This week I’ve banned myself from social media. It’s not a permanent thing, only temporary. But I need some time away.

Like, I suspect, a lot of people, I noticed how increasingly hooked I’ve become on reaching for my phone countless times a day.

Logging on has turned into an anxious habit to fill the gaps. Yet it’s one that is stopping me from switching off and only increasing my stress levels.

This infinite scrolling can be bad for our mental health, but it’s also fundamentally a waste of our time.

So what else should we be doing?

Luckily, psychology has some beneficial suggestions. Perhaps it’s time to swap the reels for something far more fulfilling.

Habitual and regretful use

That’s how recent research described our use of social media.

Scientists claim that “Infinite Scrolling has been reported to make users feel like they are being caught in a loop, regretfully elongating social media sessions.”

I know I’ve never ended a 45-minute scrolling session feeling refreshed and good about my choices.

But it’s tricky to stop, even though we feel bad about it after we’ve done it.

As soon as we have a couple of minutes of downtime, there we are, opening up our preferred apps yet again for the umpteenth time.

It can lead to a pretty annoying relationship with our phones.

But maybe it’s time we started calling this annoyance what it actually is — addiction.

None of us set out to spend 2 hours on TikTok, so if that’s what’s happening, we clearly find it hard to quit.

Studies have shown that the setup of social media is designed to keep us hooked.

It triggers in our brain something that feels right in the moment, even when it’s at odds with what we want to be doing.

If you’re tired of falling down the rabbit hole, take a look at the following things psychologists say you should be doing instead.

1) Download some learning apps

We like the gamification of social media. It’s ultimately what keeps us hooked.

The layout, the likes, the content we’re shown — it’s also cleverly designed to give us a dopamine hit that has us coming back for more.

But we can put that addiction to better use by applying it to apps that are at least offering us something in the long run — aka greater knowledge or ability.

Learning apps can give you the same sort of buzz whilst broadening your skillset.

There’s a really wide range of options that encourage you to try another language, take a course, pick up an instrument, etc.

There are even micro-reading apps that will condense a book for you in bite-sized chunks.

We all know that learning is a better way to spend our time than scrolling reels.

But sometimes we don’t want to expand our brain, we want to pacify it.

Luckily there are still much better ways to do that too, as we’re about to see.

2) Read

Reading is one of those things that pretty much everyone says they wish they had more time for.

One study found that as many as 81% of Americans said that was the case for them.

Well, now is our chance.

Reaching for a book instead of your phone has many benefits.

Psychologists have shown that it reduces stress, boosts brain power, fights depression, and can even build empathy.

Bonus— unlike endless scrolling, reaching for a book at bedtime actually helps us sleep better too.

3) Call a friend

A lot of us go online looking for a sense of connection.

It’s unfortunate that it has the opposite effect of making us feel even more cut off.

Social media can give the illusion of community yet leave you increasingly lonely and isolated say experts.

According to psychologist Michael Torres, “We’re all prone to comparing ourselves to others but social media can heighten this tendency.”

Replacing this with a genuine one-on-one connection is a great option.

Calling or texting friends and family members in your downtime builds meaningful relationships, which, according to psychologists, is vitally important to your overall happiness.

4) Journal for greater self-exploration and growth

 Personally, I’ve noticed the times I reach for my phone the most are when I feel some underlying discomfort.

Maybe it’s when I don’t want to get on with my work, or a sudden thought makes me upset.

So scrolling becomes a way of avoiding these unpleasant feelings.

Journaling can be a great way of exploring and understanding what drives us.

You certainly don’t need to be Sigmund Freud to dig deeper into your own psyche.

Neuroscience presents us with lots of journaling strategies we can use.

But it can also be as simple as writing about your thoughts and feelings.

5) Create a gratitude list or write a thank you note

 After a scrolling session, we feel sort of shitty about ourselves.

If you are looking for something quick and easy that leaves you feeling good about yourself, this should be your go-to activity.

Gratitude leaves you with a natural high that has been shown to improve emotions, decrease depression and anxiety, and even boost your immune system.

Writing down the things you feel thankful for takes just a few minutes.

You can even write a letter (whether you send it or not) to someone you feel grateful to have in your life.

To do it in the most effective way, be detailed rather than general and allow yourself to feel the associated positive emotions that come up.

This sort of activity is like a healthy sugar rush to boost your motivation throughout the day.

6) Practice breathwork

What could be easier than breathing?

Well, like other mindfulness techniques, it actually requires plenty of concentration and commitment.

But breathwork works really well at calming the body’s parasympathetic nervous system and so is a great way to chill out and boost concentration levels.

Unlike social media, it brings our attention to the present moment, the opposite of getting lost in distractions.

According to Dr Mellisa Young, “Breathwork helps us with focus and energy, which can lead to a better quality of life where there’s space for joy and fun.”

You can do it anywhere at any time and try out a range of techniques from diaphragmatic breathing, box breathing, alternate nasal breathing, and more.

7) Buy a coloring book

Doodling also works well. In fact, so does any sort of crafting or creativity.

It’s all about your preferences and what gets those juices flowing for you.

But what I love about a coloring book is that no skill is required.

I like art, but I suck at drawing and that puts me off.

Sadly, it’s a fact of human nature that we can shy away from the things we don’t feel very good at.

Yet creative hobbies have been shown to do wonders for our well-being and switch off the monkey mind that never stops chattering.

8) Move your body

It’s important to be realistic when replacing social media scrolling.

As much as we might like the idea of hitting the gym or doing a big sweaty workout session instead, if it demands too much willpower, time, or effort then the chances are you’ll end up dodging it.

Before bed, you’re unlikely to opt for one of these things.

But you can still swap your nightly scroll for 15 minutes of mindful stretches.

Or you can still spend your 30-minute break at work going for a stroll outside.

Look for practical and doable ways to move your body in order to give your mind a rest.

9) Complete a chore

I’ve purposefully tried to mainly include appealing activities on this list of things to do rather than scrolling.

That’s because I’m aware that a lot of the time we’re looking for pleasant distractions from life.

We head to Instagram specifically because it’s easier than putting the effort into doing anything else.

So being told to go unload the dishwasher or renew your car insurance doesn’t exactly present a fun alternative.

But, life admin mounts up, and it does need to be done.

So when you’re taking a break and about to reach for your phone ask yourself what is on your to-do list that needs ticking off.

Deleting old emails, preparing your lunch for tomorrow, doing the dishes, putting on a load of laundry, taking out the trash — tackling these sorts of tasks can provide quick psychological wins that make us feel good about ourselves.

And because they’re so simple, they’re not the sort of tasks that create any sense of overwhelm or procrastination.

The best way to avoid getting caught up in eternal scrolling is to not start it in the first place.

Completing a chore instead can keep us from the temptation of logging on.

Make other options as easy to choose as scrolling

Cat videos are fine — in moderation.

Although I’m a dog person, so technically for me it’s the pooches that suck me into endless reels.

But the point is, I’m not trying to demonize social media. It’s fun.

Yet I like to see it as junk food.

It’s okay to indulge occasionally. But go overboard and you’re creating serious problems for your health.

That’s why a mindful approach is the best one to take.

We need vigilance in order to make more conscious choices around our social media use.

This involves limiting our time online and finding better things to replace it.

But it’s key not to make these alternatives too demanding.

As we’ve seen, a big part of social media’s appeal is how well it taps into the lazy part of us that’s trying to hide.

So the things you “should” be doing need to feel like reasonable substitutes that don’t pile on the pressure.  

That way, we can control how we use these apps, rather than them controlling us.