Your ex got a new car.

High-school crush got married.

Everyone’s traveling like they’ve got platinum credit cards with unlimited overdrafts and no interest.

Those images come rushing into your feed with vibrant colors, happy faces, likes, and comments. Ugh.

Seeing others check off success boxes gives you a dopamine boost but can also stir up jealousy. Feeling fulfilled when everyone’s thriving is tough, and you’re just stuck in bed.

Today, we’ll break down how dopamine affects our well-being and review ways to stop mindless scrolling.

How Dopamine Addiction Affects Your Well-Being

Imagine you’ve been working hard all week and finally get to unwind on a Friday night with your favorite Netflix show and a bowl of popcorn. The pleasure you feel as you savor that first bite of popcorn and settle in is thanks to dopamine.

That dopamine rush makes you feel good and reinforces that winding down with a show and popcorn is an excellent reward for a job well done. So, next Friday, you might look forward to that same treat—motivated by your anticipation of the good feelings you experienced before.

Sadly, the opposite is also true: a deficit in dopamine can negatively affect our sense of pleasure and reduce motivation, making it challenging for us to keep working toward our goals or even do the things we once enjoyed.

And it works precisely the same way with social media. How to take control of this addiction, though?

5 Tips and Tricks to Get Rid of Dopamine Addiction

Let’s be honest: you won’t quit scrolling overnight, but cutting screen time by 3% is already a huge progress! Some governments dream of seeing a 3% boost in their economies. Here are five small steps you can add to your routine to build a new behavior:

Focus On Real Life

We turn to our phones when our offline life feels meaningless. So the trick is to get busy with something else when you feel the urge to scroll. Here are your four 15-minute activities to try instead of dopamine looping on TikTok for an hour:

Journal. Clear your mind by writing down your thoughts, ideas, and feelings
Listen to music mindfully. Pay attention to every instrument in the mix
Declutter. Organize or clean up a small area in your home to create a sense of accomplishment
Get connected. Facetime with a friend or surprise your mom with a quick check-in.

Practice The 10-Minute Rule

When you feel the urge to scroll, try pausing and asking yourself, “Is it really that urgent?”

If not, agree with yourself that you’ll get your dose of dopamine looping in 30 minutes. Set a limit on how long you’ll be scrolling.

This technique helps balance your scrolling without total deprivation. Over time, you’ll notice that you become less dependent on dopamine looping and cheap thrills.

Remove Time-Wasting Apps

Check the Screen Time app on your phone to see which apps take up most of your schedule. Identify the three biggest time eaters that have become your second job and take a two-week vacation from them. Write a plan for what you will do during this period.

Get a small notebook and keep a journal of your experiences. Each day, write down your thoughts and feelings without those apps.

Use Apps That Add Sense To Your Life

Bring all the productivity and well-being apps to the home page to see them each time you unlock your phone. Search for apps that help you exercise, journal, breathe, and meditate.

You can also add a widget to make the app easily accessible. To do this on iOS, long-press the home screen, tap the “+” icon in the top corner, and choose a widget. On Android, long-press the home screen, select “Widgets,” then drag and drop your desired widget onto the screen.

Another fun 10-minute break from scrolling is self-discovery! Step out of your head and think about your thoughts, emotions, and actions. You’ll be surprised to learn how much of your behavior is not driven by free will but by learned responses to past situations. And if you need a companion on this journey, try Liv e n. Unlike scrolling, the app helps you understand your mind and build healthy habits with dopamine-boosting activities.

Switch to Grayscale Mode

Reduce the visual appeal of your phone’s interface to make it less addictive. Switch your screen to grayscale (black and white mode) to make scrolling less rewarding.

For iOS:

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Display & Text Size.

Turn on Color Filters and select Grayscale

For Android:

Go to Settings > Accessibility > Visibility enhancements > Color correction or Grayscale.

Dulling your phone’s colors lowers the urge to scroll endlessly, so you’ll use it more intentionally than just for entertainment.

Addiction isn’t a life sentence; it’s a result of behavior. Observe it, replace automatic impulses with self-dialogue, and gradually form new habits. Start with just 10 minutes a day of alternative actions.

Author Profile

Adam Regan

Deputy Editor

Features and account management. 3 years media experience. Previously covered features for online and print editions.

Email Adam@MarkMeets.com