Addicted to Scrolling? 3 Small Changes to STOP Feeling Drained After Scrolling Social Media
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
iHeartPodcasts
4.8 • 28.5K Ratings
🗓️ 5 December 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What time of day do you scroll the most?
Have you tried setting limits on your screen time?
Today, Jay dives into one of the defining questions of our digital age: is the algorithm shaping who we become, or are we the ones quietly teaching it how to shape us? He reveals how every click, pause, and late-night scroll acts as a subtle signal, tiny instructions that train the system, which then turns around and begins to train us. Before we even realize it, our insecurities become fuel, our curiosity becomes comparison, and outrage becomes entertainment.
But Jay also reminds us that we’re not powerless, our agency hasn’t disappeared; it’s just buried beneath layers of habit. With calm, practical guidance, he shares how we can take our feed back into our own hands, break the doom-scroll cycle, and actually reprogram the digital environment influencing our minds. Whether it’s choosing who you follow more intentionally, setting healthy boundaries in the morning, sharing more consciously, or reconnecting with real-world anchors, Jay shows that we’re not just participants, we’re contributors to how the system works. And when we change how we show up, everything around us begins to shift as well.
In this episode, you'll learn:
How to Retrain Your Algorithm in Minutes
How to Recognize When the Algorithm Is Steering You
How to Build a Healthier, Calmer Feed
How to Use Social Media Without Losing Yourself
How to Strengthen Your Digital Self-Control
You weren’t meant to be overwhelmed by noise or pulled into constant comparison. You were built to create a life rooted in values, peace, and purpose. So take a breath, make one mindful choice at a time, and let it guide the next.
With Love and Gratitude,
Jay Shetty
Join over 750,000 people to receive my most transformative wisdom directly in your inbox every single week with my free newsletter. Subscribe here.
What We Discuss:
00:00 Intro
00:31 Even the Algorithm Has a Glitch
03:04 4 Subtle Ways the Algorithm Shapes You
07:59 How Your Clicks Create the Pattern
09:45 What a Social Network Looks Like Without All the Noise
13:08 Doom-Scrolling Can Give You Anxiety!
14:47 Solution #1: Bring Back Chronological Feeds
15:10 Solution #2: Take a Moment Before Hitting Share
16:06 Solution #3: Demand Algorithmic Transparency
16:29 Why Emotional Mastery and Critical Thinking Matter
19:11 5 Simple Ways to Reset Your For You Page
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an IHeart podcast. |
| 0:02.3 | Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.1 | Is our destiny coded in the algorithm? |
| 0:08.3 | If you feel addicted to social media, this video is for you. |
| 0:12.2 | If you feel glued to whatever's on your feed and can't stop doom scrolling, |
| 0:17.9 | this video is for you. |
| 0:20.0 | And if you're worried about how social media is rewiring your brain, this video is for you. And if you're worried about how social media is rewiring |
| 0:23.3 | your brain, this video is for you. Don't skip it. The number one health and wellness podcast. |
| 0:29.8 | Jay Shetty. Jay Shetty. He won. The only. Jay Shetty. I wanted to start today saying one thing. The algorithm isn't as smart as we think it is. But the deeper |
| 0:44.6 | I went into my research, the more I realized something unsettling. It's stronger than me, stronger than you, |
| 0:52.2 | stronger than all of us, because it knows our weaknesses. But here's |
| 0:57.7 | what I also found. Even the strongest system has a glitch. The algorithm doesn't just know us, |
| 1:04.5 | it depends on us. And if we learn how it feeds, we can decide whether to starve it or steer it. When you Google the words, |
| 1:14.2 | will I ever, the first thing that comes up is will I ever find love? The second is will I ever be |
| 1:22.9 | enough? And the third is will I am net worth? We go from love to a worth to money really quickly. |
| 1:31.4 | But this search for love worth and belonging is what the algorithm exploits. But not in the way |
| 1:38.5 | you think. Picture this. It's midnight. Think of a girl named Amelia, lies in bed, phone in her hand. |
| 1:47.9 | She posts a photo, nothing dramatic, just hoping someone notices. The likes trickle in, her friend's |
| 1:54.9 | comment, she taps on another girl's profile. Prettier, thinner, more followers. She lingers, she clicks, she scrolls. |
| 2:03.8 | The algorithm pays attention. The next night, her feed feels different. More flawless faces, |
| 2:10.5 | more filters, more diets, more lives that look nothing like hers. Curiosity turns into comparison. |
| 2:19.9 | Comparison turns into obsession, |
... |
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