Do you ever catch yourself, phone in hand, endlessly swiping through Instagram or TikTok, promising that you’ll stop after just “one more video”? You’re not alone. This habit of getting lost in an infinite loop of scrolling has taken hold of millions around the world. But it’s time to face the facts: our obsession with social media is getting out of hand.
I didn’t realize how bad it had gotten until one night when I set a simple goal for myself: thirty minutes of phone-free time before bed. I barely made it five minutes before my hand instinctively reached for my phone. Just a quick check of Instagram, I thought. Thirty minutes later, I was still neck-deep in the Get Ready With me videos, the Outifit of the day, the daily recaps and all the other new trends that we like to watch.
What was supposed to be a calm wind-down turned into a late-night TikTok binge. The rabbit hole was real, and I had fallen deep into it.
Sound familiar? For many, the line between a quick check of social media and an endless scroll has blurred to the point of disappearing. Research from Global Web Index (GWI) reveals that the “typical” social media user now spends 2 hours and 23 minutes per day using social platforms.
That’s more than 17 hours per week, or roughly 39 full days a year! Let that sink in: more than a month of our lives is spent staring at tiny screens, refreshing feeds, and scrolling away moments we’ll never get back.
The scary part is that social media platforms are specifically designed to keep us hooked. Each time we get a “like” or a new follower, our brains get a little hit of dopamine—the same feel-good chemical released when we eat a piece of chocolate or win a game. Over time, we become wired to seek out that same dopamine high, making it harder and harder to put our phones down. This cycle of quick hits and rewards can trap us in an endless loop of scrolling, even when we know we should stop.
Research by Harvard University has shown that these dopamine-driven rewards can create an addiction-like response in our brains. And just like any other addiction, it can have real consequences on our mental health. In fact, the American Psychological Association reports that heavy social media use is linked to higher levels of anxiety, depression, and feelings of isolation. Isn’t it ironic that apps designed to connect us with others can end up making us feel more alone?
I remember talking to a friend who mentioned she was struggling to find time to read a book or pick up her old hobby of painting. But when I asked how much time she spent on social media, the answer was clear. “Too much,” she sighed.
The impact of this time lost to social media is not just on hobbies, either. Many of us also suffer from what experts call “doomscrolling,” the act of continuously scrolling through negative news or stressful content. It’s an emotional and mental drain that leaves us feeling more overwhelmed than informed.
So, how do we break free? It’s about creating boundaries. Try limiting your social media use to specific times of the day—whether that’s checking Instagram only in the morning or restricting your TikTok scrolling to 15-minute blocks. You can even install apps like Forest or Moment that track your phone usage and encourage you to take breaks.
Personally, I’ve turning off cellular data and WIFI in my phone when I want to focus on something else, like reading or writing. It was awkward at first—I felt like I was missing out on something. But slowly, I’ve learned that the world isn’t going to collapse if I don’t check my notifications every five minutes.
The truth is, social media isn’t inherently bad. It’s a tool. But like any tool, it’s important to use it with intention. The solution isn’t to go cold-turkey like deleting every app from your phone, but to become more conscious of how you use them.
At the end of the day, the real challenge is figuring out what matters more: those fleeting moments of digital distraction or the time we can reclaim to invest in ourselves and the world around us.
