How to Reduce Screen Time with ADHD: 5 ADHD Friendly Strategies

You've collected more hobbies than you can keep track of, but you still spend all your free time mindlessly scrolling on your phone (while your craft supplies are collecting dust in the corner). You always have good intentions about what you want to do after school and on the weekends, but in the blink of an eye, Monday has arrived and you've done nothing but watch videos on TikTok. The worst part is you couldn't even describe a single video you watched! It's nothing to be ashamed of, I’ve had those weekends, too.

The typical advice is often to put screen time limits on your favourite apps. But if you’ve tried this before, you may find yourself you're just hitting "ignore" when the pop-up arrives and not even thinking twice about it. Strategies that weren't designed with our brain wiring in mind lead to failure, and ultimately feeds into negative perceptions of ourselves.

The goal isn’t necessarily to eliminate screen time from your life entirely. It’s to make it easier to choose how you spend your time instead of automatically reaching for your phone.

By the end of this post, you'll walk away with ADHD friendly strategies to help reduce your screen time with no willpower required. Without the stress and overwhelm, you can spend more time doing the things you actually want to be doing.

Why is it so hard to stop scrolling with ADHD?

Many people struggle with scrolling and having too much screen time, but it is especially challenging when you have ADHD. Here are a few of the main contributing factors:

Impulsivity
ADHD can make it harder to pause, regulate impulses, and consider longer-term consequences of what we are doing in the moment. When it feels good to be scrolling in the moment, it's hard to recognize and react appropriately given the possible consequences it could have.

Time Blindness
Like they say, time flies when you're having fun! It's even more true when you struggle with time blindness. What feels like a few short minutes on social media may actually be the whole afternoon. This also makes “just five minutes” of scrolling nearly impossible to stick to.

Instant Gratification
Almost everything on our phones provides instant gratification. Whether it's watching short videos, getting likes on social media, or playing mobile games. This gives our ADHD brain the excitement, dopamine, and novelty it craves.

Executive Dysfunction
When everything else feels overwhelming, going on your phone feels simple, easy and straightforward. There are no steps, no planning, and no prioritizing involved. We can also be drawn to going on a screen when there are other things we're procrastinating. Executive dysfunction can also make it harder to stop the task you're doing (of being on your phone).

Setting realistic and compassionate goals

If you're currently spending 8+ hours a day on screens, setting a goal of cutting it down to 1 hour straight out of the gate is frankly unrealistic. Setting an unrealistic goal makes it much harder to build sustainable change, and when you inevitably fail it feeds into the belief that you can't accomplish anything (or similar negative self-talk).

That's why I believe it's so extremely important to set ourselves up for success in whatever way we can! Here are a few ways you can go about this:

Start small
Start with the smallest possible change you can think of. Something like bringing a book with you on the bus instead of going on your phone.

Don't make it a numbers game
Instead of fixating on the amount of time, focus on how you're feeling. Are you satisfied with how your day went? Where would you like to see improvements? Ask yourself: “what do I want to have more time for?”

Focus on what you did do
Instead of beating yourself up over the screen time you did rack up, focus on the wins! No matter how big or small. Maybe you managed to spend 20 minutes working on a puzzle instead of playing a game on your phone. That is something to celebrate!

Self-compassion
If you do have a day with a lot of screen time, it doesn't mean you've ruined your progress. Things like this happen, and progress is rarely linear. Maybe you're extra stressed, not feeling well, or just having a day. You can always try again tomorrow. Showing yourself compassion, understanding and grace is exactly what you need in those moments.

5 ADHD friendly strategies to reduce screen time

These are simple tools and strategies you can try to support yourself in this process. Keep in mind everyone is unique, and some may not work for you (and that's okay!) Sometimes, you'll find something that works and then suddenly stops. That isn’t a sign of failure, but rather a signal that it’s time to freshen things up again. There is no shame in that.

Create a Dopamine Menu

Sometimes we reach for our phones simply because we don’t know what else to do in the moment! Having alternatives already planned removes some of the decision making required to choose something else. A "dopamine menu" is a handy little tool you can create to help cut down overwhelm, and remind yourself of all the other fun things you have to do.

This is often a graphic divided into different courses to categorize activities, so based on the situation you're in you can be guided to what you have to choose from. "Appetizers" would be 5-10 minutes, the "main course" is 15+ minutes, "sides" are things you can add on while doing another activity, "desserts" are fun indulgences, and "specials" are bigger activities that you would need to plan for in the future.

There is so much you can do with a dopamine menu, so have fun with it! Once you're done, put it somewhere you'll run into it naturally. For example, setting it as your phone wallpaper, or putting it on your fridge.

Make Other Activities Easier to Start

Often, there are steps to getting engaged with a hobby. You have to remember where you put it away. Go and pull it out. Set it up. Only THEN can you start. Whereas your phone is likely already in your hand and ready to go. That's hard to compete with!

That's why we need to reduce any possible barriers to the other activities you want to do. If you want to read more, keep your current book on the coffee table. If you want to do yoga, turn your yoga mat into a carpet. If you like colouring, make sure your books and markers are out, visible and ready to go. Yes, it's not as "neat", but you don't live in a museum! Swapping things out for different storage that is easier to get into or clear can be helpful, too.

Turn Off Notifications

Your phone is already competing for your attention, you don’t need to add extra dings to the mix! Turn off all your non-essential notifications (you can thank me later).

Make Scrolling Slightly Harder

Your phone is designed to be incredibly easy to access. Instead of relying purely on willpower, try adding a little friction between you and your go-to time sucking apps.

Try:

• Moving social media apps off of your home screen

• Putting your phone is another room while you study

• Using built in app limits or focus modes

• Charge your phone outside your bedroom

Adding some extra steps can help give you enough time to pause and decide whether you actually want to be on that app right now. This works best alongside the other strategies, not as a standalone hack.

Accountability and Support

Tell someone you trust what you’re trying to change and be specific about how they can support you. Maybe it's asking them to stop sending you videos, and save the highlights so you can watch them together next time you meet in person. Maybe it's planning more get togethers or calls offline. Maybe, it's just a gentle nudge or callout if they notice you online a bit too much or mindlessly scrolling while you're together. Whatever it is, explore what support would feel most helpful for you and communicate this. It's okay to ask for help and support!

Still struggling to follow through?

If you’ve tried screen time limits, productivity apps and other strategies but still find yourself reaching for your phone whenever you start feeling bored or overwhelmed, the problem may not be lack of willpower.

ADHD coaching can help you figure out what’s driving the pattern and build personalized strategies that make it easier to get yourself doing what you actually want to be doing.

If you're interested to learn more about ADHD, AuDHD or executive function coaching with Zoe from New Bloom ADHD Coaching, you can start with a free discovery call!

Last Updated: August 2026