Stop Scrolling: How to Break Social Media Addiction
Addiction is a progressive narrowing of the things that bring you pleasure.
“Addiction is a progressive narrowing of the things that bring you pleasure”- Dr. Anna Lembke
“It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it. Life is long enough, and a sufficiently generous amount has been given to us for the highest achievements if it were all well invested.” — Seneca
“We must give up many things to which we are addicted, considering them to be good. Otherwise, courage will vanish, which should continually test itself. Greatness of soul will be lost, which can’t stand out unless it disdains as petty what the mob regards as most desirable.” — Seneca
The worst part was how ordinary it looked. I’d unlock my phone for “just a minute,” or to “Google something” and suddenly I’d lost an hour reading about scandals, disasters, and arguments that had nothing to do with my life. There was always a crisis somewhere, always some breaking headline demanding attention, always the itch to refresh the timeline for more funny posts. The country’s politics left me bitter, the endless commentary left me restless, and yet I couldn’t look away.
The toll was harder to admit. I’d sit at dinner with my family and barely hear their voices, my mind stuck on whatever outrage I had just read. When I met friends, I caught myself pulling out my phone mid-conversation, pretending to check a message but really scrolling for distraction. Nights ended in a fog of wasted hours- doomscrolling through news I couldn’t change and updates I didn’t need. By midnight, the room was dark, my eyes hurt, and I felt anxious, hollow, and purposeless. The day had dissolved into nothing and I always woke up tired.
There were moments that shamed me. My niece once asked me a question, and I nodded without listening, eyes fixed on my cocaine feed. My friend told a story, and I missed the punchline because I was too busy scrolling through funny TikToks. I told myself I was “staying informed,” but the truth was uglier, I was addicted.
Something had to change. I began searching for ways to escape the pull, obviously not through sheer willpower- because that had failed me countless times- but through a different approach. A philosophy, a method, a plan that could help me reclaim my time, my focus, and the sense that my life belonged to me again.
What I discovered and usually practice is what I’ll share here- a way of living with your phone that doesn’t feel too strict, while making your life more fun, well informed and interesting.
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I. Introduction
You already know the feeling- of being pulled in a hundred different directions at once. Your day starts with good intentions, but before long the phone is in your hand, you’re still in bed scrolling, and the…
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