Thirteen hours and forty-five minutes.
That’s what my phone reported one day about six months ago—my screen time. Thirteen hours. Let that sink in.
There are many ways to look at that number. Thirteen hours at my professional rate—that’s money. Thirteen hours of sleep—that’s nearly two full nights. Thirteen hours of life.
And there I was, stunned.
It will probably take me twenty minutes—maybe less—to write this post as I dictate it into ChatGPT, which will politely polish my words and hide my Russian accent from readers who will never hear how I pronounce book, or how the “H” sticks in my throat when I say how are you. But regardless of that, thirteen hours and forty-five minutes stopped me in my tracks.
YouTube Shorts are addictive. Checking WhatsApp statuses becomes automatic. And that’s not even touching the darker corners of social media that many people quietly struggle with.
So how do we cope?
Here’s the reality: behind every app and every platform are millions—if not billions—of dollars in research. Teams of highly educated professionals are paid very well to design algorithms that keep us glued to our screens. The average clip lasts about ten seconds. All you have to do is swipe, and another appears. And the sequence is governed by one question only:
How do we keep them here longer?
From a Torah perspective, time is not just a resource—it is a sacred gift. Our sages teach that every moment carries potential for growth, connection, and purpose. When we lose hours to endless scrolling, we’re not just losing productivity—we’re losing opportunities for presence, for relationships, for becoming who we are meant to be.
So how do you break out?
How do we stop wasting something as precious as time—something I understand deeply, having gone through open-heart surgery and a kidney transplant?
The answer is simpler than you think.
There’s far more money invested in getting you into the cycle than there is in helping you out of it. Which means the responsibility falls on you.
You have to pause.
You have to interrupt.
You have to snap out of it.
That’s what I did.
You don’t have to quit cold turkey. I’ve spent years counseling people and helping them get their lives back on track, and I’ve never once heard someone say, “My goal today is to watch less YouTube.”
People scroll until 2 a.m. knowing they need to wake up at 6. And it wasn’t the 2 a.m. video that trapped them—it was the first one at 10 p.m.
That’s where it starts.
Here’s one practical approach: if you really feel the itch to scroll, do it only when you know there will be a forced interruption.
Ten minutes before picking up your kids.
Fifteen minutes before leaving for work.
Any time when something external will make you stop.
Why? Because once you start, stopping is no longer fully in your control.
Starting is.
I learned something important along the way: when I use my time productively, I feel ten times better than I do after wasting an hour scrolling through garbage.
Digital overuse is just another addiction. It’s no different in its mechanics than alcohol, weed, or harder substances. It’s the first hit that matters.
I’ve been through major medical procedures and received powerful narcotics in the hospital. Yet I didn’t walk out addicted. Why?
Because it was controlled.
Because it was conditional.
And that’s the key.
The healthiest way to limit digital media without eliminating it entirely is to place it inside boundaries—times and circumstances that force an ending.
Because once you begin, when you stop is no longer up to you.
Only when you start is.
A Final Thought
Torah teaches us that true freedom comes from mastery over ourselves. Reclaiming your attention is not about deprivation—it’s about dignity. It’s about choosing presence over distraction, purpose over impulse, and growth over escape.
If you find yourself stuck in cycles—whether with technology, anxiety, relationships, or deeper struggles—you don’t have to face it alone.
At The MenchMaker, we help individuals and couples build clarity, strength, and meaningful change through an integrative approach combining evidence-based therapy with Torah values.
If you’re ready to take back control of your time, your focus, and your life, we invite you to reach out and schedule a consultation.
Change begins with a single decision.
