I have actually won against doomscroll. I used to spend 5-6 hours per day, and it peaked at 10 hours per day for some days of the year.

I realized that doomscrolling is not only clever algorithms trying to get me hooked, but also a symptom of deeper problems that I had.

And I realized that I was unhappy because I spent most of my doing things that I didn't like. I was deep frustrated. I did not want to spend my brain's precious energy on doing things that I didn't want to do.

I changed my path. Stopped caring about outside forces. Became happier. This was the hard part.

The easy part is what I learned from Cal Newport's book "Deep Work". It asks you to implement timeblocks. I implemented a 20 minute timeblock for browsing social media. I would not touch social media outside that timeblock. It really worked. I implemented timeblocks for studying, coding, personal time, and the resistance towards doing these things weathered away once I started. So, the urge to doomscroll went down, too.

I read some books, and consumed other resources that talk about our mind and our brain. Also some books on Theraveda Buddhist teachings. When you see your "self" as a bunch of neurons contextualised by your environment, outer stimuli, and as these are bound by biological laws, you stop being hard on yourself. You forgive yourself, gently. Then managing emotions, urges, etc. become easier.

Reducing the number of apps that you use also reduces time spend in doomscroll. I gave up Facebook 4 years ago because the content was too low quality, and gave up Quora some months ago for the same reason. Now all I have is Reddit. I keep Facebook as a non-professional networking too. I open it if I have something to say to particular someone, and spend maybe 10 minutes per month on it.

I also started meditating. That also helped big time. I will highly recommend it. Books that helped-

- What the Buddha Taught by Walpola Rahula

- Mindfulness in Plain English by Bhante Henepola Gunaratana

- Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright

- Mastery by Gordon Leonard

- Learning How to Learn (Coursera)

- Mind Illuminated by Culadasa

- Atomic Habits by James Clear

- Pragmatic Thinking and Learning by Andy Hunt