The Mindless Scrolling Calculator

How much of your life are you giving away to the scroll?

Check your phone's screen time settings, plug in your real numbers, and see what your scrolling habit is actually costing you — in time, in potential, and in dollars you're making for someone else.

1. How much do you scroll?

Check your screen time settings: iPhone (Settings > Screen Time) or Android (Settings > Digital Wellbeing)

Daily social media (hours)

Your current age

Age you started social media

Life expectancy

Primary platforms used

Hold Ctrl/Cmd to select multiple. Affects ad revenue estimate.

2. The Damage Report

Time Already Gone

If You Don't Change Anything

What You're Worth to the Platforms

They get paid. You get a dopamine hit that fades before your thumb stops moving.

What You Could Do With That Time Instead

3. Take Your Time Back

What if you cut your daily scrolling? See how much time you'd reclaim.

New daily target (hours)

Average Daily Usage by Platform

How does your usage compare? These are 2024/2025 averages.

Platform	Avg. Daily Use	Annual Ad Revenue / User
TikTok	58 min	~$35 USD
YouTube	48 min	~$45 USD
Instagram	33 min	~$75 USD*
Facebook	31 min	~$75 USD*
X (Twitter)	24 min	~$15 USD
Reddit	24 min	~$5 USD
Snapchat	21 min	~$10 USD

*Meta reports combined ARPU for Facebook + Instagram. North American figures from 2024 investor reports.

Assumptions & Sources

Ad revenue per user based on 2024/2025 North American ARPU from Meta, Alphabet, Snap, and Reddit investor reports.
Platform ARPU estimates: Meta ~$75, YouTube ~$45, TikTok ~$35, X ~$15, Snapchat ~$10, Reddit ~$5 (USD/year).
Book reading time: ~6 hours average (250 pages at ~2 min/page).
Language fluency: ~600 hours (FSI Category I languages).
University degree: ~4,800 hours (120 credit hours x 40 hours/credit).
Marathon training: ~200 hours (16-week beginner program).
Musical instrument to intermediate: ~600 hours.
Writing a novel: ~300 hours (first draft through revision).
Building a side business: ~500 hours in the first year.
Cooking from scratch: ~2 hours per new meal to learn.
Waking year = 16 hours/day x 365 days = 5,840 hours.