What is Doomscrolling?

You're in the middle of cleaning your room and you open your phone to check the time. You see an Instagram notification from one of your friends. You open the message and it's one of those weird reels that makes you question why you have Instagram in the first place.

You scroll onto the next vid and now you're watching a reel about why you'll never buy a house, never find love, and might as well propose to ChatGPT because they're the only one that truly gets you.

100 reels later and an hour has flown by with you wondering where the time has gone and feeling less motivated to clean your room.

This is called doomscrolling.

The Endless Scroll Trap

It sucks you into an endless world of infinite information curated just for you. It draws you in one way or another—whether it be a DM, a quick relief from boredom, or wanting to see what your ex has been up to lately.

Once you enter the digital realm, there's a toll to pay: usually 1-2 hours of mindless scrolling.

Today's social media algorithms are so powerful that they feed you with an infinite drip of entertaining content straight to your veins. You can't get enough because it's designed specifically for that. You become a conduit for the algorithm's desires which is… keeping you on the platform for as long as possible. With no regard to the consequences of your health and well-being.

So How Do We Fix It?

You could throw your phone into the broiler for a couple hours and toss it in the trash once it's overcooked. But that's considered extreme, especially in today's media age.

You could get one of those app blockers that enforce military-level restrictions to force you into submission, but most of the time you end up deleting your sergeant app or finding a workaround because you will NOT be told you can't watch AI videos of cats and dog AI soap operas.

A Different Approach

But what if there was another option? One that is intentional and instead nurtures your screen time?

Instead of jumping straight to scrolling, why not do something positive for yourself before diving in? It could be:

• Doing 10 push-ups before you open TikTok
• Journaling what's on your mind for 2 minutes
• Simply replenishing your body with a giant sip of water

This way you still nourish your body as you nourish your desires for cats in cute Parisian outfits.

Enter Sip & Scroll

This is where Sip & Scroll saves the day.

Here's how it works: You select your thirsty, attention-seeking apps—TikTok, Instagram, whatever pulls you in. Try to open one and you're blocked. But there's a way out: take a selfie of yourself chugging water. Then you're free to lose yourself in the content for up to 30 minutes. It becomes a healthier relationship between you and the algorithm—at least you're getting something out of it too.

30 minutes pass. You can commit to another session—a sip of water as payment—or you can decide to finally clean your room. You pick another session. That's okay. Your room's still not clean, but at least you're hydrated.