It starts innocently enough. You pick up your phone in the morning “just to check the news,” and before you know it, you’re 20 minutes deep into a pit of climate anxiety, celebrity breakups, and comment section chaos. By the time you put your phone down, your brain feels foggy, your mood’s flatlined, and your motivation for the day? Missing in action.
Welcome to the doom scrolling trap where information overload meets morning sabotage. But don’t worry, behavioural science (and a good coffee) might just hold the key to breaking the cycle.
Why Doom Scrolling Feels Good (Until It Doesn’t)
From a psychological point of view, doom scrolling hooks us for a reason. Our brains are wired to scan for threats and uncertainties, which made sense when we were dodging sabre-toothed tigers, but in the age of 24/7 headlines, it means we're constantly chasing the next update in a sea of bad news. The result? An overstimulated nervous system, a distracted mind, and a serious dip in motivation.
Research shows that starting your day in a reactive state can drain your willpower and dampen your ability to focus, plan, or tackle even simple tasks.
Here’s the good news: small changes in your morning routine can have an outsized impact on your motivation and mindset. Instead of diving into your phone, build a ritual; something grounding, repetitive, and rewarding. These tiny habits act like signals to your brain that it’s time to wake up, feel good, and get going.
Some ideas to get you started:
1. Coffee + Journaling:
Swap the scroll for a notebook. While you sip your cuppa, jot down a few intentions, dreams from the night before, or just a brain dump to clear the mental cobwebs. This builds self-awareness and helps shift your focus inward and away from the chaos of the feed.
2. Morning Outside Walk:
Instead of reaching for your phone, reach for your sneakers. A short walk in natural light (yes, even if it's cold) helps regulate your circadian rhythm, boosts dopamine, and resets your nervous system.
3. Habit Stack it:
Pair your morning coffee with a consistent energising habit; reading 2 pages of a book, doing a 5-minute breathwork app, or even stretching at the kitchen bench. The key? Keep it friction-free and phone-free.
It's Not About Perfection
You don’t need to become a sunrise yogi or delete your socials, behavioural science shows that consistency, not intensity, is what rewires habits over time. Start small, keep it enjoyable, and make your morning something you actually look forward to.
Doom scrolling might feel like staying informed, but it often leaves us feeling drained and distracted. Try trading 10 minutes of scrolling for a simple ritual that energises instead of overwhelms, ideally with a good cup of coffee in hand. Your motivation will thank you.
Hot tip: Set your phone to “Do Not Disturb” for the first 30 minutes of your day. Replace the default scroll with something that genuinely sets you up to thrive!