It’s easy to spend so much time scrolling while completely ignoring all the little things you could be doing instead to make your actual life feel more under control.
Personally, there are days when I spend hours scrolling without achieving a single thing. The minute I close one app, another is open. Then a message comes in. Then a video recommendation pops up and I just have to watch it immediately because it’ll disappear and I’ll never find it again—as if that’s a completely reasonable concern to have.
Before I know it, hours have gone by and all the things that would make my life easier are still waiting for my attention.
Because unfortunately, the things we’re avoiding don’t disappear together with our time. And once those little things pile up, we can end up feeling even more overwhelmed than before.
I mainly scroll like this when I’m tired, overwhelmed, avoiding something, or have so much to do that I don’t know where to start. Scrolling just seems easier.
I still catch myself doing it way too often, but I’ve gotten better by allowing myself to start with just one small thing that makes my actual life feel better. Usually, it only takes a few minutes.
Then, if I feel up to it, I do another. Sometimes that one small thing leads to another until I’ve built up a little momentum without forcing myself into some huge productive mood.
That’s what this list is about: 25 small things you can do instead of doomscrolling that’ll help you feel a little more in control of your real life.
25 Things You Can Do Instead of Scrolling Right Now
1. Figure Out What You’re Actually Avoiding
When you catch yourself spending too much time scrolling, it’s easy to feel guilty about all the time you’ve just wasted and immediately jump up to do the first productive thing you see. Instead of doing this, give yourself a few minutes to figure out why you’re scrolling in the first place.
Are you tired? Are you hungry? Is there something you don’t want to do? Is your kitchen a disaster? Are you putting off an uncomfortable email? Things like this can make a scroll session all the more appealing.
A few days ago, I spent hours scrolling TikTok because I was avoiding a work task I needed to get done for the next day. The funny thing is that the task itself would have taken me about an hour. Instead, I wasted several hours avoiding it simply because I hate doing said thing.
Other times, the thing I’m avoiding is grocery shopping. I don’t feel like going, so I put it off. Then I don’t have much in the house to make a proper meal, so I don’t eat properly. Then I have no energy to clean up, focus on my work or even get my daily movement done. So I end up lazing around and scrolling even more. Or worst yet, lazing around and ordering take out, then feeling bad about it.
Sometimes I know perfectly well that I don’t actually want to be on my phone. I just don’t want to do the thing that comes after putting it down.
If you’re like this, it helps to figure out what that thing actually is that you’re avoiding. Once you figure it out, you can allow yourself to deal with the thing you’re using the scrolling to avoid.
2. Take a Shower and Get Completely Ready
If you’ve spent way too much of the day scrolling and now feel like the entire day has gotten away from you, go take a shower and get completely ready.
Even if you’ve barely accomplished anything and it’s already past midday, getting yourself cleaned up and dressed can almost make the day feel like it’s starting over.
You can get ready by taking a proper shower, brushing your teeth, moisturizing, doing skincare, fixing your hair and putting on clean clothes. Also, don’t worry if you have nowhere to go. Sometimes, just getting yourself feeling physically fresh is more than enough to snap you out of that strange, sluggish mood that has you scrolling for hours.
3. Write Down Everything Taking Up Space in Your Head
Another thing you can do is to grab a piece of paper or notebook and dump everything onto it.
And I do mean everything. The laundry. The groceries. That bill. That thing you need to return. The appointment you’ve been meaning to schedule. The room you want to clean. The project you’ve barely started.
You don’t need this to be pretty or organized. Just get it out of your head.
Sometimes life feels completely out of control but the actual problem is that you’re trying to remember 17 unfinished things at the same time.
Once everything’s all on paper, you can actually see what needs your attention instead of carrying around this vague feeling that there are a million things you should be doing.
That way, instead of having random notes everywhere (or trying to keep 15 unfinished things in your head), you always have one place to dump everything and come back to it later.
4. Finish One Annoying Task Completely
Look at that list from above and choose one annoying thing you can actually finish. Better still if it’s something that is always on your mind but you’ve been avoiding or just haven’t been able to get to.
If the task feels bigger in your head, set a timer for however long you think you need to get it done. That can be 20 minutes or an hour. Knowing you’re only committing to a specific block of time can make it much easier to stop thinking about the task and actually start doing it.
I find that once the timer is set and I can see it counting down, it almost grounds me. My brain understands that I’m not going to be stuck doing this thing I don’t like forever. I only have to do it for the next 20 or 60 minutes. For some reason, knowing that there’s an end point makes it much easier for me to start things I would normally avoid.
Once you start, just focus on getting that one thing completely done.
It feels really satisfying to finally finish an annoying task that has been sitting in the back of your mind for days.
5. Do a 10-Minute Room Reset
If you’re like most of us, I know you have that one room that bothers you every time you pass by it. It could be the kitchen, your bedroom, the living room or that one space where everything seems to get dumped in the house.
Pick that room, set a timer for 10 minutes and start resetting it.
Whatever you do, do not start pulling everything out, taking things apart and accidentally turn your 10-minute reset into a six-hour organization project that you’re going to give up on.
You only need to do enough to take the room from something that stresses you out every time you look at it to a space that makes you feel a little calmer when you walk into it.
And when the 10 minutes are up, you can stop. Unless you genuinely want to continue.
6. Deal With the Pile You’ve Been Ignoring
If you’re anything like me, you probably have that pile somewhere in your house. It’s most likely a chair covered in clothes, a pile of mail that’s been on the counter for days, some Amazon boxes by the door or a basket of clean laundry that’s been there for three days.
Instead of scrolling, just pick one of these and deal with it instead of relocating it again.
Small unresolved messes like these have an annoying way of making your home feel more chaotic than it is. And, they take less than 10 minutes to work through.
7. Go Outside Without Your Phone
If you find yourself scrolling non-stop and want to push yourself to do something that helps you get your life together, then step outside without your phone for a few minutes.
You can take a walk, or just sit outside for a while, or stand in the sun for a few minutes, take your coffee outside, read some pages from a book or just go for a quick walk down the street.
Make sure to leave the phone inside.
When you’ve been staring at the screen for a long time, even ten quiet minutes outside can feel like a much-needed reset, get your mind right and make it easier for you to start doing the things you need to do when you head back inside.
8. Make Yourself a Proper Meal
Other than going outside and dealing with chores you’ve been putting off, you can also feed yourself well instead of scrolling.
This is especially important if all you’ve had today was a coffee, a snack, maybe something sweet and you’ve been feeling terrible throughout the day.
Make sure what you’re making is simple but filling, so you don’t put it off and then end up getting takeout later. And don’t make it hard. This isn’t the time to find a complicated new recipe that needs 14 ingredients. Make something you know you’ll actually eat.
9. Take a Walk Without Turning It Into a Challenge
Go for a walk so you can get some movement in and clear your head. You don’t need to make it a 10000 step challenge or anything like that, just walk around your neighborhood for a while, jump on your walking pad or walk around the house while listening to your favorite music.
Sometimes that little bit of movement is exactly what you need to break the cycle of sitting, scrolling, feeling bad about scrolling, but continuing to scroll anyway.
10. Reset Your Kitchen
If the kitchen is messy, it’s one of the first places to tackle because you’re going to keep needing it.
Wash or load the dishes. Clear the sink. Throw away obvious trash. Wipe the counters. Put away food that’s been left out.
Then you can stop there. Resetting the kitchen makes it easier for you to cook later, instead of ordering takeout. It also makes it easier to make breakfast tomorrow morning without pulling your hair out.
11. Do One Thing You’ve Been Putting Off For Later
Everyone has that at least one tiny task that you’ve been saying you’ll get to later for days—or maybe even weeks.
These things aren’t usually important enough to feel urgent, which is exactly why they can hang around forever.
Instead of scrolling, pick one and finally get it off your plate.
12. Do One Load of Laundry From Beginning to End
I really mean One Load. But, you need to wash it, dry it, fold it and put it away—emphasis on that last part.
Finish the entire cycle and count it as done. Because if you leave the clean clothes sitting in the basket, you’ve technically done the laundry but you’ve also created another unfinished task for your brain to keep noticing every time you walk past it for the next few days.
13. Check Your Bank Account
Money is another thing that’s easy to avoid by losing yourself in mindless scrolling.
Maybe you know you’ve spent more than you should have this week, or payday still feels too far away, or you have a bill coming up that you’re not sure you can cover.
That little (or big) worry sits quietly in the back of your mind and makes you anxious without you even being aware that’s what’s happening. So, if you find yourself being avoidant, put the phone down and check your accounts because avoiding it isn’t going to make that feeling disappear.
Look through your balances and recent transactions to see what’s coming out before your next payday, or if anything unexpected has been charged and how you can manage until your next paycheck.
You don’t even need to do a budget—although it wouldn’t hurt. But, try to be aware of what’s going on so you don’t make things worse by spending what you can’t afford. That will only make things worse later on.
14. Look at the Next Seven Days
Another thing you can do instead of scrolling is to check your calendar for the next 7 days.
Pay attention to appointments, deadlines, birthdays, bills, errands, meetings, school events and whatever else applies to your life for the next week.
Then ask yourself whether any of those things require something from you beforehand. This is one of those small things that can prevent a lot of unnecessary chaos later.
15. Make a Grocery List for the Week You’re Actually Having
If you find yourself wasting tons of time scrolling instead of doing things that can push you forward, then making a grocery list is a good thing to consider, especially if you’re always having issues with food.
But don’t make it one of those fantasy week grocery lists where you think you’re going to cook elaborate dinners from scratch for the rest of the week.
Stick to simple.
If you find that you’re very unmotivated to cook this week, make a grocery list that accommodates simple, quick meals like one pot pasta dishes, one pot rice dishes, rice, chicken and veggie dishes or even tacos, wraps and quesadillas.
You’ll be much more likely to stick to that than a list filled with homemade lasagna, three new Pinterest recipes and a from-scratch dinner every night when you already know you don’t feel like cooking.
Also, don’t let the list just sit there. Actually buy the groceries! This will help you cut down on one stress that most of us have daily-putting food on the table on time.
16. Deal With Your Paperwork, Mail, or Inbox
Choose one administrative area of your life that you’ve been letting pile up.
For me that is usually filing paper…or rather not doing it until it’s stressful.
Most administrative tasks are boring, but getting even a few of them handled can make you feel considerably more on top of things.
17. Unfollow Things That Consistently Make You Feel Worse
Sometimes the problem isn’t just how much time we’re spending scrolling. It’s what we’re consuming over and over again while we do it.
Start paying attention to how you actually feel after spending time on certain accounts or consuming certain types of content.
Are there accounts that consistently leave you comparing your body, home, relationship, finances, appearance, productivity, or life to someone else’s? Do you regularly close the app feeling like everyone else is doing better than you somehow?
And it isn’t only comparison.
Maybe you’ve fallen into the habit of consuming one upsetting news story after another—wars, disasters, crime, political conflict and every terrible thing happening somewhere in the world—until everything starts to feel hopeless.
Staying informed is one thing. Spending hours consuming distressing content that leaves you anxious and powerless is another.
Staying informed is one thing, but spending hours consuming distressing content that leaves you anxious and powerless is another.
If you find yourself spending hours consuming content that leaves you feeling inadequate, anxious, angry, hopeless or just generally worse about your own life, it’s time to unfollow, mute, or remove them from your life.
18. Put Your Phone Somewhere Annoying
If you’re always automatically picking up your phone to doomscroll no matter how many times you promise yourself you’ll stop, it’s time to start putting your phone somewhere that makes it harder to pick up.
This will help you take back so much of your time. And once the phone is out of your immediate reach you’ll actually start to push yourself to do what you need to do.
It doesn’t even have to be for the entire day. Just 30 minutes or an hour can make a big difference.
So, when next you find yourself doomscrolling and want to stop—even for a while. Put your phone, or other device in a very inconvenient place and spend the next hour tackling the things you’ve been putting off in favor of scrolling.
19. Decide What You’re NOT Doing This Week
Sometimes getting your life together requires deciding what you’re NOT doing this week instead of adding more things you think you should be doing.
For example, some days or weeks aren’t for reorganizing the closet, starting that new project, or saying yes to another commitment, especially if you’re already overwhelmed.
Pick something (or a few things) that aren’t urgent and consciously take them off your plate for the week.
There’s a big difference between procrastinating on something and deliberately deciding, I’m not dealing with this right now. And sometimes removing some expectations gives you enough breathing room to handle the things that actually matter.
20. Choose Your 3 Most Important Things for Tomorrow
Another thing you can do instead of scrolling is make tomorrow feel a little less directionless, but keep it simple.
Just identifying 1-3 important things is enough.
Not 15 things, because you cannot possibly get your entire life together in one day. But if you can settle on 1-3 important things and get them completed, you’re creating a little momentum instead of having one good day, then slipping right back into the same cycle because you have no idea what you’re supposed to tackle next.
21. Make Tomorrow Morning Slightly Easier
Instead of doomscrolling for the entire evening, another thing you can do instead is to prep for the next next day.
This can include things like laying out your clothes, packing your bag, putting your keys by the door, prepping breakfast, setting out your workout clothes, clearing the kitchen counter, making sure you know where you need to be and when.
This doesn’t need hours of prep, just a few minutes to get things ready for the day before so you cut down on last minute frustration if nothing is where it should be when you need to get out the door.
22. Give Yourself a Boring Hour
We spend so much time scrolling, jumping between apps, checking notifications, refreshing feeds and constantly looking for something else to watch.
These days it’s highly unusual to not be seeking constant stimulation and just let ourselves be bored. But, instead of scrolling, you can give yourself one deliberately boring hour.
Fold laundry without a video playing. Sit outside. Cook something. Take a shower. Journal. Clean something. Read. Drink your coffee without simultaneously checking three apps. Or, just do nothing for that hour.
It might feel strangely uncomfortable at first, but that quiet is sometimes exactly what helps your brain settle down enough to figure out what you actually need to do and how to move forward.
23. Go to Bed and Start Again Tomorrow
Sometimes this is the answer. Instead of staying awake until midnight, take a shower, put your phone away, get into bed earlier, and accept that you can try again tomorrow.
One unproductive day does not need to turn into an unproductive week.
You Don’t Need to Fix Everything At Once
When your life already feels like you have no control over it, it’s really easy to decide that everything needs fixing at once…and today.
But, more often than not, attempting to fix everything at once is the surest way to make things worse.
Once you’ve turned getting yourself back on track into this massive project, it’s easy to feel so overwhelmed by everything you think you need to do that you end up doing none of it.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Instead, pick one small thing that would make your life feel a little better or more manageable right now and start there. If that gives you enough momentum to do another, great. If not, you’ve still done something other than scroll—and sometimes that’s enough to start getting yourself back on track.
