People Who Can't Sit Still Without Scrolling Their Phone Are Usually Avoiding These 11 Things
That "quick scroll" is probably not about entertainment — it's about avoidance.
GalacticDreamer | Shutterstock We live in a digital era. There's simply no way of ignoring it. Many of us sit on our phones for hours, scrolling through different social media apps. Whether we're watching our friends' stories on Instagram or listening to a five-part series on TikTok, our phones have become a nice distraction from having to face any of the things happening in our real lives. But there are definitely people who make it seem as if their phones are essentially glued to their hands. No matter what they're doing, they need to be scrolling.
It's not as if they have something specific that they're checking, but because they just need to constantly fill the silence rather than actually just being bored. At that point, a phone is more than just a tool to connect with people, but it actually becomes a sort of emotional crutch. These individuals aren't just picking them up because they're bored, but because they're trying to avoid confronting something much deeper. Scrolling on their phone allows them to live in this delusion that they're calm and in control when they're actually just using it as some form of avoidance to keep from dealing with what's actually on their mind.
People who can't sit still without scrolling their phone are usually avoiding these 11 things:
1.Their own thoughts
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The second things get quiet, people who depend on their phones to distract them will immediately latch on to their devices. They would rather scroll endlessly than have to sit there and listen to their thoughts. To them, it can be so uncomfortable. These people might tell themselves it's only for a minute, but what they're really doing is just avoiding having a conversation with themselves.
"Neither emotions nor thoughts are the real problem. They are natural, inevitable features of being human. The deeper difficulty lies in our relationship to them," pointed out psychotherapist A. Maya Kaye.
Because that's what silence is for. It's meant to regroup and check in with yourself. So, when you have the distraction of your phone, it means you don't have to do that at all, and you can avoid confronting all of the uncomfortable truths that you've been pushing down.
2.The discomfort of boredom
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People who depend on their phones and scrolling are usually the ones who can't sit in boredom. The second there's a lull in their day, the phone immediately comes out like clockwork. It's not even a conscious decision, either; it's mostly just a reflex at this point. The funny part about boredom is that it's both inevitable and there's nothing wrong with it either.
"Boredom can be a stimulus for change, leading you to better ideas, higher ambitions, and greater opportunities. Most of our achievements, of man’s achievements, are born out of the dread of boredom," says psychiatrist Neel Burton.
In fact, we sometimes need boredom to feel inspired and productive again. There will be moments in life where nothing will be grabbing our attention, and instead of being able to sit in that space of nothing going on, these individuals would rather just scroll on their phones instead, which ends up defeating the importance of boredom.
3.Fear of being unproductive
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Instead of actually resting, these individuals are reaching for their phones instead. Because to them, it feels like they're doing something, even if they're not actually doing something at all. They're really just tricking themselves into being productive while still technically taking that "break." Scrolling to these individuals becomes a comfort because it allows them to fill the silence without reminding them that they're resting. The truth is, though, the fear of being unproductive is really just burnout.
"You don't need to buy into hustle culture to pursue self-improvement. You don't need to fit the stereotype of a high performer to be a high performer," insisted social psychologist Alice Boyes. "We can create our own model of high performance rather than emulating someone else's."
You've been running around in go-mode for so long that slowing down feels odd and even a little bit unsafe. These people are usually so used to proving their worth through what they do that they forget there's definitely value in doing nothing. And it doesn't mean picking up your phone to avoid resting, but actually putting it down so you can come back to yourself.
4.Decisions they need to make
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You might tell yourself that you're just thinking it through every single time you're picking up your phone to scroll. But if every single time the decision that you need to make pops into your head and you grab your phone, hoping that the answer will be somewhere on your screen, you're actually just using your phone as a distraction.
It's usually because decisions, whether they're big or small, can feel overwhelming. You might be stuck on what will happen if you choose wrong or if you end up changing your mind later. That kind of mental pressure means you need something to bring you back down to Earth, and for many people, that's their phone. It's a comfort and an escape.
"The key is seeing anxiety as the driver, stepping back, and realizing that your anxious brain is taking over—causing you to obsess and fall into little-kid emotions and irrational thinking. Stop doing what your anxious brain tells you to do; realize that your thoughts are running you rather than you running your thoughts," encouraged therapist Bob Taibbi.
5.Their own burnout
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A lot of people have no idea that they're actually experiencing burnout. They just think they're bad at being able to keep up with the things in their lives. But they're actually just tired all the time and deeply unmotivated. Scrolling on a phone is probably one of the easiest ways to ignore burnout because it feels as if you're resting when you're actually not.
"Chronic stress impacts our ability to relate to others and take proper care of ourselves. It can cause significant psychological distress, including anxiety and depression. It can suck all the joy out of our lives and turn us into zombie-esque creatures, who are neither fully alive nor fully dead," insisted the burnout coach
Anna Katharina Schaffner.
You're still taking in information, reacting to things, and even engaging in comparison culture. You're not actually allowing your brain to shut off so that you can eventually start to feel more like yourself. That's why, after spending hours on your phone, you feel more tired than ever.
6.Feeling invisible
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Some people depend on their phones as a way to make sure they don't feel invisible. Especially with social media, posting a photo and seeing all of the likes, comments, and shares coming in can make you feel like you're somebody. It's a validation of the highest degree. So people depend on that, and because they depend on it, they can never not check their phones to see the numbers increase.
Even if the likes are fleeting, which they usually are, it's proof that you're life is visible to other people and that you, in turn, are visible as well. Without the validation of seeing likes on social media, things don't feel as meaningful. Of course, that's not the case at all. Strangers online shouldn't ever dictate how we feel about ourselves and how we view our self-worth.
7.Real conversations
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For some people, engaging in real conversations can be quite intimidating. The ones that force you to be honest and transparent are the ones that they might tend to avoid. So instead, scrolling on the phone and texting can make it seem as if we're engaging in conversation, but we're not actually forming connections. The phone gives the illusion that we're building these real relationships without any of the consequences that come from engaging with people in real life.
Being able to like a post, respond to someone's story, or reply to a comment makes people who scroll on their phones all of the time feel as if they're showing up, but they're not. It's all just an illusion to prevent having to confront the fear of real dialogue.
8.Their own bad habits
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Phones are the best distraction from a lot of things, but especially when it comes to having to look inwards at your own bad habits. It's way easier to distract yourself than to confront the things that you don't like. The most frustrating part about this is that repeating this cycle doesn't help at all, and for the most part, you know it.
You might've tried to break these bad habits before, which may even include being on your phone all of the time, only to end up falling right back into it the very same day. Unless you're devoting real time to make these changes, it's not going to happen at the drop of a hat. And most of the time, you might be scared to allow yourself to break these bad habits because they've become a crutch.
9.Cleaning their space
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We've all definitely been there. We've put off cleaning our room for weeks now, and whenever we're a little bit closer to doing it, suddenly something is interesting on our phone that we need to look at ASAP.
Sometimes it doesn't even have to be a deep clean. It could be that we need to organize that pile of clothes that's been sitting on the chair in the room for weeks now. Or that we need to fold the laundry. But for some reason, even those small tasks feel impossible. So, you just end up scrolling instead and convince yourself that you'll get to folding and putting away laundry later on. But then, like clockwork, "later on" ends up turning into a few more weeks.
10.Feeling out of control
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Feeling as if everything in your life is just out of your control can be one of the biggest stressors. All of the things that you need to get done suddenly feel like they're just piling on top of you, and so scrolling starts to feel a bit like some kind of lifeline. It's a temporary escape to how you're feeling about your own responsibilities.
The irony is, though, that scrolling on your phone rarely even makes you feel better. In fact, it can make the feeling of being out of control much worse. While you're looking at what other people are doing, you know deep down that your own life is spiraling. You're also actively avoiding the things that you need to do which will help you finally gain some control back as well.
11.Fixing their sleep schedule
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The problem with scrolling on your phone is that it can be really addicting, especially when you're actively avoiding trying to fix your sleep schedule. According to a survey from Amerisleep, an estimated 86% of Americans admit to using their phone in bed before falling asleep, and spend at least 38 minutes scrolling before sleeping, on average.
Not only is it bad for your sleeping habits to be on your phone right before going to bed, but it also means you're impacting the day that you have ahead of you as well. Your mind is just being activated when it should be getting ready to slow down for the evening. It's why so many experts and professionals recommend not being on your phone for at least 30 minutes before you need to shut your eyes.
Nia Tipton is a staff writer with a bachelor's degree in creative writing and journalism who covers news and lifestyle topics that focus on psychology, relationships, and the human experience.
