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Why Your Digital Detox Resolution Fails by January 15

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.

Dec 25, 2025

3 min

Eli SingerHarshi Sritharan

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.


Connect with:
Eli Singer

Eli Singer

CEO

Mentor Coach for Neurodivergent Leaders & Technology Entrepreneurs

Coaching & LeadershipBoard AdvisorInnovation & CommercializationThought LeadershipLeadership Entreprenership Startups
Harshi Sritharan

Harshi Sritharan

Registered Social Worker (RSW)

Expert in child development, human behaviour, and behaviour modification

Human BehaviourLearning Strategies‎Behavior TherapyLearning DisabilitiesAttention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
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