What doomscrolling is, and why it’s so hard to stop
Doomscrolling means scrolling on and on through bad news or upsetting posts, even though it makes you feel worse. You check one grim headline, then the next, then the next. The word took off in 2020, during the pandemic.
Researchers at the University of Florida describe it as its own kind of behaviour, separate from simply wanting to stay informed: a pull to keep scanning, fed by a newsfeed that never ends.
So why can’t you just stop? Four things team up:
- A cueYou’re bored, waiting, just woke up, or can’t sleep. Your hand finds the phone.
- No endingThe feed has no last page, so nothing tells you “you’re done”.
- Alarm modeBad news sets off your brain’s danger scanner, which says “keep checking”.
- Feeling worseYou put it down tense or flat, which makes the next escape more tempting.
Harvard Health describes this as a kind of hypervigilance: the more you scroll, the more you feel you need to. Studies have linked heavy doomscrolling with lower well-being and more anxiety, though they show a link, not proof that scrolling is the cause.
And a lot of it runs on autopilot. Habit researcher Wendy Wood estimates that around 40% of what we do each day is done out of habit, not decided fresh. The good news is that habits can be rewired.
Doomscrolling is a habit loop with no ending. You beat it by giving the same moment a better thing to do, one that does end.
12 things to do instead (that actually feel good)
Pick one or two. Each one has the thing a feed is missing: an ending.
Learn one small thing on your phone
Why it worksIt fits the same moment and the same thumb as the feed. The difference is that it ends, and you walk away knowing something new. See how ↓
Take a 10-minute walk
Why it worksYou move after sitting, get daylight, and your eyes get a break. Harvard Health suggests nature walks.
Call or message one person
Why it worksA real chat with a friend ends on its own and leaves you feeling closer to someone.
Read a few pages of a paper book
Why it worksChapters end, there are no notifications, and the next page never auto-loads.
Make something with your hands
Why it worksCooking, doodling, knitting or fixing things holds your attention and gives you a result you can see.
Play a game that finishes
Why it worksA crossword, a sudoku or one round of a puzzle has a clear win, then it’s over.
Stretch or move for 5 minutes
Why it worksLong scrolling means long sitting. A few stretches undo some of the stiff neck and shoulders.
Turn worry into one small action
Why it worksIf the news upsets you, donating, volunteering or helping a neighbour does more than reading another headline.
Put on a podcast and tidy one spot
Why it worksYour ears get a story, your hands get a job, and one shelf gets done.
Watch one good explainer, on purpose
Why it worksChoosing a single video is different from letting autoplay choose for you. Stop when it ends.
Write tomorrow’s one-line plan
Why it worksPutting a thought on paper gets it out of your head, so you don’t have to keep checking.
Do nothing for a minute
Why it worksBoredom is allowed. Look out of the window and breathe. Your mind wanders, and that’s fine.
Microlearning: the swap that still uses your phone
Let’s be honest: “put the phone away” is hard when the phone is right there. So keep the phone and change what it opens.
Microlearning just means learning in small bites, a few minutes at a time, with one clear point each. It fits the exact moments you’d usually scroll: on the bus, in a queue, on the sofa.
That’s what we make. Science for Normies lessons explain real, brand-new science for adults with zero background. If you’ve ever wondered whether you can learn science on your own, start here: every new word is explained the first time it appears.
- Free
- About 15 minutes
- No app
- No sign-up
- Works in your phone browser
- Things to drag and tap
- A game at the end
There are three lessons so far, so here’s our honest suggestion: one chapter a day. Each chapter takes a few minutes and ends with a quick check, so you know it stuck.
Want more free places to learn? Khan Academy is a free non-profit with full courses, and your local library card often unlocks free e-books and audiobooks through apps like Libby.
Learning works as a swap because it fills the same moment as scrolling, but it ends, and you get something to keep.
Swap the habit: a 5-step mini-plan
Willpower gets tired. Small changes to your phone and your plan do the heavy lifting for you.
- Write an “if-then” plan
“When I reach for my phone in bed, then I open one lesson chapter.” Across nearly 100 tests, plans phrased like this helped people stick to their goals clearly better than intentions alone.
- Add a little friction
Move feed apps off your home screen into a folder, or log out so getting in takes a few taps. Habit research shows tiny bits of extra effort change what we do on autopilot. Some people also try grayscale mode; in one study it cut screen time by about 20 minutes a day.
- Put the swap where the feed was
Save a lesson to your home screen. On iPhone, tap Share, then “Add to Home Screen”. On Android in Chrome, tap the ⋮ menu, then “Add to home screen”. Now your thumb lands on learning.
- Guard the first and last minutes of the day
Charge the phone away from your bed, as Harvard Health suggests, so the first thing you see isn’t a headline. Turn off news notifications, and set a gentle app timer in Screen Time (iPhone) or Digital Wellbeing (Android).
- Aim for less, not zero
You can stay informed: check the news once, on purpose, then stop. Slipped up? No drama. Next time, try the swap again.
When I reach for my phone in bed, then I will open one lesson chapter.
Say it out loud once, or write it on a sticky note. Being this specific is what makes it work.
If scrolling is really affecting your mood or sleep and these tips don’t help, it’s worth talking to your doctor. That’s a sensible step, not a failure.
Questions people ask about doomscrolling
What can I do instead of doomscrolling?
Pick something that has an ending and leaves you better off: a 10-minute walk, a call with a friend, a few pages of a book, a puzzle, or a short lesson that teaches you one new thing. Choose your swap in advance and keep it within easy reach, so it wins when you grab your phone.
How do I replace doomscrolling with learning?
Keep the same moment and the same phone, but point it somewhere better. Save a short, free lesson to your home screen where the feed app used to be. When the urge to scroll hits, open one chapter, which takes a few minutes, and stop at the end. One chapter a day adds up quickly.
Is there a free app to learn instead of scrolling?
You may not need an app at all. Science for Normies lessons run in your phone’s web browser: free, about 15 minutes each, with no download, no sign-up and no subscription. You can add one to your home screen so it opens like an app. Khan Academy is another free, non-profit option for longer courses.
What is microlearning?
Microlearning means learning in small pieces, a few minutes at a time, each with one clear point. It fits busy days and the spare moments you might otherwise spend scrolling. Good microlearning ends with a quick check or a game, so you can tell you actually learned something instead of just reading past it.
What are fun things to learn as an adult?
Pick things you can spot in everyday life: why the sky is blue, why your proteins’ building blocks are all left-handed, how the night sky moves, the chemistry of cooking, a few words of a new language, drawing, or an instrument. This year’s Nobel Prize discoveries are fun too, because they are brand new and full of surprises.
How do I stop doomscrolling at night?
Charge your phone away from your bed, ideally in another room, and keep a paper book or notebook on the nightstand instead. Set an app timer or bedtime mode that limits feed apps in the evening. If you still reach for the phone, open something calm that has an ending, not a feed.
Why is doomscrolling so hard to stop?
Feeds never end, so there is no natural place to stop. Bad news also nudges the brain’s alarm system to keep scanning for danger, and the more you scroll, the more you feel you need to. Over time, picking up the phone becomes an automatic habit, set off by boredom, waking up or waiting.
Where this comes from
- Harvard Health Publishing: Doomscrolling dangers (what it is, hypervigilance, tips: phone off the nightstand, notifications off, grayscale, positive activities, talk to your doctor)
- University of Florida News: “Doomscrolling” is a unique behavior (2022)
- Sharma, Lee & Johnson (2022), The dark at the end of the tunnel: Doomscrolling on social media newsfeeds, Technology, Mind, and Behavior (American Psychological Association)
- American Psychological Association, Monitor on Psychology: Media overload is hurting our mental health (2022)
- Behavioral Scientist: Good Habits, Bad Habits, a conversation with Wendy Wood (habits, cues and friction)
- Wendy Wood (psychologist), Wikipedia (share of daily actions done out of habit)
- Gollwitzer & Sheeran (2006), Implementation intentions and goal achievement: a meta-analysis, Advances in Experimental Social Psychology
- Grayscale and smartphone use: one-week trial (Dekker & Baumgartner), Mobile Media & Communication (2023)