31 Things to Do Instead of Doomscrolling

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Give your attention somewhere beautiful to go.

Hello there, friend.

There is a particular moment when you realize you have been scrolling for far longer than you intended, moving from headline to headline, video to video, opinion to opinion, while your actual life has been quietly happening around you. The phone is in your hand, the world is in your pocket, and somehow you have become further away from the room you are actually sitting in. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can do is simply put the phone down and return to your own life.

Doomscrolling often begins with a small moment of boredom, curiosity, loneliness, stress, or the desire to know what is happening in the world. The answer does not have to be more stimulation. Sometimes the answer is a walk, a conversation, a book, a song, a meal, a breath, a creative idea, or five quiet minutes with yourself.

The beautiful thing is that there are so many places your attention can go.

Here are 31 things to try the next time your hand reaches for your phone.

1. Go for a Walk With No Destination

Put on your shoes and step outside.

Let yourself walk without turning the outing into exercise, productivity, or an errand. Look at the buildings, trees, people, clouds, sidewalks, dogs, gardens, and little details you usually pass without seeing.

A walk gives your attention somewhere physical to go.

2. Make Yourself Something Delicious

Go into the kitchen and make something slowly.

Make coffee, tea, toast, pasta, soup, a smoothie, or an elaborate meal simply because you feel like creating something. Cooking brings you into your senses and gives your hands something meaningful to do.

Sometimes the most satisfying replacement for consuming content is creating something you can actually taste.

3. Read Ten Pages of a Book

Keep a physical book somewhere you naturally spend time.

Ten pages is enough. You do not need to finish the book today, become an expert, or transform yourself through reading.

Simply enter another person’s world for a little while.

4. Call Someone You Love

There is a beautiful difference between seeing someone’s name on a screen and actually hearing their voice.

Call a friend, family member, old colleague, or someone you have been meaning to reconnect with.

A five-minute conversation can give you something an algorithm never can: genuine human connection.

5. Sit Outside

Find a bench, stoop, balcony, park, backyard, fire escape, café patio, or patch of grass.

Sit there without turning the moment into content.

Watch the world move.

6. Listen to an Entire Album

Choose an album and listen from beginning to end.

No skipping. No checking messages. No scrolling through the artist’s page.

Let yourself experience music as an experience rather than background noise.

7. Write Down What You Are Thinking

Take a piece of paper and write whatever is currently moving through your mind.

You can begin with, “Right now I feel…”

You might discover that the urge to scroll was carrying a message about something you actually wanted to feel, understand, express, or experience.

8. Make a Meal for Someone

Invite someone over.

Make dinner. Set the table. Open something good to drink. Put on music.

There is something deeply grounding about preparing food for another person and then sitting across from them while you eat.

9. Clean One Small Space

Choose one drawer, shelf, countertop, corner, or surface.

Give it ten minutes.

A small physical reset can create a surprisingly spacious feeling in the mind.

10. Look Through Old Photographs

Instead of consuming thousands of new images, revisit a few that already belong to your life.

Remember where you were, who you were with, what you were feeling, and what mattered to you then.

Your own memories can be more nourishing than an endless stream of strangers’ lives.

11. Learn Something You Are Genuinely Curious About

Choose a subject simply because it fascinates you.

Learn about architecture, mushrooms, astronomy, cooking, music, philosophy, gardening, history, fashion, animals, art, or anything else that makes your curiosity wake up.

Curiosity turns attention into discovery.

12. Make Something With Your Hands

Draw.

Paint.

Cook.

Build.

Garden.

Sew.

Play an instrument.

Arrange flowers.

Fix something.

Create something that did not exist before you began.

13. Stretch for Ten Minutes

Put on some music and move your body.

Stretch your shoulders, hips, back, legs, hands, and neck.

Give your body the attention that your mind has been giving the screen.

14. Take Yourself Somewhere Beautiful

Visit a park, museum, bookstore, garden, café, gallery, beach, neighborhood, or quiet street you have never explored.

You do not need a vacation to experience novelty.

Sometimes adventure is simply taking a different turn.

15. Watch the Sunset

Put your phone away and actually watch it.

The sky changes whether you photograph it or not.

Let yourself experience something beautiful without immediately turning it into something to post.

16. Make a Playlist

Choose ten songs for a specific feeling.

Morning music. Walking music. Cooking music. Falling-in-love music. Sunday music. Late-night music.

Curating music is an active creative experience rather than passive consumption.

17. Do Absolutely Nothing for Five Minutes

This one may be the hardest.

Sit somewhere comfortable and allow yourself to experience five minutes without filling the space.

Notice your breathing. Notice sounds. Notice light. Notice your body.

Boredom can become a doorway into presence.

18. Write a Letter

Write an actual letter to someone.

Tell them what you appreciate about them. Tell them something you remember. Tell them what you hope they are experiencing right now.

You can mail it or simply keep it.

The act itself matters.

19. Go Somewhere Without Your Phone

Try walking around the block without it.

Have coffee without it.

Sit in the park without it.

The purpose is not punishment. You are simply reminding yourself that you can experience a moment without documenting, checking, or updating it.

20. Make Your Morning More Beautiful

Put your phone somewhere away from your bed.

Wake up.

Drink water.

Open the curtains.

Make coffee or tea.

Stretch.

Write.

Breathe.

Let the first few minutes of your day belong to you before they belong to the internet.

21. Have a Long Conversation

Ask someone a question that goes deeper than “How are you?”

Ask what they are excited about.

Ask what they have been thinking about.

Ask what they want to create.

Ask what they are learning.

Human beings are endlessly interesting when we give each other enough attention.

22. Visit a Library or Bookstore

Walk among the shelves.

Pick up books based on curiosity rather than an algorithm.

Let yourself wander.

You may leave with a completely unexpected idea.

23. Exercise Because It Feels Good

Dance around your apartment.

Ride a bike.

Swim.

Practice yoga.

Lift weights.

Run.

Take a long walk.

Move because you have a body that wants to participate in life.

24. Make a List of Things You Are Looking Forward To

Write down twenty things.

They can be enormous or wonderfully ordinary.

A trip. Dinner with a friend. A new recipe. A concert. A morning walk. A book. A movie. Spring. Your next creative project.

Giving yourself things to anticipate creates a life that feels interesting from the inside.

25. Take Yourself Out for Coffee

Go somewhere and sit at a table.

Bring a book or notebook.

Look around.

Notice the people.

Taste the coffee.

Let yourself have an experience without needing to turn it into productivity.

26. Practice Paying Attention

Choose one ordinary activity and give it your complete attention.

Wash the dishes.

Shower.

Make your bed.

Brush your teeth.

Cook dinner.

Notice the sensations involved.

Ordinary life becomes surprisingly rich when you actually arrive for it.

27. Create Something You Will Never Post

This is one of my favorites.

Write the song.

Take the photograph.

Make the painting.

Write the poem.

Cook the meal.

Dance in your room.

Create something purely because creating it feels good.

Your creativity does not need an audience to be meaningful.

28. Read the News Once, Then Return to Your Life

Being informed and being constantly stimulated are two different experiences.

Choose a time to catch up on what matters, take in what you genuinely need to know, and then close the door.

The world will still be there tomorrow.

Your attention deserves boundaries.

29. Spend Time With an Animal

Play with your dog.

Pet your cat.

Watch birds.

Visit a shelter.

Sit somewhere and notice the animals around you.

Animals have a beautiful way of bringing us into the present because they are already there.

30. Ask Yourself What You Actually Need

When you reach for your phone, pause for one breath.

Ask yourself:

What am I looking for right now?

Maybe you want stimulation.

Maybe you want connection.

Maybe you want rest.

Maybe you want inspiration.

Maybe you want reassurance.

Maybe you simply want a change of scenery.

Once you understand the need, you can choose something that actually meets it.

31. Come Back to Your Life

This is the most important one.

Put the phone down and look around.

Notice where you are, who is nearby, what your body feels like, what the light looks like, what you were doing before you reached for the screen.

Your life has been here the entire time.

A Simple Rule for the Next Time You Want to Scroll

Before opening an app, give yourself three breaths.

Then ask:

What would feel better five minutes from now?

Maybe the answer is scrolling.

Sometimes you genuinely want to watch something, read something, laugh at something, or catch up with friends, and there is nothing wrong with consciously choosing that experience.

The difference is awareness.

You are choosing where your attention goes rather than automatically giving it away.

Create a Better Default

One of the deeper lessons behind habit research is that our surroundings influence what we repeatedly do. The cue, the environment, the available choices, and the ease of performing a behavior all matter, which means changing your surroundings can make a new habit easier to practice.

So put the book beside your bed.

Keep your walking shoes by the door.

Leave your guitar where you can see it.

Put a notebook on your desk.

Keep fruit on the counter.

Charge your phone somewhere away from your bed.

Make the life you want to experience easier to enter.

Your Attention Is Your Life

There will always be another headline.

Another notification.

Another video.

Another opinion.

Another argument.

Another person telling you what you should care about.

The internet can continue forever, while your attention moves through a finite and beautiful life.

So give some of it back to yourself.

Take the walk.

Make the meal.

Call your friend.

Read the book.

Listen to the album.

Watch the sunset.

Make something.

Sit quietly.

Look around.

Be here.

Your life is happening in the moments between the notifications.

And perhaps the greatest digital detox is not disappearing from the world.

Perhaps it is remembering how wonderful it feels to actually be in it.

Start early. Start gently. Start again.

Your attention is your life. Give it somewhere beautiful to go.

A Note on Doomscrolling

The inspiration for this list comes in part from Wirecutter’s extensive collection of alternatives to doomscrolling, which approaches the problem practically by giving people meaningful things to do with the time and attention that would otherwise go toward endless scrolling.

The Start Early Today approach goes one step further: the goal is not simply to fill every empty minute with another activity. The deeper practice is learning to become comfortable with your own attention again, allowing ordinary life, creativity, connection, curiosity, and presence to become satisfying destinations.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What can I do instead of doomscrolling?

You can replace scrolling with activities that engage your body, senses, creativity, curiosity, or relationships. Walking, reading, cooking, exercising, listening to music, calling a friend, journaling, exploring your neighborhood, and spending time outdoors are simple places to begin.

What is the best alternative to doomscrolling?

The best alternative depends on what you are actually looking for when you scroll. If you want connection, call someone; if you want stimulation, learn something; if you want rest, sit quietly; if you want novelty, explore somewhere new; if you want creativity, make something.

How do I stop doomscrolling?

Start by noticing the moment when you reach for your phone automatically. Create some friction around the habit, keep meaningful alternatives nearby, and practice choosing a different activity whenever the urge appears.

Why is doomscrolling so easy to fall into?

Scrolling provides an almost effortless stream of novelty and information, while the activities of ordinary life often require a little more intention. Changing your environment and preparing attractive alternatives can make healthier choices easier.

What should I do instead of scrolling at night?

Try reading a physical book, stretching, listening to an album, taking a warm shower, journaling, preparing something for the morning, talking with someone you love, or simply sitting quietly with a cup of tea.

How can I reduce my screen time without relying on willpower?

Make the desired behavior easier and the unwanted behavior slightly harder. Move your phone away from your bed, remove distracting apps from your home screen, create phone-free spaces, and keep books, notebooks, instruments, hobbies, and other alternatives visible and accessible.

How do I become more present?

Begin with one ordinary activity each day and give it your complete attention. Eating, walking, showering, cooking, listening, cleaning, and drinking coffee can all become practices in returning your attention to the present moment.

Is it okay to use social media?

Absolutely. The goal is conscious use rather than automatic use. Social media can provide connection, entertainment, information, creativity, and community when you choose how and when you engage with it.