How to beat brain rot
Clear your mind with these screen-free activities
If you’re anything like us, we know how many hundreds of hours we can waste watching clips of puppies being groomed or wondering whether the latest ‘miracle’ skincare product will actually give us perfect skin. According to research, the average person in the UK spends almost two hours every day on social media.
In 2025, it requires serious willpower to resist the addictive draw of constantly picking up our phones and to limit the dreaded doom scroll.
If you’d like to deep dive into knowing more about the impact phone addiction is having on our brains and attention spans (& how we can reduce our usage). We recommend listening to this episode of Jamie Laing’s ‘Great Company’ podcast with the neuroscientist, TJ Power, author of The Dose Effect.
We’ve been trying to put our phone down and instead get stuck into some different activities to give our brains a little rest.
Here are a few of our favourite things to do when we want a break from the digital world and to feel more rooted in the moment:
Embroidery, Tapestry & Sewing
Tapestry is my number one way to switch off and relax at the moment. We’re huge fans of The Fabled Thread. We think they’re producing the very best embroidery kits out there (and I’ve done my research). The designs are colourful and whimsical, often inspired by folkloric stories such Aesop’s Fables. As a total beginner, I started off with Act III from The Jaberwoky series. Emboldened by my success, I’ve recently taken the plunge and started a full cushion. I’m enjoying the process so much and the fact I will (eventually) have completed something myself to decorate my home forever is the icing on the cake. Keep an eye an eye out on our socials for the final result.
Give life some BOUNCE with a rebounder
We all know taking a walk to clear your mind is one of the best ways to get our endorphins flowing, but what if you only have fifteen minutes and don’t have green fields on your doorstep? Enter the mini-trampoline or rebounder - it can be stored in a small flat and you can blast out some favourite tunes. NASA has completed studies that show ten minutes of trampolining has the same benefits as 30 minutes jogging.
I first came across it when Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu (Sylvie from Emily in Paris) said, in true French style, that the secret to her incredible figure at 62 was a few minutes of trampolining every morning, unless she’d drunk too much wine the night before…
Journaling & making a vision or colourful mood board
I’m wrapping these activities up in one as I gain huge satisfaction from finding some quiet time to bring out a notebook and put a pen to paper to clear my thoughts.
From simply recording my day (often realising I achieved more than I thought), to creating lists or just free-flowing writing, the physical process helps us to deal with overwhelm and to refocus. Sketching, drawings or finding photos/images to illustrate how you’re feeling, adding in positive statements and setting goals for the future all feed into our ‘creative’ life, which needs nourishing.
If you do want to create online boards to save on your phone or desktop for daily inspiration, some great apps to start your vision board journey include Canva or piccollage.
Word & number games
We have a running joke in our family when we go to bed that it is time to give our brain or ‘cogs’ a workout. That could be through doing the crossword in the paper, playing sudoku or trying to complete the word game wordle.
At home art kits & painting pottery
We’re not all born true artists but we can now still enjoy the therapeutic process of painting something beautiful even if our natural talent may be lacking! These joyful art kits of your favourite travel scenes are a great way to take a moment to yourself, which you can then hang on the wall. We spotted this painting pottery studio had opened near us the other day and can’t wait to try it - painting some ceramics at the same time as catching up with a friend is the perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon.
And finally…
Puzzles! Obviously! :)