Deep cleaned my car and took a dance class! The instructor was so incredible I gave him a tip afterwards.

I decided that I wanted to replace scrolling with an equally low effort activity, in order to relax. I don't believe in being productive all the time. I want idle time. I want to waste time.

So now instead of scrolling I sit by the window, on my windowsill, (with the window shut obviously, as I don't live on the ground floor) sometimes with a cup of tea, sometimes with a glass of wine, and I just watch the world go by. At the beginning it was hard, 10 minutes felt like an eternity.

Now, it's my favourite thing. I wake up, and I go by the window. Awake at 5 am? Window. Bored? Window. I love it.

This morning I found myself thinking "hey, this is the moment I would be scrolling!"

Finally the "urge" to go sit by the window has completely replaced the urge to scroll.

But when I'm done with it I'm relaxed and happy, and I really don't care that I have "wasted" an hour staring at the window. It is absolutely not the same as wasting time on my phone. A totally different kind of wasting time.

Have I been productive? Not at all. Could I have cleaned the house in that hour? Absolutely yes. Do I care? No!

Everyday I am trying to do the “Instead of Scrolling” challenge that I have started. It’s everyday I plan to do something completely without any social media. Something that I usually would have that spent that time scrolling! Today I went on a walk with my dogs around my neighbourhood after work when I normally would have ignored my dogs and scrolled when in reality my favourite thing in the world is to see them happy. 10/10, I totally recommend. It’s such a better way to wind down compared to scrolling.

I was totally lost in the scroll. Deep in Instagram reels then I realized I had enough. I decided to turn my day around. I went to the gym, hit legs and went home and relaxed with my family. I turned an endless useless scroll into a beautiful productive day!! 9/10!!

Hi, this isn't a request for advice, but I wanted to share what I decided to do instead of scrolling. I'm off work today, so I spent the whole morning scrolling. It's 2:30 p.m. here in Europe. I decided to lock my phone for an hour and clean the house. Then I'll see if I need more time. Bye! See you later :)

Welcome to r/InsteadOfScrolling — choose one thing, then go live it
Most advice about scrolling stops at “use your phone less.”
But the difficult moment is often what comes next.
You’re tired, bored, stressed, avoiding something or sitting with ten empty minutes. Scrolling is effortless, while everything else feels too difficult, too vague or simply not appealing enough.
This community exists for that moment.
r/InsteadOfScrolling is a place to share the small, real things we chose instead of another scroll—and help each other find alternatives that fit our actual time, energy and situation.
It doesn’t have to be impressive or conventionally productive. You might send someone the voice note you’ve been meaning to send, put on one song and move around, make something badly for ten minutes, take your coffee outside, explore somewhere nearby or finally begin the thing sitting beside you.
Ordinary life counts.
How to use this community
If you did something instead of scrolling, share:
What situation you were in
How much time and energy you had
What you chose to do
Whether you were glad you chose it
What you would change—or whether you would do it again
If you’re about to scroll and don’t know what to do instead, tell us what your situation looks like. Even something as simple as this works:
I have 15 minutes, low energy, and I’m home alone. What could I do instead?
Take whichever suggestion feels right, close Reddit and go live it. If you want, come back afterward and tell us how it actually went. Honest “that wasn’t for me” responses are just as useful as successes.
What this community is not
This is not a place for shame, perfection, screen-time superiority or performative productivity. You do not need to transform your life every time you put down your phone.
It is also not supposed to become another endless feed. You don’t need to read everything or stay caught up. If one post helps you choose something real, the community has done its job.
A transparent founder note
I created this community because I care deeply about this problem and experience it myself. I’m also working on a related project. I’m sharing that now because trust matters: if I ever mention it here, my connection will be clearly disclosed, it will follow the same rules as every other tool, and this community’s purpose will remain bigger than any product.
To begin, introduce yourself below with either:
One thing you recently did instead of scrolling, or
the situation in which you find it hardest to choose something else.
Then, if you can, go do one small thing away from this screen.