Do you feel like you spend too much time on your phone but can’t imagine putting it down? Does the thought of a 24-hour break from social media feel out of reach? Don't worry, you don't need to go this far! Here are practical tips so you can keep scrolling while protecting your mental health and focus.
“Stop using your phone,” “Reduce your screen time,” “Get off screens”… Easier said than done, right? When it comes to actually following this advice, it’s usually a mix of frustration and pan
If that resonates with you, don’t worry—this article isn’t about urging you to abandon everything and retreat to a monastery in Tibet. Instead, we’re sharing actionable tips to help you reduce the negative effects of excessive phone use while staying connected on apps like Instagram. Sounds good? Let’s get started!
The Problem with Infinite Scrolling
Scrolling is a simple action. You push the screen upwards to reveal more content. On social media apps, the problem is that you can keep scrolling… infinitely. There is no end.
Scrolling has become our "barrel of the Danaids" (a term signifying a task that is absurd, endless, or impossible. In the original story, the Danaid sisters are condemned to eternally fill jars in a bottomless bath to wash away their sins. The problem is, it will never fill up because of its leaky bottom.
© Wikipedia
Aza Raskin, creator of the infinite scroll, used the metaphor of a bottomless glass to define his invention : "Imagine a glass that continuously fills up from the bottom without you realizing it; you'd end up drinking much more".
This endless stream of virtual content creates real problems, far more than we realize.
😵💫 Addictive Design
In 2005, a study invited 50 individuals to eat a bowl of soup. 25 had a normal bowl, while the others had a bottomless bowl that refilled automatically as it emptied. Experts quickly noticed something: participants with the bottomless bowls consumed 73% more soup, yet believed they had only consumed 20% more.
This study reveals something very interesting. Without visual cues, it's much harder to self-regulate. We inevitably tend to consume more. Here, the sensation of fullness is completely negated by the infinite nature of the bowl.
Similarly, on your screen, infinite scrolling creates the same effect. The constant flow of content disrupts and negates self-regulation.
🌀 Temporal Distortion
The phenomenon observed in the previous section is known as temporal distortion. Take YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels for example. Videos scroll one after another and loop themselves, "which makes you lose track of time," and "the loss of visual references prevents us from measuring our consumption" (Séverine Erhel, Researcher and Teacher, Epsiloon Magazine).
This is a cognitive bias that hinders our ability to exercise self-regulation. t’s no surprise that platforms adopt this highly addictive format. By making you lose track of time, they keep you engaged for as long as possible. More time means more ads, which means more money.
🍬 Our Brain is Hooked
In a study conducted by Laura Sherman in 2016, it was demonstrated that social media exploit a loophole in our mammalian brain system: the reward circuit. This circuit is the foundation of our motivation and pleasure. "When certain photos receive many likes, the activity in the nucleus accumbens—a brain structure central to the reward circuit—is activated." This leads to "an instant release of dopamine, similar to winning a large sum of money, which drives the individual to repeat the action" (Guillaume Sescousse, Neuroscience Researcher at CRN, Epsiloon).
If the reward is variable, as in the case of infinite scrolling where we never know what comes next, the dopamine release is even more powerful and keeps us engaged even more with the app. Whenever we feel bored and unsatiffied, we'll now open our favorite social media app automatically and start scrolling for our reward.
The issue is that indulging too much in easy pleasures can diminish our motivation to engage in more rewarding activities (for us and our mental/physical health) that require greater effort.
Do you feel like you spend too much time on your phone but can’t imagine putting it down? Does the thought of a 24-hour break from social media feel out of reach? Don't worry, you don't need to go this far! Here are practical tips so you can keep scrolling while protecting your mental health and focus.
“Stop using your phone,” “Reduce your screen time,” “Get off screens”… Easier said than done, right? When it comes to actually following this advice, it’s usually a mix of frustration and pan
If that resonates with you, don’t worry—this article isn’t about urging you to abandon everything and retreat to a monastery in Tibet. Instead, we’re sharing actionable tips to help you reduce the negative effects of excessive phone use while staying connected on apps like Instagram. Sounds good? Let’s get started!
The Problem with Infinite Scrolling
Scrolling is a simple action. You push the screen upwards to reveal more content. On social media apps, the problem is that you can keep scrolling… infinitely. There is no end.
Scrolling has become our "barrel of the Danaids" (a term signifying a task that is absurd, endless, or impossible. In the original story, the Danaid sisters are condemned to eternally fill jars in a bottomless bath to wash away their sins. The problem is, it will never fill up because of its leaky bottom.
© Wikipedia
Aza Raskin, creator of the infinite scroll, used the metaphor of a bottomless glass to define his invention : "Imagine a glass that continuously fills up from the bottom without you realizing it; you'd end up drinking much more".
This endless stream of virtual content creates real problems, far more than we realize.
😵💫 Addictive Design
In 2005, a study invited 50 individuals to eat a bowl of soup. 25 had a normal bowl, while the others had a bottomless bowl that refilled automatically as it emptied. Experts quickly noticed something: participants with the bottomless bowls consumed 73% more soup, yet believed they had only consumed 20% more.
This study reveals something very interesting. Without visual cues, it's much harder to self-regulate. We inevitably tend to consume more. Here, the sensation of fullness is completely negated by the infinite nature of the bowl.
Similarly, on your screen, infinite scrolling creates the same effect. The constant flow of content disrupts and negates self-regulation.
🌀 Temporal Distortion
The phenomenon observed in the previous section is known as temporal distortion. Take YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels for example. Videos scroll one after another and loop themselves, "which makes you lose track of time," and "the loss of visual references prevents us from measuring our consumption" (Séverine Erhel, Researcher and Teacher, Epsiloon Magazine).
This is a cognitive bias that hinders our ability to exercise self-regulation. t’s no surprise that platforms adopt this highly addictive format. By making you lose track of time, they keep you engaged for as long as possible. More time means more ads, which means more money.
🍬 Our Brain is Hooked
In a study conducted by Laura Sherman in 2016, it was demonstrated that social media exploit a loophole in our mammalian brain system: the reward circuit. This circuit is the foundation of our motivation and pleasure. "When certain photos receive many likes, the activity in the nucleus accumbens—a brain structure central to the reward circuit—is activated." This leads to "an instant release of dopamine, similar to winning a large sum of money, which drives the individual to repeat the action" (Guillaume Sescousse, Neuroscience Researcher at CRN, Epsiloon).
If the reward is variable, as in the case of infinite scrolling where we never know what comes next, the dopamine release is even more powerful and keeps us engaged even more with the app. Whenever we feel bored and unsatiffied, we'll now open our favorite social media app automatically and start scrolling for our reward.
The issue is that indulging too much in easy pleasures can diminish our motivation to engage in more rewarding activities (for us and our mental/physical health) that require greater effort.
Do you feel like you spend too much time on your phone but can’t imagine putting it down? Does the thought of a 24-hour break from social media feel out of reach? Don't worry, you don't need to go this far! Here are practical tips so you can keep scrolling while protecting your mental health and focus.
“Stop using your phone,” “Reduce your screen time,” “Get off screens”… Easier said than done, right? When it comes to actually following this advice, it’s usually a mix of frustration and pan
If that resonates with you, don’t worry—this article isn’t about urging you to abandon everything and retreat to a monastery in Tibet. Instead, we’re sharing actionable tips to help you reduce the negative effects of excessive phone use while staying connected on apps like Instagram. Sounds good? Let’s get started!
The Problem with Infinite Scrolling
Scrolling is a simple action. You push the screen upwards to reveal more content. On social media apps, the problem is that you can keep scrolling… infinitely. There is no end.
Scrolling has become our "barrel of the Danaids" (a term signifying a task that is absurd, endless, or impossible. In the original story, the Danaid sisters are condemned to eternally fill jars in a bottomless bath to wash away their sins. The problem is, it will never fill up because of its leaky bottom.
© Wikipedia
Aza Raskin, creator of the infinite scroll, used the metaphor of a bottomless glass to define his invention : "Imagine a glass that continuously fills up from the bottom without you realizing it; you'd end up drinking much more".
This endless stream of virtual content creates real problems, far more than we realize.
😵💫 Addictive Design
In 2005, a study invited 50 individuals to eat a bowl of soup. 25 had a normal bowl, while the others had a bottomless bowl that refilled automatically as it emptied. Experts quickly noticed something: participants with the bottomless bowls consumed 73% more soup, yet believed they had only consumed 20% more.
This study reveals something very interesting. Without visual cues, it's much harder to self-regulate. We inevitably tend to consume more. Here, the sensation of fullness is completely negated by the infinite nature of the bowl.
Similarly, on your screen, infinite scrolling creates the same effect. The constant flow of content disrupts and negates self-regulation.
🌀 Temporal Distortion
The phenomenon observed in the previous section is known as temporal distortion. Take YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels for example. Videos scroll one after another and loop themselves, "which makes you lose track of time," and "the loss of visual references prevents us from measuring our consumption" (Séverine Erhel, Researcher and Teacher, Epsiloon Magazine).
This is a cognitive bias that hinders our ability to exercise self-regulation. t’s no surprise that platforms adopt this highly addictive format. By making you lose track of time, they keep you engaged for as long as possible. More time means more ads, which means more money.
🍬 Our Brain is Hooked
In a study conducted by Laura Sherman in 2016, it was demonstrated that social media exploit a loophole in our mammalian brain system: the reward circuit. This circuit is the foundation of our motivation and pleasure. "When certain photos receive many likes, the activity in the nucleus accumbens—a brain structure central to the reward circuit—is activated." This leads to "an instant release of dopamine, similar to winning a large sum of money, which drives the individual to repeat the action" (Guillaume Sescousse, Neuroscience Researcher at CRN, Epsiloon).
If the reward is variable, as in the case of infinite scrolling where we never know what comes next, the dopamine release is even more powerful and keeps us engaged even more with the app. Whenever we feel bored and unsatiffied, we'll now open our favorite social media app automatically and start scrolling for our reward.
The issue is that indulging too much in easy pleasures can diminish our motivation to engage in more rewarding activities (for us and our mental/physical health) that require greater effort.
Do you feel like you spend too much time on your phone but can’t imagine putting it down? Does the thought of a 24-hour break from social media feel out of reach? Don't worry, you don't need to go this far! Here are practical tips so you can keep scrolling while protecting your mental health and focus.
“Stop using your phone,” “Reduce your screen time,” “Get off screens”… Easier said than done, right? When it comes to actually following this advice, it’s usually a mix of frustration and pan
If that resonates with you, don’t worry—this article isn’t about urging you to abandon everything and retreat to a monastery in Tibet. Instead, we’re sharing actionable tips to help you reduce the negative effects of excessive phone use while staying connected on apps like Instagram. Sounds good? Let’s get started!
The Problem with Infinite Scrolling
Scrolling is a simple action. You push the screen upwards to reveal more content. On social media apps, the problem is that you can keep scrolling… infinitely. There is no end.
Scrolling has become our "barrel of the Danaids" (a term signifying a task that is absurd, endless, or impossible. In the original story, the Danaid sisters are condemned to eternally fill jars in a bottomless bath to wash away their sins. The problem is, it will never fill up because of its leaky bottom.
© Wikipedia
Aza Raskin, creator of the infinite scroll, used the metaphor of a bottomless glass to define his invention : "Imagine a glass that continuously fills up from the bottom without you realizing it; you'd end up drinking much more".
This endless stream of virtual content creates real problems, far more than we realize.
😵💫 Addictive Design
In 2005, a study invited 50 individuals to eat a bowl of soup. 25 had a normal bowl, while the others had a bottomless bowl that refilled automatically as it emptied. Experts quickly noticed something: participants with the bottomless bowls consumed 73% more soup, yet believed they had only consumed 20% more.
This study reveals something very interesting. Without visual cues, it's much harder to self-regulate. We inevitably tend to consume more. Here, the sensation of fullness is completely negated by the infinite nature of the bowl.
Similarly, on your screen, infinite scrolling creates the same effect. The constant flow of content disrupts and negates self-regulation.
🌀 Temporal Distortion
The phenomenon observed in the previous section is known as temporal distortion. Take YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels for example. Videos scroll one after another and loop themselves, "which makes you lose track of time," and "the loss of visual references prevents us from measuring our consumption" (Séverine Erhel, Researcher and Teacher, Epsiloon Magazine).
This is a cognitive bias that hinders our ability to exercise self-regulation. t’s no surprise that platforms adopt this highly addictive format. By making you lose track of time, they keep you engaged for as long as possible. More time means more ads, which means more money.
🍬 Our Brain is Hooked
In a study conducted by Laura Sherman in 2016, it was demonstrated that social media exploit a loophole in our mammalian brain system: the reward circuit. This circuit is the foundation of our motivation and pleasure. "When certain photos receive many likes, the activity in the nucleus accumbens—a brain structure central to the reward circuit—is activated." This leads to "an instant release of dopamine, similar to winning a large sum of money, which drives the individual to repeat the action" (Guillaume Sescousse, Neuroscience Researcher at CRN, Epsiloon).
If the reward is variable, as in the case of infinite scrolling where we never know what comes next, the dopamine release is even more powerful and keeps us engaged even more with the app. Whenever we feel bored and unsatiffied, we'll now open our favorite social media app automatically and start scrolling for our reward.
The issue is that indulging too much in easy pleasures can diminish our motivation to engage in more rewarding activities (for us and our mental/physical health) that require greater effort.
Do you feel like you spend too much time on your phone but can’t imagine putting it down? Does the thought of a 24-hour break from social media feel out of reach? Don't worry, you don't need to go this far! Here are practical tips so you can keep scrolling while protecting your mental health and focus.
“Stop using your phone,” “Reduce your screen time,” “Get off screens”… Easier said than done, right? When it comes to actually following this advice, it’s usually a mix of frustration and pan
If that resonates with you, don’t worry—this article isn’t about urging you to abandon everything and retreat to a monastery in Tibet. Instead, we’re sharing actionable tips to help you reduce the negative effects of excessive phone use while staying connected on apps like Instagram. Sounds good? Let’s get started!
The Problem with Infinite Scrolling
Scrolling is a simple action. You push the screen upwards to reveal more content. On social media apps, the problem is that you can keep scrolling… infinitely. There is no end.
Scrolling has become our "barrel of the Danaids" (a term signifying a task that is absurd, endless, or impossible. In the original story, the Danaid sisters are condemned to eternally fill jars in a bottomless bath to wash away their sins. The problem is, it will never fill up because of its leaky bottom.
© Wikipedia
Aza Raskin, creator of the infinite scroll, used the metaphor of a bottomless glass to define his invention : "Imagine a glass that continuously fills up from the bottom without you realizing it; you'd end up drinking much more".
This endless stream of virtual content creates real problems, far more than we realize.
😵💫 Addictive Design
In 2005, a study invited 50 individuals to eat a bowl of soup. 25 had a normal bowl, while the others had a bottomless bowl that refilled automatically as it emptied. Experts quickly noticed something: participants with the bottomless bowls consumed 73% more soup, yet believed they had only consumed 20% more.
This study reveals something very interesting. Without visual cues, it's much harder to self-regulate. We inevitably tend to consume more. Here, the sensation of fullness is completely negated by the infinite nature of the bowl.
Similarly, on your screen, infinite scrolling creates the same effect. The constant flow of content disrupts and negates self-regulation.
🌀 Temporal Distortion
The phenomenon observed in the previous section is known as temporal distortion. Take YouTube Shorts or Instagram Reels for example. Videos scroll one after another and loop themselves, "which makes you lose track of time," and "the loss of visual references prevents us from measuring our consumption" (Séverine Erhel, Researcher and Teacher, Epsiloon Magazine).
This is a cognitive bias that hinders our ability to exercise self-regulation. t’s no surprise that platforms adopt this highly addictive format. By making you lose track of time, they keep you engaged for as long as possible. More time means more ads, which means more money.
🍬 Our Brain is Hooked
In a study conducted by Laura Sherman in 2016, it was demonstrated that social media exploit a loophole in our mammalian brain system: the reward circuit. This circuit is the foundation of our motivation and pleasure. "When certain photos receive many likes, the activity in the nucleus accumbens—a brain structure central to the reward circuit—is activated." This leads to "an instant release of dopamine, similar to winning a large sum of money, which drives the individual to repeat the action" (Guillaume Sescousse, Neuroscience Researcher at CRN, Epsiloon).
If the reward is variable, as in the case of infinite scrolling where we never know what comes next, the dopamine release is even more powerful and keeps us engaged even more with the app. Whenever we feel bored and unsatiffied, we'll now open our favorite social media app automatically and start scrolling for our reward.
The issue is that indulging too much in easy pleasures can diminish our motivation to engage in more rewarding activities (for us and our mental/physical health) that require greater effort.
How to Protect Yourself and Avoid the Negative Effects
As we said earlier, we’re not trying to convince you to abandon your phone or start thinking of social media as the enemy. Instead, we want to help you build some protective habits so that you can minimize the harmful effects of infinite scrolling.
| "You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." — Jon Kabat-Zinn
🎯 Define Your Goals
Before you start, you need to set goals. Do you want to spend more time on social media to:
Learn new things?
Communicate more with your family and friends?
Create more content?
You can define SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). For example, if you want to create more content, instead of saying, "I want to create more content," you can set this goal: "I want to use Instagram for 30 minutes a day to create 3 engaging stories for my followers." More intentional this way, right?
🗑️ Choose Which Social Media to Keep and Which to Delete
The second step is simply uninstalling social media apps that don't support your goals and values. You don't have to use all social networks or the latest trendy platforms.This applies to dating apps too.
You don't need to have them all. Choose the one you feel most comfortable with because they can be extremely negative for self-esteem and trigger addiction and FOMO (fear of missing out).
✋ Unfollow Accounts That Post Toxic or Uninteresting Content
On any social media, you can follow pages, and some of these pages can have a negative effect on you: sensationalist news, accounts that remind you of bad memories, accounts that make you scroll through trash content. Unfollow them.Yes, it's also time to unfollow your toxic ex on Instagram... Sort through and your mind will thank you.
⚡️ Break the Automatic Circuit
Most of us don’t even realize how many times we open Instagram or TikTok out of habit—waiting for the bus, in line, during any lull in our day. These reflexive scrolls can mess with your mood. Try using an app like Jomo, available for free on iPhone, iPad and Mac.
The best thing to do is to set up a "Conscious Use" session. In short, your social media will be blocked by default. Every time you want to use them, a screen will pop up. Then, if you feel like you really need it, you’ll have to ask a break from Jomo and specify how long you’ll use your apps. Once the time is up, Jomo will automatically block your apps again.
⏸️ Take Regular Breaks
Scrolling is like a workout for your brain. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, your mind is working hard.
That's why it's highly recommended to take regular breaks when using your phone. Why is it so important? You need to give your brain some space.
You don't always realize everything it can see and absorb. Your perception is very different from what's actually happening. Whether you like it or not, your brain processes information in the same way. For each piece of content, it has to understand the context, find the meaning, analyze, and more. This is both energy-consuming, complex, and exhausting for it.
To help you, you can set a time limit on Jomo. The great thing about Jomo is that this limit can either reset at the end of the day or after a specific amount of time that you set in advance.
If you tend to get caught up in endless scrolling, this option is perfect for you. It will help you take regular breaks and avoid straining your eyes by staring at your screen for too long.
🧠 Reflect on What You’ve Seen
What’s quite insidious about social media is that you absorb a huge amount of content in a very short time. You don’t always realize the impact of this content right away; its effect is "delayed." Also, with algorithms overly optimized to keep you spending more time on their platforms, social media tends to trap you in "loops". These loops are created based on content you’ve recently liked or even just viewed.
Social media can trap you into seeing the same kind of content over and over again. What’s the problem with that? Well, think about content that showcases people with "perfect" appearances, seemingly flawless, with multiple talents and successes. When you're exposed to this for several hours a day, you can end up developing insecurities you might never have had if you hadn’t spent so much time on these platforms.
That's why it's important to take a step back and realize the impact these platforms have on your mental health. For that, you can use traditional journaling tools or the Jomo app. With the journaling feature, you can associate a "feeling" with an app and one or more activities you've done.
Quickly, you'll be able to see how your screen time serves you and how it can affect your mental state and mood.
🌱 Prioritize Real Life
The last point is probably the most obvious — so much so that you might almost forget it. It’s important to prioritize what’s happening in real life over the made-up stories of influencers you don’t know or viral content that will disappear in 48 hours.
We are not eternal. Neither us nor others. There's no guarantee that we’ll still be here tomorrow. It’s not about living as if today were your last, but simply realizing that the people who give you their time and attention shouldn’t be set aside for a screen. The time they give you is lost forever, so don’t waste it!
When you’re with friends, put your phones away, especially social media. You don’t need to be on TikTok or Instagram when you're together. Do things together, talk, and make memories!
We hope this article helps you scroll smarter without needing to cut everything off. The key takeaway is to always stay in control: if you feel like you're no longer managing the flow of content, don't let it get worse—take action. You can try the Jomo app for free and find the best way to regulate your content consumption.
