GoKawiilYou open your phone to check the time or a quick message. The next thing you know, an hour has passed and you’ve scrolled through endless celebrity drama, cat videos, awful news stories, influencer rants, and whatever else the algorithm decided to throw at you.
Even though you probably don’t want to keep wasting your time and energy on this mind-numbing content, you do it again the next day.
Doomscrolling, the habit of spending excessive amounts of time consuming content on social media, has become incredibly widespread. A survey from last year found that 64% of Americans say they doomscroll.
Researchers have warned that doomscrolling can negatively affect several aspects of your well-being, including your mental health and attention span. Spending long periods scrolling can lead to brain fatigue, difficulty focusing, and disrupted sleep. And if a lot of the content you’re consuming is negative or stressful, it can leave you feeling disheartened, anxious, and emotionally drained.
It’s hard to break the cycle of doomscrolling, but there are plenty of apps that provide content that’s engaging and productive.
Of course, you could always read a book or go for a walk (we have a guide on how to stop doomscrolling), but this list is for when you have a few spare minutes and want something to do on your phone that isn’t endless scrolling.
Radio Garden
Image Credits:Radio Garden
If you still want to feel connected to the world without scrolling through social media, you can check out Radio Garden. The app lets you listen to over 25,000 live radio stations from across the globe.
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