Tell me if this sounds familiar: you’re lying in bed, scrolling on your phone, when you notice it’s 2:00 AM. You know you should go to sleep, but you decide, “Five more minutes won’t hurt.” Then five minutes turn into fifty, you’ve just watched seven “How to Be a Productive Girlboss” videos in a row and your brain feels fried—so it seems like a sign to finally put the phone down. You feel drained and stressed, which is weird because scrolling was supposed to be a way to de-stress and take your mind off everything. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it seems like you have run into digital burnout.
Digital burnout is common, especially with college students, since everything we do relies on our devices. Between submitting assignments on Canvas, joining Zoom meetings, using GPS, texting friends, picking study music and scrolling during breaks, our brains become overstimulated. It can feel hard to unplug because so much of what we do happens online. In reality, there can be too much of a good thing—and this constant connection is one of them.
Why It Happens
Well, our phones are designed to keep us hooked. Every time we get a notification, we get a dopamine hit. As those notifications start to pile up, scrolling becomes mindless and our dopamine threshold rises, making us seek even more dopamine. The release of dopamine helps regulate reward and motivation, so as we scroll, that release reinforces the behavior—which is why when you pick up your phone to use DuoPush, you suddenly end up on Instagram. When the first thing we do in the morning is pick up our phone, our dopamine levels throughout the day start to look a lot like a sugar crash. Imagine waking up, grabbing a bag of your favorite candy and eating the entire bag before you even get out of bed. You get up and start your day, but as some time passes, you start to feel fatigued and you can feel a headache brewing. So, you decide you need to eat something to get your energy back up—so you head to Starbucks to buy a cake pop and a caramel Frappuccino. You get an energy boost, but then, just like before, it disappears—leaving you feeling irritated and anxious. It’s a vicious cycle that leaves you feeling drained and in pain. I’m sure most of you aren’t eating an entire bag of candy first thing in the morning, but that’s essentially what happens when the first thing we do is scroll on our phone. We are left unmotivated and looking for something to give us another dopamine spike to pull us out of that low-energy moment. It’s kind of ironic that our phones promise connection, motivation and entertainment, but half the time, they leave us feeling drained and disconnected. So, how do you know when screen time stops being self-care and starts becoming self-sabotage?
Signs You’re Deep in Digital Burnout
You might not realize you’re experiencing digital burnout until it hits you all at once. Maybe you’ve noticed:
- Your attention span feels way shorter than it used to be.
- You feel restless when you’re not checking your phone.
- You can’t watch a show without scrolling at the same time.
- Even a five-minute wait in line feels unbearable without TikTok.
- Activities that once felt relaxing—like watching YouTube or scrolling on Instagram—now leave you feeling drained.
When that happens, it’s your brain’s way of saying, “Hey, I need a break.”
How to Log Off Without Losing Your Mind
Unplugging doesn’t have to mean deleting all your apps and disappearing into the forest (unless that’s what works for you). So, here are some practical ways to give your brain a break:
- Schedule Screen-Free Blocks –(I usually don’t put a space in front of or behind my em dash, but it’s personal preference, so you can pick which you like and make sure they’re in a consistent format throughout the article!) Pick an hour (or two) a day to intentionally step away from your devices. Use that time to go for a walk, read or just breathe.
- Turn Off Non-Essential Notifications – You don’t need alerts for every comment, app or group chat. Keep only the essentials.
- Replace Scroll Time with Real-Life Activities – Swap 15 minutes of TikTok for journaling, exercising or calling a friend. Even small changes can make a difference.
- Try a Social Media Detox – A full day, weekend or week offline can reset your relationship with your phone and help you realize there’s life outside the screen.
- Be Mindful of Your Digital Habits – Notice when scrolling feels automatic or stressful. Recognizing the behavior is the first step toward changing it.
Why Logging Off Feels So Good
It isn’t easy, but the beauty of unplugging is that you get your life back. Your attention, your energy and your creativity are all things social media quietly drains. Once you step back, you realize how peaceful it is to not be constantly consuming content. Suddenly, you look forward to conversations, walks feel peaceful and even studying becomes easier when your brain isn’t juggling five notifications per minute. Logging off doesn’t mean missing out—instead, it means joining in on what actually matters. We can all agree that college is chaotic enough; you don’t need your phone adding to the noise. The next time you feel the urge to scroll just because you’re bored, pause. Take a breath and go outside. Your brain isn’t built for 24/7 stimulation, and it deserves a break. Trust me: when you finally log off, you’ll remember that social media can’t replicate how good it feels to actually live your own life, not just watch it through your phone.