How to stop your doomscrolling for good

Take your precious life back

Doomscrolling is a modern cancer. You want to scroll for 1 minute. And soon it turned into 8 hours.

Where did your life go to? How could we turn 1/3 of our life into mindless, numbing scrolling?

And if you do the maths, if you scroll for 2 hours only which we rarely do. The latest study showed that the average user used their phone 4 hours 37 mins per day.

We are flushing down 1/5 of our life down the drain.

We feel anxious, thirsty like drinking seawater after each scroll. We are tired and have no more motivation to enjoy work or life.

If you are experiencing this, here is the playbook for you to stop scrolling for good.

a photo of fish and human hand to get your attention

1. You must sit with your ugly emotion

We live in a society that optimizes for you to feel good. Sugar, video games, social media. We pick up the phone right when we feel bored or anxious. But this is not the right solution. Because scrolling is drinking salty water when you are thirsty.

The crash is even harder after you finish scrolling.

Here is what you should do instead:

Name your emotion and comfort yourself. I am feeling anxious right now, but everything will be okay. Even when you do not believe that yourself yet, your repeated positive affirmation will make you feel better.

The key is repetition and patience.

Talk to yourself like a loving parent would. Talk to yourself lovingly like a child.

You will be amazed at how good this feels after several practice.

2. Boredom is your best friend

Boredom is a super power

Boredom is a privilege if you think about it. This means you have food, you have a place to sleep and no longer feel in danger.

Lately, I recognize that boredom is also a super power. When I am bored, I realize that I have the best ideas and the most drive to do good work.

And if you want to make millions, your ability to tolerate boredom to do what it takes is important.

It is the filter that separate you and everybody else.

If we all build wealth from ecstasy, joy like playing video games. The majority of the world population would be millionaires. And you know it is not true.

So take a walk today, embrace the silence and the boredom. Watch your super power grow.

3. and Tech companies is not your friend

Do you know that Youtube pushes more videos that make you anxious near your bed time?

The slippery slope that they design can make you scroll until 3 am or later.

Are you feeling tired like a zombie most of the time?

Work no longer feels like joy, and life feels like a burden?

It is not your fault, we are talking about trillion dollar companies and thousands of the world’s brightest minds working against you.

Do not bet against the house. Social media and news site are designed like giant casinos with similar design principles.

They will wipe you clean.

Once, you understand this power imbalance.

You will know what do do.

4. Design a system that work for you

   

The good news is that there is a dead simple system that you can employ to beat this giant force of social media apps and news who come your way.

No more brain rots. Life feels extremely pleasant. You will feel joy that bloom like a warm, sunny afternoon.

Here is the few simple steps of this system:

Step 1: Get enough sleep. This sounds like a no brainer but if you have bed time procrastination like me. Here is the trick that works every time. Once you catch yourself dreading sleep. Immediately replace it with an image of a soft bed and a relaxing place. Find that relaxation place that works for you. The key is to this habit is to visualize a place that means relaxation for you. And only you. Do not trust the generic advice of using a beach. Find your place of peace.

Step 2: Talk to yourself lovingly like a lover or a kind parent would. Every time you shut down a distracting tab and work on your future. Give yourself a silent applause. Hype yourself up. Good job! + Your name. We want to build a habit of positive reinforcements.

Step 3: Do not use social media time as reward for hard work. I used to reward myself with unlimited scrolling after deep, painful work sessions. Hours would go by and I feel a heavy load of self-loathing afterwards. Cal Newport offers this wonderful mental trick. You should daydream about the outcome of your work between breaks. And I now have delicious visuals of me making trips to South Korea, Japan and Italy as a break. This type of breaks give me more strength. Finish the work better. My productivity has gone through the roof with this one.

Step 4: Name your urge and repeat it. It is funny how every time I name my urge to pick up the phone and that urge will go away instantly

Step 5: Leave your phone at a fixed place away from your sleep and your working table. Do not use that the first thing in the morning or before bed time. The second one is usually hard. This is when you must use your loving voice. Talk to yourself like a kind lover would. Try it, it is a miracle drug for me.

Step 6: Normalize your failure. Do not punish yourself for scrolling. You will relapse. It is the part of the process. Shame only makes your scrolling worse.

Remember you are fighting against the world’s brightest minds. Gently remove yourself from the digital devices, rest and restart again.

You can do it.

I am rooting for you.