How to Stop Doomscrolling: The Complete Guide
By John, ScreenBuddy Founder
I used to spend almost 7 hours a day on my phone. For years, I couldn't figure out how to stop. Learning how to stop doomscrolling meant trying everything. Screen Time limits. Deleting apps. At least 3 different app blockers. Nothing stuck.
Finally, I developed ScreenBuddy based on two key principles. Friction and Limits. ScreenBuddy locks your selected apps by default and prompts a 25 second countdown before they unlock. Daily limits allow you access in moderation while complete blocking leads to bypassing. Today my screen time is below THREE hours a day. Less than half of what it once was.
This guide covers everything I learned: why doomscrolling is so hard to stop, the methods that actually work, and how to build a system that sticks.
KEY TAKEAWAYS: How to Stop Doomscrolling
Identify your triggers: Track when you scroll for a few days. Most people have 2-3 specific situations (boredom, stress, bedtime) that account for most of their scrolling.
Change your environment: Phone in another room, apps off the home screen, notifications disabled. These reduce triggers without requiring willpower.
Replace the habit: Scrolling fills a need. If you remove it without a replacement, you'll go back. Have alternatives ready for your trigger moments.
Use built-in phone tools: Screen Time App Limits and Downtime help, but the "Ignore Limit" button makes them easy to bypass.
Add friction with app blockers: Apps like ScreenBuddy, One Sec, and Opal add a pause before social media opens, breaking the autopilot behavior. This is what finally worked for me.
Create accountability: Tell someone your goal. External accountability is stronger than internal willpower.
Address the underlying need: Doomscrolling often masks boredom, loneliness, or anxiety. Tools help, but lasting change means addressing the root cause.
What Is Doomscrolling?
Doomscrolling is compulsively scrolling through negative or endless content, usually on social media or news apps. The term emerged during the 2020 pandemic when people found themselves glued to their phones, consuming hours of anxiety-inducing news without being able to stop.
What makes doomscrolling different from regular phone use is the compulsive quality. You don't decide to scroll for an hour. You pick up your phone for "just a second" and surface 45 minutes later feeling worse than when you started. You know you should stop, but you keep swiping anyway.
If this sounds familiar, you're not alone. And it's not a character flaw. The apps are designed this way.
Why You Can't Stop Scrolling
The Dopamine Loop
Social media apps use variable reward systems, the same psychology that makes slot machines addictive. Every swipe might reveal something interesting, funny, or outrageous. Your brain releases dopamine in anticipation of that reward, which keeps you scrolling even when most of the content is forgettable.
The unpredictability is the key. If every post were boring, you'd stop. If every post were amazing, you'd feel satisfied and put the phone down. But the random mix of mundane and exciting content keeps your brain hunting for the next hit.
This isn't a willpower problem. You're fighting against design patterns that billions of dollars and thousands of engineers have spent years perfecting. For a deeper look at what's happening in your brain, see why you can't stop scrolling: the brain science explained.
The Triggers
Doomscrolling usually starts with a trigger, a situation or feeling that makes you reach for your phone without thinking:
Boredom. You have nothing to do, so you scroll. The phone becomes the default activity for any empty moment.
Stress or anxiety. Scrolling numbs uncomfortable feelings. It's not a solution, but it's an escape.
Habit. You scroll in certain contexts (bed, couch, waiting rooms) because that's what you've always done there. The behavior is automatic.
FOMO. You're afraid of missing something important, so you keep checking.
Avoidance. You don't want to do something else (work, chores, difficult conversations), so you scroll instead.
Understanding your triggers is the foundation. The methods below work better when you know what you're working with.
Method 1: Identify Your Triggers
Before changing anything, spend a few days noticing when you reach for your phone. You don't need a formal tracking system. Just pay attention.
Ask yourself:
Where am I when I start scrolling? (Bed? Couch? Desk?)
What time of day is it?
What was I feeling right before I picked up my phone?
What was I avoiding?
Most people find that 2-3 specific situations account for the majority of their scrolling. Maybe it's first thing in the morning before getting out of bed. Maybe it's during work when you're avoiding a difficult task. Maybe it's at night when you're too tired to do anything else.
Once you know your triggers, you can target them specifically instead of trying to overhaul your entire relationship with your phone at once.
Method 2: Change Your Environment
The easiest interventions don't require willpower. They change your environment so the default behavior shifts.
Phone in another room during focus time. If you're trying to work, the phone shouldn't be within arm's reach. Even having it visible on your desk increases the temptation to check it.
Charge your phone outside the bedroom. This eliminates morning and nighttime scrolling in one move. Buy a cheap alarm clock if you use your phone as an alarm.
Remove apps from your home screen. Don't delete them, just move them to a folder on the second or third page. The extra tap or two is often enough to interrupt the automatic behavior.
Turn off notifications. Every buzz is a trigger. Go to Settings > Notifications and disable alerts for social media, news, and anything else that pulls you back into the scroll.
Try grayscale mode. Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size > Color Filters > Grayscale. The lack of color makes apps less visually appealing. Some people schedule this to turn on automatically in the evening.
These changes help, but they're often not enough on their own. If you're determined to scroll, you'll find a way. Think of environmental changes as reducing the number of times you have to resist, not eliminating the need for other strategies.
Method 3: Replace the Habit
Removing a habit without replacing it usually fails. Scrolling fills a need, even if it fills it poorly. If you create a void, you'll fill it with something, and that something is often more scrolling.
The key is having a replacement ready for your specific triggers:
If you scroll when you're bored: Keep a book next to the couch. Have a puzzle or sketchbook accessible. The replacement needs to be as easy to reach as your phone.
If you scroll when you're stressed: Try a breathing exercise, a short walk, or putting on music. These actually help with stress, unlike scrolling which just numbs it temporarily.
If you scroll while waiting: Download a podcast or audiobook. You're still using your phone, but you're consuming something you chose intentionally rather than whatever the algorithm serves you.
If you scroll to avoid tasks: Try the "just five minutes" approach on the task you're avoiding. Often, starting is the hardest part. Once you're in it, you'll keep going.
The replacement doesn't need to be productive. It just needs to be something you chose rather than something you fell into.
Method 4: Use Built-In Phone Tools
Apple's Screen Time offers several features that can help with doomscrolling. They're free and already on your phone, so they're worth trying even though they have limitations.
Screen Time App Limits
Go to Settings > Screen Time > App Limits > Add Limit. Select the social media category or specific apps, and set a daily time limit.
When you hit the limit, the app grays out and shows a "Time Limit" screen. This creates a moment of awareness that can be enough to stop some people.
The problem: the "Ignore Limit" button is right there. One tap gives you 15 more minutes or unlimited access for the day. If you set your own passcode, you already know it. Screen Time works better as an awareness tool than an actual block.
Downtime Scheduling
Downtime blocks all apps except ones you specifically allow during scheduled hours. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Downtime to set it up.
This is useful for high-risk times like bedtime or first thing in the morning. You can schedule Downtime to start at 10pm and end at 8am, for example, making it harder to scroll when you should be sleeping.
The same bypass problem applies. You can override Downtime with a tap.
Focus Mode
Create a custom Focus Mode (Settings > Focus > + button) that hides social media apps from your home screen and silences their notifications. You can schedule it automatically or activate it manually when you need to concentrate.
Focus Mode is gentler than blocking. The apps are still accessible if you search for them, but they're not staring at you from your home screen.
For a complete guide to these features, see our guide to blocking apps on iPhone.
The limitation of built-in tools: They're designed to be easy to bypass. Apple built Screen Time for parents managing kids' devices, not adults managing themselves. If you need something stronger, third-party app blockers offer more resistance.
Method 5: Add Friction with App Blockers
This is what finally worked for me.
The problem with hard blocking (completely locking yourself out of apps) is that it feels like punishment. Most people disable the blocker within a week because the restriction is too aggressive. You need Instagram for something legitimate, you can't access it, and you delete the blocker in frustration.
Friction-based blocking takes a different approach. Instead of locking you out completely, it adds a pause before apps open. You can still access Instagram when you actually want to. You just can't access it mindlessly.
How Friction-Based Blocking Works
When you tap a protected app, you don't go straight in. Instead, you see a countdown, a breathing exercise, or some other intentional pause. This interrupts the automatic reach-tap-scroll sequence that characterizes doomscrolling.
The pause gives your brain a moment to catch up with your hands. It's long enough to break the autopilot, but not so annoying that you'll rage-quit and delete the blocker.
For most people, this small amount of friction is enough. You realize you don't actually want to scroll, you were just doing it out of habit. You put the phone down and do something else.
ScreenBuddy's Approach
I built ScreenBuddy after years of failed attempts with other solutions. It's based on two principles: Friction and Limits.
Friction: Your selected apps are locked by default. When you tap one, you get a 25-second countdown with haptic feedback before it unlocks. That pause is long enough to break the autopilot but not so annoying that you'll delete the app in frustration.
Limits: You set a custom daily budget for accessing your restricted apps. Maybe 45 minutes works for you. Maybe you need an hour, or only want 20 minutes. Everyone's situation is different. The key is that complete blocking leads to bypassing. When you know you can't access something at all, you find workarounds or rage-quit the blocker entirely. A daily budget lets you use your apps in moderation while still cutting way back on mindless scrolling.
This combination worked where Screen Time and other blockers failed. I wasn't fighting the system or looking for workarounds. The friction caught me in the moment, and the limits kept me from overdoing it without feeling deprived.
Other Friction-Based Options
One Sec uses a breathing exercise instead of a countdown. When you tap a protected app, you see a breathing animation and a prompt asking if you still want to proceed. Research with the Max Planck Institute found it reduces social media use by 57% on average. Free for one app, around $20/year for unlimited.
Opal offers both friction and hard blocking. Its Deep Focus mode is genuinely hard to bypass, and the interface is polished with gamification features like focus scores and streaks. Around $100/year for full features.
Freedom blocks apps and websites across all your devices (phone, tablet, computer). If you tend to switch devices when one is blocked, Freedom closes that loophole. Around $40/year.
For a detailed comparison, see our guide to apps to stop doomscrolling.
Method 6: Create Accountability
External accountability is stronger than internal willpower for most people. When you tell someone your goal, you add social pressure that makes it harder to give up quietly.
Tell one person your goal. It doesn't need to be a formal announcement. Just mention to a friend, partner, or family member that you're trying to reduce your scrolling. Knowing someone might ask how it's going creates gentle accountability.
Share your Screen Time report. Some people text their weekly Screen Time summary to a friend who's working on the same goal. Knowing someone will see your numbers changes your behavior.
Use apps with accountability features. Some blockers let you add an accountability partner who gets notified if you try to bypass your blocks.
Try the phone stack at meals. Everyone puts their phones in a stack at the center of the table. First person to grab theirs pays for dinner (or does the dishes, or whatever penalty you agree on).
Make a public commitment. Post your goal on social media. The irony of using social media to reduce social media use isn't lost on me, but it works for some people.
You don't need to do all of these. Pick one that fits your personality. The point is to add external motivation when internal motivation isn't enough.
Method 7: Address the Underlying Need
Doomscrolling often fills a void. If you don't address what's underneath, you'll keep coming back to the scroll or find another unhealthy substitute.
Common underlying needs that scrolling masks:
Boredom. You don't have enough engaging activities in your life, so the phone fills every gap. The fix isn't just blocking apps, it's building a life with more things you actually want to do.
Loneliness. Social media creates the illusion of connection without the substance. If you're scrolling because you're lonely, the real solution is investing in actual relationships.
Anxiety. Scrolling numbs anxious feelings temporarily, but it doesn't resolve them. If anxiety is driving your phone use, addressing the anxiety directly (through therapy, exercise, meditation, or whatever works for you) will make it easier to put the phone down.
Avoidance. If you're scrolling to avoid something, whether it's a difficult task, a hard conversation, or an uncomfortable emotion, the scrolling is a symptom, not the problem.
This is the hardest method because it requires self-reflection and sometimes professional help. I'm not saying you need therapy to stop doomscrolling. But if your scrolling is masking something deeper, no app or technique will fix it permanently until you address the root cause.
Research shows that excessive screen time is linked to increased anxiety, depression, and sleep problems. If you're experiencing these, it's worth talking to someone about what's going on beneath the surface.
What Actually Works: A Realistic Approach
You don't need to implement all seven methods at once. Most people do best with a combination of 2-3 approaches that fit their situation.
Here's where I'd start:
Step 1: Identify your top 2-3 triggers. Spend a few days noticing when you scroll. Write them down.
Step 2: Make one environmental change. Pick the easiest one that targets your biggest trigger. If nighttime scrolling is the problem, charge your phone outside the bedroom. If you scroll during work, put your phone in a drawer.
Step 3: Add friction to your worst apps. Download ScreenBuddy, One Sec, or another friction-based blocker. Set it up for the 2-3 apps where you lose the most time.
Step 4: Tell one person your goal. Create some external accountability so you're not doing this alone.
That's it. Four concrete steps. If these work, great. If you need more, add another method from this guide. Build gradually rather than trying to overhaul everything at once.
Progress matters more than perfection. I didn't go from 7 hours to 3 hours overnight. It took seven weeks. Some days I still scroll more than I'd like. But the overall trajectory is what matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is doomscrolling so addictive?
Social media apps use variable reward systems, the same psychology behind slot machines. Every swipe might reveal something interesting, so your brain keeps you scrolling in anticipation. Add in social validation (likes, comments), FOMO, and infinite content with no natural stopping point, and you have a system designed to be as engaging as possible. You're not weak for finding it hard to stop. The apps are engineered this way.If you're wondering whether your phone use has crossed from habit into something more concerning, there are specific signs of phone addiction to look for, including phantom vibrations (feeling your phone buzz when it didn't) and anxiety when your battery runs low.
Is doomscrolling bad for you?
Yes. Research links excessive social media use to increased anxiety, depression, and poor sleep quality. The constant stream of negative content keeps your brain in a low-grade stress state, and the blue light from screens disrupts your circadian rhythm. Beyond the mental health effects, doomscrolling steals time from activities that actually make you feel better, like exercise, socializing, and sleep.
How long does it take to break the doomscrolling habit?
It varies, but most people see noticeable improvement within 2-4 weeks of consistent effort. My own journey from 7 hours to 3 hours took about seven weeks. The first week is usually the hardest because the habit is so automatic. After that, the new patterns start to feel more natural. Don't expect perfection. The goal is progress, not complete elimination.
What's the best app to stop doomscrolling?
It depends on what you need. For friction-based blocking that breaks the autopilot without feeling too restrictive, I recommend ScreenBuddy (which I built) or One Sec. For strict accountability with hard blocking, Opal or Freedom with Locked Mode are strong options. For a gentler, gamified approach, Forest rewards you for staying off your phone. See our full comparison of apps to stop doomscrolling.
Can I stop doomscrolling without deleting social media?
Yes. Friction-based approaches let you keep your apps while reducing mindless use. The goal isn't to eliminate social media entirely, it's to use it intentionally. When you add a pause before apps open, you break the automatic behavior that leads to hour-long scroll sessions. You can still check Instagram when you actually want to. You just stop checking it 50 times a day out of habit.
Bottom Line
Doomscrolling is hard to stop because it's designed to be. The apps exploit your brain's reward system, and willpower alone usually isn't enough to overcome billions of dollars of engagement engineering.
The solution isn't to try harder. It's to change the system: your environment, your triggers, and the friction between you and your apps.
I went from nearly 7 hours of daily screen time to 3 hours by adding friction instead of fighting my phone. That 55% reduction didn't require superhuman discipline. It required understanding why I was scrolling and putting small obstacles in the way.
You can do this. Start with one method. Build from there. Even small improvements compound over time.
If you want to try the friction-based approach that worked for me, ScreenBuddy is free to download on the App Store.
