Thoughts from the echo chamber

7 Sept 2026 · 1 min read · by Craig McCreath

I've been grieving recently. To drown out my own thoughts, a barrage of endless content has been going into my ears and my eyes to keep me eternally occupied. I'll have TikTok running in the background as I cook, podcasts as I walk, TV to eat dinner with.

This isn't a new problem though, it's a practiced one. When life gives you lemons, why not watch some content to see how you can get the most out of your lemons? See 10 top tips for how I use lemons for productivity. Can't sleep, this lemon trick will change your life!

The problem I find is I know I have other hobbies I want to do. I berate myself for not reading, for not playing our collection of board or video games, for keeping up with the house or going through our big organisational project. But none of those gives an exhausted neurodivergent mind the quick, reliable hit of dopamine that scrolling does.

So what has to change? I've tried those wellbeing reminders, deleting apps, but if these cause frustration rather than what I need… intention. If you're blocking apps and putting on focus modes, ultimately the problem is probably staring you in the face. You're still holding your phone. You need distance. Put the phone on the coffee table far away, not in your pocket. If not there, a bag.

Let's see how I can get my screen time down; 5.5h this last week.

Ironically written from my iPhone.