I mean just stop doomscrolling and set your phone to black and white only. That could help

I wrote a blog post about how setting up app usage limits helps me everyday to limit my time looking at a screen and social media: https://arimamary.neocities.org/04%20blog/posts/2026-03-19-my-mobile-app-usage-limits.

I also wrote another post about using a RSS feed reader to pull feeds from folks I'm interested in keeping up with without having to check social media everyday: https://arimamary.neocities.org/04%20blog/posts/2026-03-21-rss-feeds-and-where-to-find-them (need to change the title). Hope these help!

starting hobbies really helped me stay away from social media. whenever i catch myself doomscrolling, i just stop and go do one of my hobbies.

I've got timers on my social media apps

just blocking social media on your phone and only scrolling on desktop will reduce the urge to scroll so much it’s crazy

I always try to think of WHY im going to a certain site, or why im using my phone/computer in the first place. if its to get inspiration/references for a creative project for example, then I remind myself that its a good use of my time. but if I can't think of a reason and im just doing those things for the sake of it, I remind myself that ill regret wasting that time later

not that every single second has to be super productive all the time, but I at least want to generally be doing things I enjoy, instead of things that just make me stop thinking for a while

I usually set myself a timer on my phone on certain apps, especially Tiktok. Though yeah finding other things to do or maybe take up some hobbies? Plus stepping away to be productive & doing chores is a thing I also do!

deleting apps for shortform content (insta) from my phone and slowly weaned off of them from using only the web version then entirely droppping it worked great 4 me

honestly? get a friend/family member/trusted individual to hold you accountable. have someone to go to when you feel you're doomscrolling who can get you off. that worked wonders for me, moreso than any quick trick.

don't know if you have any time to read a whole book, but I really recommend "digital minimalism" by Cal Newport! it dives really deep into this particular subject, if you're interested

If you use your phone, start with that since you take it everywhere. Every morning I went outside to get some air and left my phone behind for as long as I could. You'll get urges and it's okay if you do. But if you keep doing that eventually you'll be leaving your phone out to die lol. A schedule helps. I did this every weekend morning.

From there, I deleted my social media accounts.

I set my phone to do not disturb after a certain time of day. I set it so I can get texts from certain people but otherwise, it turns off all notifications from social media. I discovered when I'm not getting notifs from those apps, I check them less. Almost never!

I try to stick with the website versions of social media platforms. even on mobile, so I can customize and remove anything addictioning with extensions. I've done this a lot back then, like for instance, Instagram: https://userstyles.world/style/15307/less-distracting-instagram-mobile

nowadays I just kinda stick with platforms that don't have an endless feed, or are mediocre at recommendations. like bluesky... at some point, the chronological feed is gonna dry up, and you literally cannot consume more

Using the website instead of the app of a social media platform really helps with reducing your usage of that site, I mean it sort of worked for me when I was trying to get over my Xitter (Twitter) addiction

I know this is ultimately why I create playlists the way I do, mostly to advance the way I'm consuming the media in the first place but I believe throwing somebodies mix on is way better than scrolling, even though a playlist is similar to scrolling in a way- I need outside perspectives on that

i would suggest self-studying. you pick a subject, write down a "course syllabus" and make it as engaging as you can. bonus point if you can include something on the internet that just takes you someplace else, like a site dedicated to documentaries instead of an app!

I started with website only versions, used a timer for a while, and also intermittently deleted things from my phone. what really works for me is taking an entire 3 and 1/2 months off every year. The rest of the year, I use it but so sparingly. it's much easier to control because I can actually see the long-term effects of not using it over that 1 season I don't do it.

It also helps to make a little list of things that you can do, or a bingo card for yourself. stuff that I can do on my phone that's not social media, or stuff that I can do instead of social media. The withdrawal is for real difficult to deal with at first so it really helps to have a suggestions list handy with a bunch of different stuff that requires different levels of energy

another thing i do that i would like to suggest is playing on consoles, whether it's playstation, the switch or even nds, wii, gameboy etc...find a game that you really like and you'll spend the time you'd have dedicated to social medias much differently

I download youtube videos and send them to my phone where I watch them on VLC or whatever. I used Android Debug Utility to delete Youtube, browsers, and play store from my phone (careful, I accidentally deleted Maps, which I need, in the process and I had to side-load in back in)

Oops lol what I called Android Debug Utility in my previous comment is actually called Universal Android Debloater. I use youtube-dl to download videos

though honestly finding neocities has been way more effective as a distraction from social media than trying to do offline stuff. I think my brain is too cooked to not be on a computer so something like this that is creative and mildly social is ideal for me. sorry for spamming comments!!

i like to edit my computers' host file to block certain domains :3

i accidentally broke it a while back but my screenzen streak is at like 200 days.. it's changed everything for me and it's completely free. I barely even open anything anymore. when I do, everything is like wayyy funnier because the algos shove the best in my face and I get to ignore all the slop.

buy a shovel. now when you find yourself in the middle of a bender, go outside and dig a hole. eventually that hole will become big. could function as a hiding place for pirate treasure or a secret grave. only your imagination can stop you

honestly the only thing that worked for me wasn't even something i did intentionally-- my fb/insta accounts got hacked and my ADHD kicked in and i never got around to trying to recover my accounts lol xD

I'm not the best at it but having an book reading app on my phone has helped a bit

Oh I just remembered another random thing I do. move the location of social media apps on your phone. like the icons. You have an automatic action clicking those, so if you move them sometimes that gives your brain the extra seconds to think about whether you actually want to open that. You automatically go for the social folder and then click ig, but if you put your book app there instead that's what you'll open.

@maxcrunch i do that all the time haha! thanks everyone for all the tips!

I'm in a constant struggle to know how much media I should consume for inspo and for networking with other artists etc and how much time I should spend creating my own things

Seconding timers and black and white, but a piece I don't often see covered is to BE KIND to yourself! Making the move to reduce usage often comes with feelings of isolation, as well as some rebound "relapse" behaviours. It can take multiple tries to move away from social media, and having moments where you go all the way back are so normal.

I set up roadblocks for myself-- keeping the apps off my phone and only allowed to access on my desktop for instance. and having to log-in each time. also deactivating for Lent and then for 6 months and eventually I was able to delete insta altogether. screentime limits never worked for me tbh