‘I Stopped Doomscrolling Without Willpower’—Experts Reveal the Simple Phone Detox That Works!

We all want to be calm, focused and present—but our cell phone’s siren call of pings, updates and doomscrolling pulls us in a million directions. Here, experts share a simple phone detox to help you silence the noise and savor the moment.

Harness the HALT method

Since we’re so used to scrolling, it can be hard to even realize that our relationship with our phones isn’t ideal, says psychologist and researcher Doreen Dodgen-Magee, PsyD, author of Deviced! Balancing Life and Technology in a Digital World. “A great way to tap awareness is to use the HALT assessment a few times a day,” she advises.

“When we notice we’re doom scrolling, we can instead ask ourselves if we’re Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired. Are we really hungry for another TikTok video or for a moment of calm?

If it’s the latter, perhaps doing one small thing, like taking a walk, would make us feel better. Anything we can do to meet our actual needs rather than feed our desire to be distracted will help us take more breaks in the future.”

Ask one question

We need to examine how rewarding our phone truly is, says psychiatrist and neuroscientist Judson Brewer, MD, PhD, author of Unwinding Anxiety. He promises his findings on other common behaviors can help us break unwanted phone habits, too.

“In our studies on overeating, we asked people to pay attention while they ate and ask themselves, ‘What am I getting from this?’ They consistently discovered it didn’t feel good.” This seemingly simple insight helped them curb overeating.

He found similar results with anxiety: When people asked, ‘What do I get from worrying?’ they saw a 67 percent decrease in anxiety. Curiosity is a superpower—it can help us change without willpower.”

Pick a ‘break-up’ strategy

There are four key ways to detox from your phone for 60 days, reveals Richard Simon, author of Unplug: How to Break Up with Your Phone and Reclaim Your Life. Picking the one that resonates with you can help you bring your phone back into your life in healthier ways later:

• The basic phone detox: Simply put, this means swapping your smartphone for a flip phone. “You won’t want to text that much, because it’s annoying,” says Simon with a laugh.
• Off by default: Simon personally subscribes to this method, turning on his phone only in emergencies.
• Ditching your phone altogether: This may be the most extreme choice, but few would argue about its effectiveness.
• The buddy system: The fourth method is doing any one of these three styles—but with someone else. “Using the buddy system is so powerful for both accountability and connection,” he says.

Let yourself relax

When we grab our phone, we know we’ll be focusing on it for at least a minute or two, so we can afford to redirect the first 30 to 60 seconds to physical activity,” urges Dodgen-Magee.

“Go for a walk up and down the stairs, for example, or grab a fragrant cup of tea and enjoy the first sips mindfully. Even the small act of taking social media apps off of your phone and only using them on a laptop can slow your scrolls.”

Add rather than subtract

“Rather than focusing on using your phone less, decide what to add to your life,” suggests Dodgen-Magee. “Put a small watercolor set and a few small squares of paper on your desk, for example, or work on a crossword or Sudoku puzzle, before you grab your phone. Prioritizing embodied experiences like these helps you break the habit of automatically reaching for your phone.”

A version of this article appeared in the January 19, 2026, issue of Woman’s World magazine