Years of long drives for work made me sick of the same songs playing or advertisements rolling and repeating. I turned the sound off and unintended, unexpected magic happened. I pay attention to the road, and see crazy drivers and unexpected hazards coming. Seeing birds and noticing the weather led to letting go of opinions of other drivers. For my own sanity, I now recognize crazy – or whatever – and let it go on its way.
Instead, I’m noticing truly amazing pops of color along the road and how one week changes from the next. How one town only a few miles away seems to be in the next season already. Silence lowered my stress and kept my hands on the wheel. It’s not for everybody though.
Sometimes literal silence stops the noise. Sometimes it creates other noise.
You aren’t me. You don’t have to fill your space with silence. Use your speakers or put on a record or listen to book being read to you. Let an old familiar show play in the background. Listen to a documentary or literally anything that has absolutely nothing to do with today’s headlines.
Your brain loves stimulation. Give it some.
Just choose what gets in.
7
Turn One Piece of Helplessness Into Something Useful
Sometimes we keep scrolling because we are trying to find the moment where the terrible thing finally feels understandable or solvable.
It may not ever be solvable and you know the whole point of a never ending feed is to keep you there.
You know people and organizations make money off your continuing to click.
Ask yourself a smaller question:
What can I do that is actually useful today? Make your own list and tackle even just one item.
You know there’s much more to life than this and it’s SO good for you. Cook with a partner. Pick out fresh real food. Share with them, a neighbor or coworker. Go to a plant exchange or ask someone with a long vine for a piece to root. Take the walk. Pick up the hand weights instead and do three sets of ten.
10 is the key. Whatever it is, for 10 minutes or more, go do it. You’re allowed to step away.
On a day when you already have very little energy to spare, the way out doesn’t have to be dramatic. Get rid of the distraction and put your phone away. Interrupt the cycle,
Look at what is happening right in front of you. For a little while, know how great it is to participate in the world instead of only reading about it. The sun rises and sets every day and it’s equally amazing every day. Make sure you see it.
🌿 More soon from the porch.
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