How to stop doomscrolling without losing touch with the news

You open your phone to find out what happened. A headline leads to a video, then the comments, then someone arguing about the comments. When you finally close it, you may know very little more than you did twenty minutes ago.

To stop doomscrolling, give your next news check a clear job: choose what you want to learn, where you will look and what will tell you that you are done. Keep a way to receive updates that actually need your attention. Then try leaving the feed once the check has served its purpose.

You can care about what is happening without following every reaction to it.

Notice when reading turns into repeating

Researchers describe doomscrolling as persistent, absorbed scanning of negative news in social feeds. Reading a difficult article or spending time learning about an important issue does not, by itself, fit that description. The repeated search for more negative updates is central to it.

Sharma, Lee and Johnson: defining doomscrolling: Primary research on the definition and measurement of doomscrolling.

You might recognize the moment when you have read the update but keep refreshing anyway. Or when you switch apps to see a second version of the same argument. That is a useful point to pause and ask: What am I still trying to find out?

There is some evidence that the content matters. In experiments during the pandemic, brief exposure to COVID-related news in a Twitter feed or a YouTube reaction video reduced immediate positive feelings compared with receiving no information. Those results concern a particular kind of news and an immediate response; they do not establish lasting harm from ordinary news reading.

Buchanan and colleagues: brief COVID-related news exposure: Pandemic-era experiments measuring immediate emotional responses.

For your own routine, start with the part you can notice: whether another check is giving you something useful.

Decide what you need from this check

“Catch up on everything” leaves the task open. A more specific question gives you somewhere to start and finish.

For example:

• Has a decision been made, and what does it change?
• What is known so far, and what is still uncertain?
• Does this affect something I need to do today?

Sometimes you want a general overview. That is a reasonable purpose too. Choose a daily briefing, an article or a news program you can finish, rather than starting with an endlessly updating feed.

If a story is still developing, “there is no confirmed update yet” can be the answer for now. Write down when another check would be useful. You do not have to fill the wait with commentary.

Give the check a source and an ending

Choose a source suited to the question. A transport operator is a sensible first stop for a canceled route. An official notice can tell you what a new rule actually says. Reporting can then help explain the background, consequences and competing views.

For a disputed claim, compare credible reporting and the available original evidence. Choosing where to begin does not mean committing to one outlet forever. It means you have a route to the information you need before opening whatever the feed happens to show.

Then choose an ending you can recognize:

• I have read the report and know the main finding.
• I know whether I need to act.
• I have identified what is still unknown and when I will check again.

A timer can be a reminder to review where you are. When it goes off, ask whether you are still answering your question. If you are midway through a useful explanation, finish it deliberately. If you are reading the twentieth version of the same reaction, close the page.

A news-check plan you could actually use

Suppose you have been following a local policy announcement. You want to understand the decision, but your evening keeps disappearing into arguments about it.

Here is one possible plan:

The question: What was decided, and does it affect anything I need to do?

Where I will look: The published decision, followed by one reported explanation. I will check another source if a key claim needs clarification.

When I will check: After lunch. If the decision has not been published, I will return after its announced release time.

When I will stop: I can explain the decision, or I know what information is still missing.

What comes next: I will return to what I was doing before I opened the page.

This is an example to adapt, not a tested schedule. Someone reporting on the announcement for work will need a different plan from someone following it out of interest.

Urgent information also needs its own route. During a developing emergency, follow relevant local authorities and keep the alerts you rely on. A casual news-check schedule should never prevent you from receiving information needed for safety, caregiving or work.

Reduce the invitations to reopen the feed

After you close the news, notice what sends you back. It might be a headline alert, a group chat full of links or an app you open whenever you have a spare moment.

Choose one invitation to change. You could turn off a publication's optional recommendation alerts while keeping the updates you need. You could ask a group chat to flag messages that require a response. Or you could move a feed app away from the first screen you see.

Review notification categories before changing them. If an app does not separate useful alerts from promotional ones, decide how you will still receive the information you need before switching its notifications off.

For help arranging the entry screen, our minimalist iPhone Home Screen guide walks through keeping useful apps accessible. You can make that change with built-in settings.

Build a minimalist iPhone Home Screen: Keep useful apps accessible with built-in iPhone settings.

When you catch yourself scrolling again

You do not need to wait until tomorrow to restart the plan.

Close the feed and name what happened: “I had the update, then spent ten minutes reading reactions.” Check whether anything needs a response. If it does, take that specific action. If it does not, decide when you will next return and put the phone down.

If you keep reopening the story because you want to do something about it, choose an action that makes sense for the issue: contact a representative, check on someone or read a fuller explanation later. You can also decide that there is no action for you to take right now.

Over the next few news checks, ask two questions: Did I get the information I needed? Did I spend less time repeating a check I had already finished? Use the answers to adjust the source, timing or stopping point.

Keep this beside your next news check

Copy these lines into a note and fill them in before you open a feed:

• I want to find out:
• I will look here first:
• This check ends when:
• I will check again when:
• An earlier check is necessary if:
• Afterward, I am returning to:

Start with the story you keep reopening. Give that check a purpose and a place to end.

Explore Ease: See Ease’s current availability.