Do you ever feel like your day is a constant struggle against distraction? You sit down to work, only to find yourself scrolling endlessly. You try to relax with a book, but your phone keeps pulling you back. This feeling of being constantly distracted, sluggish, or unable to maintain focus isn't a personal failure (though it certainly can feel like one!) or a simple lack of willpower. It's a natural consequence of living in a "high-dopamine world," an environment saturated with technology literally designed to capture and hold our attention.
The constant stimulation from our screens is actively dysregulating our brains. This makes it harder for us to use our self-regulation skill, a critical executive function skill that is the gatekeeper to all of our other executive function skills. When we are dysregulated, it’s harder to plan, problem-solve, manage our emotions, and effectively live our lives. This blog post shares five takeaways from our recent webinar, Brain Rot vs. Brain Power: By understanding the science behind self-regulation and the impact screen use has on it, you can move from being a passive consumer to an intentional user, armed with practical strategies to reclaim your focus. As we said in the webinar, “knowledge is power”, and we hope that this information gives you the power to take back control of your self-regulation and screen use.
1: Self-regulation is Your Friend
So, what exactly is Self-regulation? It’s the process by which we monitor and control our attention, thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to achieve goals and adapt to change. It has a major impact on our well-being and success. Self-regulation acts as the gatekeeper to all of our EF skills, so putting work towards this is important for success in life. Because of this, we place a lot of emphasis on self-regulation in our Executive Function coaching sessions. In today’s stressful world, where people are feeling anxious and worried about the future, the state of the country, and their own mental health, learning about self-regulation can make your life better and improve your experience at work, home, and in the world.
Self-regulation depends on the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain where our Executive Function skills live, which develops slowly and continues maturing into adulthood. When we are stressed, overwhelmed, or facing too many demands, this system becomes less accessible, and the amygdala, the brain’s threat detector, takes over, triggering fight, flight, freeze, or fawn responses that shut down our prefrontal cortex. Age, brain development, chronic stress, life changes, readiness for change, and unmet needs all influence how well we can regulate in a given moment. For neurodiverse brains, including those with ADHD, these challenges can be amplified due to differences in the motivation networks in the brain. Highly stimulating environments, especially digital media, can further dysregulate the system by keeping the nervous system in a heightened state of arousal. The key takeaway is that self-regulation is not about willpower; it’s about brain state, context, and support, and it works best when the brain feels safe, supported, and given time to recover.
2: Your Brain Is No Match for "Neuro-Engineered" Algorithms
If you've ever found it nearly impossible to put your phone down, it’s not because you're weak. It's because you're up against systems specifically designed to be irresistible. App developers and social media companies employ a strategy of "neuro-engineering," creating algorithms that are intentionally built to trap us.
These algorithms activate dopamine-seeking patterns in the brain, creating a feedback loop that's difficult to escape. They are, in essence, designed to hijack our brain's reward pathways. This is especially potent for neurodiverse individuals, as conditions like ADHD are often associated with lower baseline dopamine levels, making the brain more susceptible to the instant rewards these platforms provide.
These are neuro-engineered algorithms that our monkey brains can’t resist!
While we can’t change the algorithms, we can change how we react to them. Understanding that these platforms are engineered to be addictive is the first step toward reclaiming control. Knowledge is power.
3: Not All Screen Time Is Created Equal
It’s crucial to understand that the type of screen use matters just as much as the amount. Research makes a clear distinction between active and passive screen time, and the difference in their cognitive impact is significant.
Passive use, such as scrolling through social media or watching an endless stream of short-form videos, is linked to poorer outcomes, including verbal memory and global cognition declines. In contrast, active screen use, such as researching a topic, planning a trip, or reading long-form content, is associated with better outcomes in memory and executive function. This distinction, highlighted by psychiatrist Dr. Cliff Sussman, is between High-Dopamine Activities (HDAs) that provide instant gratification and Low-Dopamine Activities (LDAs) that offer slower, more delayed rewards. Choosing LDAs over HDAs, or at least finding a balance between the two, can help support long-term brain health and reduce some of the negative effects we experience after an activity that uses up our dopamine.
4: There’s Hope: Foundational Routines Support Self-Regulation
It may feel like all doom and gloom in your life (or at least at this point in this blog post), but there are effective ways to manage screentime and support self-regulation. We cover a wide variety of tools in the webinar, so to find more, be sure to watch that. In this post, we take a look at foundational routines, which are a healthy place to start for improving self-regulation.
So much of our ability to stay regulated depends on how strong our foundational routines are. Sleep, nutrition, exercise, and social interaction matter because stress directly impacts our ability to regulate, and the quality of these routines affects how much stress we’re carrying. For people with ADHD or other Executive Function challenges, giving these areas some attention is especially important. We’re not aiming for perfection, just intentional effort and small improvements where we can. Alongside these routines is the idea of staying meaningfully busy: rest is important, but adding fun, engaging activities can help pull us away from screens. ADHD brains like stimulation, which is why screens are so tempting, so choosing activities like joining a club, walking or running, playing a sport, trying a new hobby, learning a game, or even getting a part-time job can be a healthy and regulating alternative.
5: Your Phone Saps Your Brainpower, Even When You're Not Using It
Here is a final, surprising truth: the mere presence of your phone, even when it’s turned off and face down on your desk, is shown to reduce your productivity. Why? Because a part of your brain must constantly expend mental energy to actively resist the temptation to pick it up. This low-level but continuous cognitive load drains the resources you need for deep focus and complex problem-solving. The actionable advice is clear and direct: when you need to focus on a task, put your phone in another room. Removing the temptation entirely frees up your mental energy and allows you to engage more fully with the work in front of you.
Sleeping with your phone in your bedroom has the same effect. Research has found that people who sleep with their phones in their beds sleep less and have poorer quality sleep than those who don’t. As we know from our foundational routines, sleep is incredibly important for effective self-regulation. Charging your phone in another room might feel impossible, but people who do it regularly swear by its effectiveness for better and more restful sleep.
Conclusion: From Awareness to Intentionality
The battle for our attention is real, but it's not unwinnable. The stakes are high because if you’re not well-regulated, you can’t do much of anything well. Reclaiming our focus in this high-dopamine world requires a conscious shift from passive consumption to intentional engagement. By understanding how algorithms are designed to trap us, how different types of screen time affect us, and how simple environmental changes can preserve our cognitive resources, we can begin to use technology as the tool it truly can be.
Making these changes is challenging, and even experts find it hard. But it is possible. It begins with awareness and is sustained by making small, deliberate choices every day. As you move forward, consider this question:
What is one intentional choice you can make today to use your screen as a tool, not a trap?
If you’d like to learn more about how our Executive Function coaches can support you in your journey towards freedom from the trap of phones and screens, and your growth and understanding in the area of self-regulation, check out our coaching resources. Beyond BookSmart has been supporting students and adults since 2006 and understands how challenging life is, especially in this day and age. Find out more about how we can help.
