Offline.now is a community helping people build a healthier relationship with screens - without shame or all-or-nothing rules. We turn intention into action with small wins, a simple framework (the Offline.now Matrix) and practical tools anyone can use at home, at work, or in the classroom.

We host a growing directory of therapists, coaches, and others who specialize in digital wellbeing, attention, and family tech dynamics. Whether you’re a parent, professional, student, or practitioner, we meet you where you are and help you design tech use that supports sleep, focus, and relationships.

For media, we provide expert voices, timely insights on doomscrolling and phone overuse, and real-world stories from our community.

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Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers

Ontario Association of Social Work

ADHD & Time Blindness: How do we address this?

Peak Performance

Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy Fundamentals

Harshi Sritharan is a registered Social Worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers. She specializes in working with individuals across the lifespan from childhood to adulthood,  in neurological disorders like  Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Learning Disabilities, Anxiety, and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

She has spent the early part of her career implementing behavioural techniques within clinics, homes, as well as public and private schools. Harshi has implemented treatment and program planning for individuals with ASD while coordinating and providing support in school classrooms. Seh also supports parents, providing neurodivergent parenting strategies to implement within the home. Harshi has also created a parent training program for parents whose children have recently been diagnosed with ASD and helped parents teach their children communication, social interaction and joint attention skills.

Harshi completed two undergraduate degrees at McMaster University in Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, and Sociology. She then went on to pursue a post-graduate certificate in Autism and Behavioural Science and a certificate in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Following this, Harshi completed her Master’s in Social Work at the University of Windsor.

Harshi has a passion for working with individuals and helping them reach their behavioural, social and emotional goals. Her expertise in child development, human behaviour, and behaviour modification using the principles of Applied Behaviour Analysis helps her create treatment plans and strategies to help support individuals and families with ASD, ADHD and other neurodivergent conditions.

While working directly with youth at her previous agencies, she found there to be a lack of support for families and difficulty addressing the barriers, stressors and emotional challenges that families were facing. Thus, Harshi strives to bring knowledge and awareness of neuroscience differences, available resources and the mental health disorders that co-exist with ASD and ADHD.

Harshi likes to work with the whole family to provide a comprehensive service to foster growth and positive change within the whole environment and family system. Harshi uses a combination of strengths-based, client-centred approaches using cognitive, behavioural,  and mindfulness therapies while working with clients, to help them become their best selves.

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Human Behaviour

Learning Strategies‎

Behavior Therapy

Learning Disabilities

Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Autism (ASD)

Anxiety and Mood Disorders

Organizational Behavior

Neurodevelopmental Conditions

Green Forest Therapy 

Educating teachers, set-up with principal

Mind-Body Connection

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Offline.now experts say broken resolutions are less about willpower and more about confidence and that even small digital changes can deliver big mental health gains.

Registered Social Worker (RSW)

Every January, millions of people make the same promise: “This year I’m going to spend less time on my phone.” By mid-month, most are back to doomscrolling in bed, feeling like they’ve failed yet another resolution.

According to Offline.now founder and author Eli Singer, that story is not about laziness, it’s about confidence.

Offline.now’s proprietary research shows 8 in 10 people want to change their relationship with technology, but more than half feel so overwhelmed by their habits they don’t know where to start.

  “If you don’t learn how to manage the screens in your life, they will manage you,” says Singer. “When people tell us they feel overwhelmed, it’s not laziness. It’s a crisis of confidence. And confidence is something that can be built.”   At the heart of the platform is the Offline.now Matrix, a behavioral framework that maps people into four quadrants: Overwhelmed, Ready, Stuck, or Unconcerned - based on their motivation and confidence levels. Someone who is “Overwhelmed” needs reassurance and tiny first steps; someone who is “Ready” can handle bigger commitments. Treating everyone as if they’re in the same place (“just delete Instagram”) virtually guarantees most resolutions will collapse. 

Psychotherapist Harshi Sritharan, MSW, RSW, who specializes in ADHD and modern anxiety, sees how this plays out in the brain. For many of her clients, especially those with ADHD, digital devices provide a fast dopamine hit that everyday life simply can’t match.

“With ADHD, you’re working with a dopamine deficiency,” she explains. “Phones and apps are designed to give you highly stimulating, personalized content. You get this huge dopamine surge, and when you put the device down, everything else feels flat, boring and harder to start.”  She notes that common habits like checking your phone the second you wake up, quietly undermine even the best January intentions:

“If you’re on your phone first thing in the morning, you hijack your attention and dopamine for the rest of the day. Your brain has already tasted the highest stimulation it’s going to get, and it will keep seeking that level. That’s not a willpower issue, it’s neuroscience.”   The good news: the science suggests you don’t need a perfect detox to see benefits.

A JAMA Network Open study on young adults found that reducing social media use for just one week - without going completely offline; led to about a 24.8% drop in depression, a 16.1% drop in anxiety, and a 14.5% drop in insomnia symptoms.

“Lasting change doesn’t require deleting Instagram or TikTok tomorrow,” says Singer. “You need to win one personal victory today, and then another tomorrow. That’s how confidence rebuilds.”  Featured Experts Eli Singer – Founder of Offline.now and author of Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance. Speaks to the behavioral data behind failed resolutions, the confidence gap, and the Offline.now Matrix framework.  Harshi Sritharan, MSW, RSW – Psychotherapist specializing in ADHD, anxiety and digital dependency. Explains the dopamine science behind compulsive scrolling and offers brain-friendly strategies that work better than “willpower.”  Expert interviews can be arranged through the Offline.now media team.



Why Your Digital Detox Resolution Fails by January 15

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Psychotherapist Harshi Sritharan explains how that “harmless” morning scroll hijacks your brain’s reward system, keeps your nervous system on high alert, and quietly fuels anxiety and exhaustion.

For many people, the day doesn’t start with getting out of bed - it starts with reaching for the phone.

Psychotherapist Harshi Sritharan, who specializes in ADHD and anxiety, says that tiny habit is doing more damage than most of us realize.

“When you check your phone before you’ve even sat up, you’re flooding your brain with microbursts of dopamine,” she explains. “Dopamine is a key part of our motivation and reward system. Those quick hits of novelty - notifications, texts, news, social feeds - tell the brain, ‘This is where the good stuff is.’”  The problem? That early surge doesn’t just switch on your day. It primes your nervous system to stay on high alert.

“You’ve now trained your brain to expect that level of stimulation,” Sritharan says. “For many people with ADHD, nothing else in their day compares - school, work, chores all feel flat by comparison. That’s where that constant ‘I’m bored’ feeling can come from.”  That ongoing “high alert” isn’t just about boredom, though. It’s also a sign of a dysregulated nervous system: your brain scanning for the next hit of information, your body sitting in low-level fight-or-flight. Over time, that uncertainty - What’s waiting for me in my inbox? Did I miss something? - can exacerbate anxiety and executive dysfunction.

Nighttime habits make things worse. Those late-night emotional spikes from doom-scrolling, stressful emails, or intense content don’t just keep your mind busy. They can trigger the sympathetic nervous system - the body’s fight, flight, or freeze response - and potentially release stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline.

“That combination,” Sritharan notes, “blocks melatonin, dysregulates the nervous system, and sends your body the opposite message of what it needs before sleep. You’re basically telling your brain, ‘We’re in danger,’ and then expecting it to rest.”

Instead of shaming people for these habits, Sritharan takes a “knowledge equals power” approach.

“I don’t tell clients, ‘Just stop doing that,’” she says. “I teach them what’s happening in their brain and nervous system so they can understand why it feels so hard to put the phone down. Once people see the pattern, they feel less broken - and more motivated to experiment.”  “Most people don’t need a total digital detox,” Sritharan says. “They need skills, not shame. When they understand how their brain is wired - especially with ADHD - they can design habits that work with their nervous system instead of against it.”

Her message to anyone who feels stuck in the cycle: don’t blame your willpower.

“This is your biology, not a personal failure,” she says. “When you understand what your brain is doing, you can finally start changing the script.”  ⸻

About the Expert Harshi Sritharan is a psychotherapist who focuses on ADHD, anxiety, and intentional tech use. She helps clients understand dopamine cycles, rebuild healthy routines around sleep and screens, and create realistic boundaries that work in real life - not just on paper. Harshi is part of the Offline.now ADHD Expert Community. 

Your First Scroll of the Day Is Wrecking Your Sleep and Focus, Says ADHD Therapist

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Offline.now launches today as world’s first all-in-one digital wellness platform powered by behavioral data that shows confidence, not willpower, is the missing link to lasting change

Executive Function Coach, Speech-Language Pathologist, and Educational Specialist

Certified Professional Coach

Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

Do the math: We’re awake roughly 16 hours a day. We spend 10 of those hours staring at screens – phones, tablets, computers, TV, gaming devices. That’s 63% of our waking life.

The first platform dedicated entirely to digital balance launching today reveals something even more startling: It's not that we lack willpower to change our behavior. It's that we lack confidence. New proprietary research from Offline.now shows that 8 in 10 people are ready to change their relationship with technology, but more than half are so overwhelmed with their digital habits, they don’t know where to start. 

“If you don’t learn how to manage the screens in your life, they will manage you,” says Eli Singer, Founder of Offline.now and author of Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance. “When people tell us they feel overwhelmed, it’s not laziness. It’s a crisis of confidence. And confidence is something that can be built.”   Digital Wellness Experts Address the Struggles No One Else Will  These insights come from digital wellness experts in the Offline.now Digital Wellness Directory – a growing community of licensed professionals across North America specializing in ADHD, relationships, family dynamics, high-achievers, and sustainable behavior change. They’re not offering generic advice. They’re addressing specific digital struggles that define contemporary life. 

 Psychotherapist Harshi Sritharan, who specializes in modern anxiety and ADHD, explains: “The biggest mistake people make is reaching for their phone or turning on their computer first thing in the morning. It injects your dopamine full of uncertainty. You’ve essentially told your brain the most important thing you have to do today is put out fires. I tell clients to delay that first scroll as long as possible and never hit ‘snooze’. You’re fragmenting your REM sleep and making yourself more exhausted. These aren’t willpower issues; they’re about understanding how blue light disrupts your circadian rhythm, especially for those with ADHD who already struggle with sleep regulation.”

According to Sritharan, the breakthrough happens when people understand the dopamine cycles driving their dependence and “reframe how they connect with all their screens, whether it’s their phone, gaming console, or streaming TV.”

High Achievers Can’t Unplug. The ‘Always-On’ Trap is Killing Productivity, Not Boosting It “A lot of high performers think they need better time management,” says Executive Function Coach, Craig Selinger. “But what they actually need are boundaries. They’ve built empires by being available 24/7, and their phones have become permission slips to say yes to everything.”  The difference between old and new technology matters,” he explains. “Back in the day with TV, there was a clear demarcation of beginning and end, right? The episode ends and you move on. Now it’s like Minecraft or TikTok – there’s no ending. And mobility makes it sticky, because you’re physically carrying the drug with you, versus a TV that stayed in one room.”

The breakthrough happens when they realize being unavailable on purpose isn’t a weakness. “Things like turning off notifications during deep work, or setting ‘do not disturb’ windows? Those aren’t luxuries. They’re the competitive advantages they’ve been missing.”  Digital Dependency as a Third Party in a Relationship Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist Gaea Woods says digital devices are killing interpersonal relationships, not because tech is evil, but because “we use it unconsciously at the moments when connection matters most. When you’re scrolling at dinner, you’re telling your partner ‘my phone is more interesting and important than you’.”

The breakthrough happens when couples set explicit agreements: response times, when devices go off-limits – and even what’s it’s OK with AI companions. “We’ve exited the era of meaningful communication without realizing it, and now we must deliberately rebuild it. 

Nature isn’t ‘Nice to Have’. It’s the Antidote to Screen Fatigue No One is Talking About After running a tech-free camp for 25 years, Personal Development Coach Mark Diamond says he’s seen what happens when kids get genuine face-to-face time interaction outdoors. “Their brains reset. The beauty and physical activity provide perspective that screens can never replicate. Digital dependency has eroded our ability to develop real human connections across all ages, not just teenagers. Screens should not replace the moments that define our wellbeing.”

Why This Matters Now The stakes extend beyond personal frustration. Unchecked screen dependency is linked to rising rates of anxiety, deteriorating sleep quality, relationship breakdown, and what mental health experts call “continuous partial attention”, a state where we’re always connected, but never fully present. 

The Data Reveals When Change is Possible Beyond the confidence divide, Offline.now’s research uncovers the precise moments when users are most open to shifting their digital habits:
Evenings from 6 pm-11:59 pm emerge as the “Go Time” window. 40% of self-assessment responders peak readiness to act. Sunday is “Reset Day, when 43% want to set boundaries for the week ahead. Saturdays offer natural opportunities for self-compassion and rest. Afternoons become the “Overwhelm Window”, with 57% feeling consumed by their screens.  Critically, Fridays – despite having the highest overwhelm factor – are the worst time for interventions. Users are depleted and change rarely sticks.   The Framework That Powers the Platform At the platform’s core is the Offline.now Matrix, a behavioral framework that maps the confidence and motivation levels of users to reveal their starting point: Overwhelmed, Ready, Stuck, or Unconcerned. Based on Singer’s book, Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance, the approach replaces willpower-based advice with microlearning strategies – each taking 20 minutes or less – that track emotional triggers rather than just screen time totals. It offers 100 real-world alternatives to scrolling, from reorganizing a drawer to visiting a thrift shop, and reframes slip-ups as data, not disasters.

“The books shows that lasting change doesn’t require deleting Instagram or TikTok tomorrow,” says Singer. “You need to win one personal victory today, and then another tomorrow. That’s how confidence rebuilds.”  Propelled by University of Toronto’s Innovation Ecosystem Offline.now is a University of Toronto-affiliated startup, leveraging one of the world’s most powerful innovation networks. U of T is ranked among the top five university-managed business incubators globally and has helped create more than 1,500 venture-backed companies and secured more than CAD$14 billion in investment over the past decade.

How Offline.now Works For individuals and families: Take the free self-assessment quiz using the Offline.now Matrix to map your motivation and confidence levels in under three minutes. Receive instant access to practical strategies, curated resources, and a searchable directory of digital wellness experts organized by specialty, location, and insurance coverage.
For digital wellness professionals: Join a growing community of licensed mental health practitioners, certified behaviorial coaches, and registered social workers by creating your profile at Offline.now. The platform provides new client leads, professional development opportunities, and visibility in a rapidly expanding market. 

About Offline.now Offline.now is the first global platform dedicated entirely to achieving digital balance. Founder and author Eli Singer built one of North America’s first social media agencies before seeing technology shift from community-building to attention-harvesting. As a parent, he experienced firsthand the struggle to maintain digital balance. The platform combines proprietary behavioral research, expert guidance and counselling from licensed professionals, and science-backed strategies to help individuals and families build healthier relationships with their screens. Visit Offline.now at https://offline.now  Expert Interview Availability Offline.now can arrange interviews with:
Eli Singer, Founder – Vision for digital wellness; behavioral data insights Harshi Sritharan, Psychotherapist – Dopamine cycles, ADHD, anxiety and intentional tech use Craig Selinger, Executive Function Coach – Digital distraction in high achievers, family dynamics, ADHD Mark Diamond, Personal Development Coach – Outdoor wellness, sustainable behavior change, happiness, connection  Gaea Woods, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist – Communication, digital third-party relationships, phubbing  Additional Resources Free self-assessment quiz - The Offline.now Matrix: https://offline.now/quiz Expert directory and booking: https://offline.now/experts/ Join the directory: https://offline.now/join/  Order Offline.now: A Practical Guide to Healthy Digital Balance: https://offline.now/book/  

We’re Awake 16 Hours a Day. We Spend 10 of Them Staring at Our Screens – and Most of Us Feel Powerless to Stop

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