Digital Burnout Peaks: Nearly Half of People Plan to Cut Screen Time in 2026
Each January, we convince ourselves to become a better version of ourselves than the previous year. 2026 brings us a distinct new challenge where people opt for less scrolling, less pressure, and more real-life interactions.
A new study shows that perceptions have changed about social media use in 2026, with 45% of users planning to reduce their screen time, while 23% hope to switch from doomscrolling to learning a useful skill.
If you wonder why social media is the first victim in this trend, the answer is that it creates an illusion of progress, which reinforces guilt, leads to comparison, and aids in losing focus on what actually matters in life. People try to spread themselves too thin, and it backfires on them when it comes to enjoying what they have already achieved. 40% of people do not know how to appreciate the small wins in life, especially when it seems that everybody puts little effort into obtaining something and still achieves it, but it doesn’t seem to work in your case.
Here are 5 practical tips that can be helpful if your goal is to spend less time on social media:
1. Replace aimless scrolling with a specific action
Go on social media with a specific purpose, such as to write or respond to somebody, find one idea, and then log off. Our brain is wired for quick actions, so every time you need to log back into, it will be perceived as a difficult task. So you’ll be less prone to going on social media.
2. Set time windows instead of limits
As soon as we have limits on something, we are eager to break them. But if we can fool our brains, it will benefit us. For example, you can set 20 minutes in the morning, during lunch, and evening, instead of constantly checking throughout the day.
3. Replace, don’t remove
If you’re removing Instagram, immediately add an alternative. We still want to distract ourselves somehow, so going for a quick walk, reading, or simply talking to your colleague can become your alternatives to doomscrolling.
4. Unfollow without regret
Reflect on your social media feed, what emotions some posts bring you, especially pay attention to what truly upsets you on social media. This way, you can alter the algorithm to your advantage.
5. Turn off push notifications
Leave important ones, but other than that, notifications are the main enemy of concentration. So eliminating at least some temptation of doomscrolling will compound over time.
Big changes can only start by taking small steps each day. To make the habit stick, however, it takes over 200 days without missing a beat, which means progress is built slowly. While it may not immediately become apparent, when looked at from a wider lens, you can see changes in yourself over time.