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Answers to what we get asked most. Every post opens with the question and answers it in the first paragraph.
What is doomscrolling and why can't I stop?
Doomscrolling is the habit of continuing to scroll an endless feed with no particular goal. The reason it's hard to stop isn't weak willpower — it's how the feed is built. Short videos never run out, every swipe delivers a reward you can't predict, and your brain responds more strongly to that unpredictability than it would to a fixed reward. Because there's no beginning or end, the natural moment where you'd ask "how long have I been here?" never arrives.
Read the postHow can I see how many Reels or Shorts I scroll in a day?
Instagram, YouTube and TikTok don't show you the number of videos you scrolled — only the time you spent in the app. Android's Digital Wellbeing also reports time, not video count. To see the count you need a third-party app that counts it; Silverback does this through the accessibility service and shows the number live on top of the app you're scrolling. It isn't possible on iPhone, because iOS doesn't let apps observe scrolling inside other apps.
Read the postDo app blockers actually work?
They work in the short term and usually fail in the long term. Every blocker has the same flaw: the person who set it up is the same person who can switch it off. The harder the barrier, the stronger the urge to beat it — and once it's beaten the habit returns unchanged, because nothing was learned in the meantime, an obstacle was simply routed around. The approach that lasts is making the behaviour visible rather than forbidden.
Read the postHow do I actually cut my screen time?
The order that works is: measure first, then set a single target, then add friction. Most people start backwards — they impose a strict rule and abandon it a few days later. A target set without measuring won't hold, because if you don't know where you started you can't tell whether the target is realistic. The single biggest win usually comes from turning off notifications and moving short-video apps off your home screen; neither is a ban, they just break the automatic tap.
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