How To Become Addicted To Being OFF Your Phone

Brain Rot Has Always Existed.

It’s quite interesting how even 100 years ago, philosophers touched on the topic of brain rot.

“While England endeavours to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavour to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?”

• Henry David Thoreau, 1854

As you can probably imagine, it’s relevant now more than ever. Studies show how the average person spends 7 hours a day staring at their screens. Further studies done exploring the relationship between social media use and cognitive functions have found that it reduces memory, results in less cognitive control, and erodes our ability to remain focused.

You may or may not have brain rot. In the modern world, you may have it if you struggle to have deep conversations, forget things way too easily, feel less invested in slower meaningful practises, crave content but never feel satisfied after watching it (the need to always search for more), and engage in long-form content such as YouTube or Substack but somehow still get pulled into TikTok and Instagram Reels.

The Destructive Loop

I want you to think about social media and every other addiction you have as a loop. The loop is completely invisible while you’re still inside it. The worst part of social media is that everyone around you is doing it. Everyone doing the same thing confirms to your brain that it’s completely normal. So, you never really question it.

When you’re on the train, everyone is on their phone. Just the other day I saw a family of 4, which included a baby, and everyone except the baby were on their phones. How crazy is that? Think about newborn babies. That is the first thing they see coming into the world. Their first weeks, months, and even years are spent observing a world where being on your phone 24/7 is the norm.

When you’re at home with your family, everyone is on their phone. Even when you’re at work, you can’t deny the fact that most of your co-workers are stuck to their phone.

The first and most important step is to see the loop for what it is without judging it.

You can’t leave something you don’t know you’re in.

Most people have been in it for so long that they’ve completely forgotten there’s anything else. The point I’m trying to make is that the loop only works when you’re fully inside it. When you’re not noticing it and are identified with it on autopilot.

Now. The brain’s purpose is to reinforce behaviour that produces relief. When most people scroll, they think they’re doing something that is “good for them”, when actually it’s just an ongoing loop of relief and immediate discomfort. It’s a trap. The reinforcement of fake relief enforces you to stay trapped.

Even if it doesn’t look like it, most people are self-aware that scrolling is bad for them. Even if it’s a bit. But quite often there is a stronger belief behind the tiny fragment of self-awareness. And that is the belief that you are getting back something valuable from the scroll.

Cope Mechanisms

Short-form content may look like entertainment. But if you focus on how you feel before and after each scroll, it’s a totally different topic.

I have a little thought exercise for you. I want you to try and remember what you watched the last time you scrolled. If you can’t recall more than two things, it’s because the content was meant to be consumed instantly and forgotten about immediately. And let me tell you now, that’s not how real entertainment works.

When I think about real entertainment, it’s the type that stuck with me for life. And something that sticks with you for life requires some sort of engagement, investment, and interaction.

Scrolling is passive and leaves you unfulfilled.

We know this because when you do it too much, a book, a movie, or even a real-life discussion starts to feel like too much.

I don’t know about you, but for me, real life is what you can see, touch, breathe, and feel.

I recently went to watch the Michael Jackson Movie. I’m obsessed. Ever since I’ve watched the movie, I’ve been studying his thoughts and ideas on manifestation. But that’s not what I want to talk about. I mention him because it’s insanely weird how present people were at his shows.

A video I watched of one his concerts, I believe the one in Budapest, there wasn’t a single phone in sight. People were completely present just enjoying his music. Even watching the video and not being there, it felt euphoric. Whereas nowadays, we have Spotify. We have all this good music in our ears constantly.

With scrolling, the longer you scroll, the less enjoyable it gets.

Most of the time you’re scrolling to find that one video that will make the entire thing worth it. But that’s not entertainment. It’s searching.

To search for satisfaction proves satisfaction wasn’t there in the first place.

I have people close to me in my life that I’m grateful for. When I have a real-life discussion with them, it fills me up. Which is the complete opposite feeling of what I have after a scroll. Scrolling empties you out.

Seeing social media as entertainment is one thing. Another cope mechanism is to believe that scrolling is a part of your “relaxation time”, which is the biggest illusion. It’s actually one of the most stimulating things you can do to the brain.

Stimulation is the opposite of relaxation.

Just in case you didn’t know, to relax is to be slow and intentional.

One other thing people assume is that scrolling keeps you connected with other people and the world. But it’s just passive observation. You’re not connecting, you’re just observing other people’s lives on autopilot. This is concerning because it doesn’t fail to provide real connection, it replaces it. It’s all just time and energy that could have gone to the real people you have in your life.

Some people say they scroll due to boredom. But people aren’t bored without their phones, they’re just going through withdrawal. Actual boredom existed before smartphones and people dealt with it fine. They day-dreamed, noticed their surroundings, contemplated on their thoughts, created art, sat with themselves doing absolutely nothing. That type of boredom was actually useful. It’s where creativity and self-awareness came from.

When you stop using scrolling to fill every empty moment you get back the ability to be.

The silence that comes with you when you stop scrolling is the same silence where self-knowledge lives.

It’s Not Addiction, It’s Fear

A part from those, the most important thing is fear. If I told you to stop scrolling, you would physically be able to stop scrolling, right? But it’s the fear around the stopping that makes it impossible.

Deep down, most people are afraid that they will miss out on something important. Which is a lie, because anything genuinely important will reach you regardless.

5 years later you will not remember a single Instagram Reel you watched this week, but you will remember all the hours you wasted.

The attachment to the behaviour feels real. It’s the same type of attachment a smoker would have with cigarettes. It only feels meaningful because of the repetition, not value.

Regardless if something is good or bad, the more you repeat the action, the more you reaffirm to yourself that it’s normal, and therefore good for you. Only once you see through the attachment, it loses its grip entirely.

This is a choice between known discomfort and unknown discomfort. Bear in mind, the unknown is only a few days of adjustment. You just need to make the decision.

Just in case you haven’t grasped the message. The hard part was never the quitting, it was believing you had something to give up.

But the loop isn’t giving you anything. Social media, if not used as tool, is not giving you anything. It’s not giving you entertainment, relaxation, or connection. It’s all just an illusion. The fear of stopping was the traps last defence.

You just need to nail down the clarity part. A clear understanding of what the scroll is and the purpose of it in your life. The practical side of changing the behaviour is actually easy.

But you need to make a clear decision. Say it to yourself now. I’m done with it, and I don’t want it anymore.

The only reason you want to see the next TikTok or Reel is because you watched the last one. Confirm to yourself that the last one you watched was the final mindless scroll.

This isn’t about never using your phone again or “going off the grid”. The internet and social media is a great tool when used intentionally. It’s about ending the mindless habitual loop driven scrolling that eats your time and attention without your conscious consent. Instead, seek out everything that is slow.

I want to say this again.

I’m on social media. But intentional use is completely different from compulsive use.

Work With Your Brain (Via Self-Education)

You probably clicked on this video because you remember a time when your brain felt better.

I don’t know about you, but I miss thinking for the sake of thinking.

I’m making this video because I genuinely want my curiosity back. That’s the ability to sit with a question without reaching for a distraction every 10 seconds. I want the side of me that lit up at complexity instead of shutting out.

The painful part of all of this is how scrolling drains your mental energy. The kind of energy you need for focus and creativity. It’s the reason why you feel tired after a scroll sesh even though you were technically doing nothing.

In my opinion, thinking and learning is your best way back.

Short form engages the eye, but not the brain.

The solution is to approach activities that demand more of you. Just think back to when you were a child. You were giving every bit of you with full presence to one thing at a time. Your mind was never elsewhere.

Most people forget that the brain is like a muscle. You either use it or lose it.

That’s why in the recent years, I’ve really been trying to get back into self-education. I believe self-education is the antidote. Actively using your brain is good. Thinking is the fighting.

Think about it.

When you want a better body, what do you do?

You physically work on bettering your body.

It’s the same thing with the mind. If you want a better mind, you need to improve yourself mentally. Give your brain a challenge.

Self-education also relies on intrinsic motivation. You do it for no other reason but to improve yourself. Don’t approach it to get something or have “an edge in the world”, not that it’s a bad thing to have an edge, but your intention will be wrong. Instead, do it for curiosity. Do it to get back that childlike wonder.

Modern school isn’t learning. It’s memorisation. Learning isn’t about academic achievement or competition, but the act of learning itself.

Every entity’s purpose outside of you is to transform a being into a thing. For example, a person becoming a cog in a corporate machine. You know this by looking at the organisation that you work for. Superior people at the top of the organisational hierarchy don’t even know your name. Your nature is a full on being, but you’ve been transformed into a thing because now you don’t even have a name.

That’s why directing your attention is one of the most powerful things you have control over. All possible forms of experience only have the ability to be accessed when we open our minds to the possibility of experiencing them.

Creativity itself is the act of combining together random data points in a meaningful way.

If everyone gets the same data points (that’s if everyone consumes the same thing mindless thing), we lose creativity.

Solutions

But what is the solution? The solution isn’t to go completely analogue. It’s to seek out everything that is slow. That includes meaningful slow discussions with other real people.

Brain rot is not your fault, but it is your responsibility.

You need to recognise that a big chunk of your attention is being controlled by an algorithm that has been designed to addict you.

Social media platforms invest money so that the loop that we spoke on earlier keeps going. Believe it or not, the algorithm knows you better than you. It tracks every like, comment, and share. You don’t even study yourself more than algorithms study you. And it will never tell you to stop scrolling because stopping is against its financial interest. Once you understand this misalignment in interests, you wake up.

Anything fast fucks you up. The same way fast food is bad for your body, fast content is bad for your mind. Consume longer, deeper media that encourages you to expand your imagination. That’s ultimately when you stop consuming and start creating.

Full 4-Step Plan

I don’t want to leave you on just concepts and insights. So, here’s a step-by-step guide:

Select 1-3 topics for self-education Take a few days to a week. Be conscious of where your attention is drawn.

This time around, use social media to your advantage.

When you’re on social media, notice what you stop on. I wouldn’t include short form in this mix, obviously.

But which books, podcasts, or articles attract your attention? You don’t need to change yourself. Just focus on the things that you’re already consuming.

Decide on at least 1-3 topics that you are going to use for intentional self-education. Then spend at least 30 minutes to 1 hour a day consuming it without switching tasks. Let your brain soak in every piece of it.

If you find it difficult to do, pair it with something that you’re already doing.

Habits are more likely to stick when you tie them to something you’re already doing.

Do it as you walk, workout, or even alongside a cup of coffee. This has been a cheat code in my life.

People who beat brain-rot are intentional consumers. The people who brain-rot beat are passive consumers.

Curate This means locate your resources.

I get it, everything is on the internet and there’s too way much information.

I recommend you find 3-5 people who you really enjoy consuming from. That can be 3-5 YouTube channels, Newsletters, authors etc.

Apply If you’ve just learned something, immediately use social media to create content on it.

Don’t worry about likes and engagement. That’s not the purpose.

The purpose is to build your mind.

The brain remembers information better when it is used actively.

That’s why using your phone now as a tool to create content on Substack, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube or any other platform, you will find yourself in the top 1% of the population.

The problem was never learning. It was endless intake without application. But when you apply something immediately after learning it, the brain recognises that the information has value and rewards you for it. That’s how stronger neuropathways are formed in the brain. Knowledge without usage slowly becomes mental clutter.

You’ve probably heard it before, “the importance of small habits”.

Small habits matter because repeated behaviours shape the brain overtime.

Here, the good news is that the brain is adaptable. The same neuroplasticity that strengthens distractions can now also be used to rebuild focus.

And I’ve found that the best way to understand something is to teach it. To apply your knowledge and understand why your applying the knowledge is the key to self-education that sticks.

Put out onto the internet what you’ve learned. Here, not only are you improving your own brain, but you’re also helping other people. Your content could possibly at this point drag someone out of the wormhole they’re in.

Reflect After you’ve shared your knowledge online, the gaps in your knowledge will be clearer. Social media is useful because it shows us the gaps that are missing from our knowledge.

What did you have trouble explaining? Do you need to improve your writing or speaking skills? What technique didn’t you understand? What new insights did you gain? Did you make any connections between different concepts? Is there anything new that you’re curious about? You’re self-evaluating here. Not by another person, but by you.

This puts you in the driver seat of your own brain.

That’s all.

Everything I’ve mentioned, I’m doing in my own life.

I consume long form, that’s books, podcasts, and online articles and use it as my mental nutrition.

I write a newsletter and read it out on YouTube once a week as my mental workout.

Feed your mind. Then use your mind.

It’s the only way to save yourself.

-Serkan