🧂How to escape from mindless scrolling

Do you feel like you can never escape mindless scrolling, even when you set app time limits? You know how it goes: you set a 15-minute limit, the timer goes off while you are in the middle of a video, and you think, “Just 15 more minutes.” Then you take another fifteen.

Before you know it, three hours have vanished into short videos and random stories you do not even care about.

The worst part is that you feel physically terrible afterward. You feel dizzy from staring at your phone. You get dark circles from scrolling until midnight. The next morning, your brain feels foggy, as if you have eaten junk food for your mind.

You know the frustration of realizing social media is not serving you yet still getting pulled back in. You try app blockers, screen time limits, or even deleting apps entirely, only to reinstall them a week later.

Here is what I discovered when I was stuck in this exact cycle: the problem was not willpower or the apps themselves. The real issue was not knowing what mental state I was in when I opened my phone.

The mental state that changes everything

You are probably approaching social media in two completely different ways, and you may not even realize which one you are choosing.

Browsing mode: You open Instagram or TikTok without a purpose, simply seeking a dopamine hit or something to fill empty space. The algorithm takes control, and you get sucked into an endless loop of content that entertains you but leaves you feeling empty.

Searching mode: Sometimes you open the same apps with a specific question or topic in mind. For example, when you are figuring out how to name your business, you might search for “how to create a business name.” Everything you consume is focused on solving that one problem. After five minutes you find what you need and naturally close the app.

Although you use the same apps in both cases, the experiences are completely different. The key difference is your intention before opening the phone.

This idea connects to what psychologists call the flow state: when you have a clear goal, distractions naturally become invisible and your brain filters out everything that does not serve your purpose. Buddhist mindfulness teaches the same principle: awareness of your mental state is the first step to changing it.

Why good content feels irritating when you are in browsing mode

Here is something you might recognize: when you are in browsing mode to relax, you often avoid content that aligns with your values and goals.

Maybe you are naturally ambitious and disciplined and you work hard all day. When you open social media to decompress, your brain can actively reject productivity tips or success stories—even though that content normally interests you. It feels irritating because you have already worked hard and just want to shut your brain off for a few minutes.

Your relaxation self is protecting itself from your ambitious self. When you truly want downtime, your brain does not want more optimization advice; it wants permission to be mindless for a moment.

This is cognitive-load theory in action. When your brain is already tired from mental effort, it protects itself from more cognitive work, even if that work would be beneficial. It is like avoiding exercise when you are physically exhausted, even though gentle movement might actually help you feel better.

The problem arises when that “moment” stretches into hours because you never set an intention in the first place.

The four modes of social media consumption

After observing this pattern in myself and others, I realized that most people move through four distinct modes:

1. Browsing mode — Mindless consumption, seeking entertainment and dopamine hits. Most people spend most of their time here.

2. Avoiding mode — Conscious abstinence. You recognize browsing is problematic, so you delete apps or stay away entirely. Many people cycle between avoiding and browsing.

3. Searching mode — Purposeful consumption. You open apps with a specific goal or question. Very few people reach this consistently because it requires clarity.

4. Flow mode — Integrated consumption. Social media becomes part of your larger purpose, and everything you encounter is processed through that mission. Almost nobody sustains this level.

The reality is that most people get stuck cycling between browsing and avoiding. They browse mindlessly, feel guilty, avoid social media for a while, and then gradually drift back to browsing. Very few reach searching mode because that mode requires a clear sense of direction about what you want to accomplish in life.

The real problem is not social media — it is life clarity

This is not primarily a technology problem; it is a purpose problem. You cannot have purposeful consumption without knowing what you are consuming for. Mindless scrolling is often a symptom of deeper confusion about what you want to achieve.

Psychologist Viktor Frankl demonstrated that people can endure almost anything if they have a clear sense of meaning. When we lack that purpose, we default to seeking pleasure rather than meaning—exactly what happens when we reach for our phones to fill every quiet moment.

This idea connects to what the philosopher Blaise Pascal called divertissement: we distract ourselves from life’s bigger questions because they make us uncomfortable. Social media becomes our modern way of avoiding the anxiety that comes with asking, “What am I really doing with my life?”

When you finally gain clarity about what you want to create or accomplish, everything shifts. Social media can transform from an entertainment trap into a research tool: you open apps looking for specific inspiration, find what you need, and close them. The same apps that used to drain your energy can become useful once you know what you are looking for.

What to do if you are stuck in browsing mode

If you are cycling between mindless consumption and total avoidance, start here:

• Write through your confusion. The struggles you try to escape through scrolling might contain the seeds of your future purpose. Capture your feelings of frustration and uncertainty without trying to solve everything at once.

• Pause before opening. Before you reach for your phone, ask yourself, “What am I hoping to get from this?” If you do not have an answer, consider whether you really need to open anything at all.

• Honor your need for rest. Sometimes you genuinely need mindless downtime. That is human. The goal is not to be productive every second; the goal is to be conscious about your choice.

I know how frustrating it feels to lose control of your attention when you are trying to build something meaningful. The problem is not that you lack discipline; the problem is that you are trying to use tools designed for mindless consumption in a mindful, productive way.

Once you clearly separate browsing from searching, you can use social media strategically for your work without getting lost in the endless scroll. You are not weak for getting distracted; you are human, and you are up against billion-dollar algorithms designed to capture your attention.

You can learn to work with these platforms instead of being controlled by them. Give yourself grace as you figure this out. Your business matters, your time matters, and you deserve systems that actually support your goals rather than sabotage them.

Everything will be fine.

With love and intentional scrolling,

Li Zeng

P.S. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” (Proverbs 4:23). What we consume shapes what we create, so be intentional about what you let into your mind and heart each day.

Summary

That’s it! Creatives often fail in business because they focus too much on perfecting their projects, stick rigidly to their rates, lack a clear focus, and get stuck in unscalable models. I hope you learned something through this newsletter and let me know what topics I can cover next!

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