The feed is easy to start. We write about the ending.

Short answer

A stopping point is an ending you choose before you tap the app: a count, a clock time, an outside event or a purpose. Research on if-then plans shows that deciding in advance helps people act on their intentions, though it works less well against strong habits. Field studies suggest that a short pause before an app opens, and limits set ahead of time, reduce use. No study has tested stopping points for video apps specifically, so treat this as a one-week experiment.

What the evidence supports

People often keep scrolling past the point of enjoyment because feeds remove natural stopping points, so stopping takes a decision made mid-stream, often when tired. Experience-sampling research finds that media use is one of the desires people most often fail to resist, but the link between phone use and mood is small on average. Calling ordinary scrolling an addiction is not well supported. Deciding your exit before you open an app, and adding a small pause, are reasonable low-cost experiments.

What the evidence supports

Going to bed later than you meant to, when nothing is stopping you, is called bedtime procrastination, and surveys consistently link it to shorter, poorer sleep. In interviews, one recurring reason is wanting time that feels like your own after a day that belonged to other people. Most of the evidence is cross-sectional, so cause and effect are unclear, and no intervention has strong trial support yet. A reasonable approach is to move some free time earlier and decide in advance how the evening ends.