Research shows that the ability to deliberately limit the flow of information is a basic skill of psychological hygiene. It sustains mental health, lowers anxiety and improves the quality of the decisions we make.

This is discussed in a material by the nationwide mental health programme "How are U?".

Why "just spend less time on your phone" is irritating

Irritation at such advice is entirely natural. Biologically, following it under high uncertainty is far harder than it sounds: our brains are evolutionarily tuned to notice danger first, and prolonged stress sharpens that vigilance further.

So the person who opens the feed every morning is neither weak nor addicted — they are doing what their nervous system pushes them towards as it tries to keep a threat in view. That is why willpower alone works poorly here.

The cost of an endless stream

The effect is physical: the day has not started yet and a person already feels tired from dozens of messages, announcements, emotional headlines and other people's opinions. Resources are spent processing information that mostly requires no action from us.

Psychologists suggest distinguishing genuinely valuable information from noise: the first changes our decisions and actions, the second merely raises tension while giving nothing back.

Where to start

The simplest step is to delay your first contact with a screen by at least half an hour after waking. Next, it helps to set specific windows for reading news instead of keeping the feed open in the background all day.

In a region where air raid alerts have become part of daily life this is a particularly sensitive topic: giving up news entirely is neither possible nor right here. The point is not refusal but deciding for yourself when and how much to read.

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