The Attention Experiment
{{ todayLabel }} The Attention Experiment

Welcome back.

Start with what you notice today.

Today, see if you catch yourself in a Scroll Loop
Add it to your home screen Optional. It opens like an app, so it's easy to come back to each day.
Show me how
On iPhone or iPad
1Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow). On iPhone it's at the bottom, on iPad at the top.
2Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
3Tap Add. Open it from your home screen from now on.
 On Android
1Tap the ⋮ menu, top right.
2Tap Add to home screen or Install app.
3Tap Install, then open it from your home screen.
 On Samsung Internet
1Tap the ☰ menu, bottom right.
2Tap Add page to, then Home screen.
3Tap Add.
 On a computer (Chrome or Edge)
1Look for the install icon at the right of the address bar.
2Or open the menu and choose Save and share, then Install.
3It opens in its own window, like an app.
Using a different device?
iPhone or iPad
1Tap the Share button (the square with an arrow). On iPhone it's at the bottom, on iPad at the top.
2Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen.
3Tap Add. Open it from your home screen from now on.
Android
1Tap the ⋮ menu, top right.
2Tap Add to home screen or Install app.
3Tap Install, then open it from your home screen.
Samsung Internet
1Tap the ☰ menu, bottom right.
2Tap Add page to, then Home screen.
3Tap Add.
Computer (Chrome or Edge)
1Look for the install icon at the right of the address bar.
2Or open the menu and choose Save and share, then Install.
3It opens in its own window, like an app.
Your daily check-ins stay on this device either way.
What is a Scroll Loop?
It's when you're scrolling without really choosing to. You reached for your phone out of habit, or picked it up for one thing and ended up somewhere else. Saying "Scroll Loop" is how you notice, and get the choice back.
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The experiment, in short Scroll · Loop · Notice · Choose
📱 Scroll.You pick up your phone.
♾️ Loop.The scrolling starts carrying on by itself.
👁️ Notice.Say “Scroll Loop”, feel your feet and take a few breaths.
❤️ Choose.Carry on or do something else. Either way, it is your choice now.

Every time you catch and name a Scroll Loop, you make the next one easier to notice.

About 

Try a week of noticing, where you're all the researchers.

It's called The Attention Experiment® for a reason.

For 7 days, or more, notice the moments you find yourself in a Scroll Loop, and simply say... "Scroll Loop", out loud or inside your head.

Do the four movements too 📱 ♾️ 👁️ ❤️ and see what happens next. Then chat about with it your family or friends.

Check in here and see what you notice. There is nothing to get right. This is a space to have a go and see what you all notice and what changes.

Why this matters In the UK, people are on track to spend five years of their waking lives on their phones without meaning to. The numbers vary country to country. The design doesn't.
69% believe platforms are designed to keep you engaged. It isn't your willpower, it's the design.
41% say they have little or no control over how they use their phone.
Taking back our attention is an act of rebellion against big tech and surveillance capitalism, as much as an act of self-care and agency.
The research Virgin Media O2 year-long study of 6,000+ people, 2026, with the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge.
The Scroll Loop

A Scroll Loop is when you're scrolling without really choosing to. You reached for your phone out of habit, or picked it up for one thing and ended up somewhere else. Saying "Scroll Loop" is how you notice, and get the choice back.

Scroll · Loop · Notice · Choose

Watching what your own attention is doing is one form of metacognition. Acting on what you've noticed is self-regulation. The Education Endowment Foundation names both as central to becoming an independent, self-directed learner, and recommends that teachers model their own thinking out loud.

I've pointed it at phones.

That's the methodology behind The Attention Experiment®, and why adults go first.

The doorways into our phones

There's usually a doorway: boredom, wanting to relax, wanting company, curiosity, checking, work, avoiding something, or plain habit. Naming the doorway tells you what you were actually after... Which is far more useful than knowing how many minutes you spent.

Why experiment together

Because rules handed down usually get pushed back against, and an experiment you all do together doesn't. Everyone is up against the same addictive design, adults and children alike. When trusted adults say "Scroll Loop" out loud about their own phone, they are modelling metacognition, and everyone practising alongside them gets the same words for their own attention. Noticing out loud together is what makes it a skill rather than a rule.

For families and friends

Catch yourself in a Scroll Loop together. Ask the question at the end out loud, and give everyone a turn to answer.

Save it to your home screen

This works best as an app, and it's also what keeps your week safe. A browser tab can clear its saved data after about seven days. The home screen version doesn't.

On iPhone: tap Share, then Add to Home Screen.
On Android: tap the menu, then Install app.

Your daily check-ins stay on this device. If you choose to complete the review, your review answers will be sent to The Attention Experiment to help us understand what people are noticing. Each person's phone keeps its own separate week.

Katie Brockhurst Katie Brockhurst

Welcome to The Attention Experiment, I've spent seven years researching and developing this. After twenty years working inside social media, I wanted to spend less time lost in the scroll, and help others to do so too.

I lead a digital media team for The Common at Glastonbury Festival, I'm a digital wellbeing researcher and teacher, my evidence to Parliament is published in the Government's review of AI and EdTech, and I'm in schools delivering teacher training and assemblies.

I'm a qualified Digital Wellbeing Coach (dip/ICF) with the Consciously Digital Institute, and trained with Europass Teacher Academy.

Social Media for a New Age, three books by Katie Brockhurst
Author of the Social Media for a New Age books. Find them on Amazon →
katiebrockhurst.com→
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📱 ♾️ 👁️ ❤️ Step 1 · The sequence
Yesterday you said you'd try {{ yesterdayChoice }} Did you?
That's the normal answer. Forgetting is part of the experiment.
Scroll. Loop. Notice. Choose. Say “Scroll Loop”, feel your feet, take a breath and choose what happens next.
The full sequenceNeed a reminder? See the sequence
WHEN YOU SPOT A SCROLL LOOP Say 'Scroll Loop' ..
'I'm in a Scroll Loop!'
Then do the sequence.
📱 Scroll Swipe your finger.
♾️ Loop Trace an infinity symbol.
👁️ Notice Tap your temple.
❤️ Choose Put your hand to your heart.
Feel your feet on the floor, take a few breaths, then decide what you want to do next. A tiny pause creates a gap between the pull and the response. That gap is where you notice, and where you choose.
What each word meansScroll·Loop·Notice·Choose
Scroll You pick up your phone. Sometimes you meant to. Often it's habit, before you've even thought about it.
Loop It starts to feel like the scrolling is carrying on by itself. The feed never ends and the next video plays on its own, so there's never a natural place to stop. That's by design.
Notice You notice, and say "Scroll Loop", out loud if you can. The feed won't give you a stopping point, so this is you making one.
Choose Carry on, or do something else that helps you to stop scrolling. Either way, it's your choice now.
Why it works Watching what your own attention is doing is one form of metacognition: thinking about your thinking. Acting on what you've noticed is self-regulation. And deciding in advance what you'll do in a moment ("when I catch myself scrolling, I'll say Scroll Loop") is one of the most researched ways of following through on what you intend. The more often you notice, the easier it becomes to recognise. That's why the experiment runs every day for seven days, and why seven days is a start, not the finish.
♾️ Step 3 · Spot the scroll loop

Which of these happened today?

Tap any you recognise.

When did you notice a Scroll Loop?
That is useful to notice too. See what happens tomorrow.
📱 Step 2 · Notice the doorways

Why did you open your phone today?

Tap as many as you recognise.

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👁️ {{ noticeStepLabel }}

What do you notice in your body when you are scrolling?

Take a moment to tune in.

Where Tap where you notice it
Body outline
What it feels like {{ bodySentence }} Tap whatever is actually there. Sometimes the body registers a Scroll Loop before you have words for it.
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{{ hardToTellNote }} Tap somewhere on the body, or Hard to tell, to carry on.
Anything else? Optional. Open one if you noticed something there.
Last night, as best you can tell. Sleep and scrolling often feed each other, so it is worth noticing both.
Because your body is a useful place to check in. Sometimes the body registers a Scroll Loop before you have words for it. There might be a physical sign that you've been scrolling for a while: a held breath, a tight jaw, tired eyes. Paying attention to signals from inside your body is called interoceptive awareness. For some people, these signs can be a helpful cue that a Scroll Loop has started.

Noticing doesn't decide what happens next. It can give you a pause, and a pause is where choosing becomes possible.
❤️ Step 5 · Choose

What helps?

When you catch a Scroll Loop, what could you do next? Tap at least one. Pick things you already do, or ideas you'd like to try.

Today you might like to try Based on the doorways you named.
That still counts as a choice. The experiment is about noticing the drift, not always putting the phone down. Tap at least one to carry on.
Next time you spot the loop
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You said you'd try this.
You don't have to stop scrolling. Some days you'll keep scrolling, and that's alright. This is about catching the drift, the scrolling you didn't mean to do, so the time you spend is time you choose.
Negative experience tracks passive consumption, not screen time. Chosen use feels better than drifting, which feels like wasted time. Which is why the experiment is about noticing what you choose, not counting minutes.
From other people trying this

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💬 Step 6 · Reflect or talk about it Step 6 · Talk about it
How are you trying the experiment? You can change this any time.
Today's question

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Answer it privately, or ask somebody else.
{{ responsePrompt }} Choose one to finish. Not today is a real answer too.
You could reflect on...
• Today I noticed... • I caught myself scroll looping when... • What I felt was... • What I chose was...

Today's conversation

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Ask it out loud, and give everyone a turn.
Adults answer first.
{{ responsePrompt }} Choose one to finish. Not today is a real answer too.
Play the Scroll Loop jarOptional. A game for families and groups.
How many did you notice today? Add your name, then an icon for every Scroll Loop.
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One Scroll Loop noticed
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Do it together. Send them the app. {{ shareUrl }}
{{ noticingTotalLine }} Nothing noticed today? That's useful information too. {{ noticingWeekLine }}
You could share...
• Today I noticed... • I caught myself scroll looping when... • What I felt was... • What I chose was...
Today's experiment complete

You noticed.
That's the skill.

Today's discoveries
Scroll Loops noticed {{ todayLoops }}
Main doorway {{ todayDoorway }}
Body signal {{ todayBody }}
What you chose {{ todayChoice }}
Save it to your notes, or send it to yourself by email or message. It only goes where you send it.
{{ reviewHeadline }} How did that go?
You have had the same plan a while. Want to try a different one?
Your plan Deciding and planning now means you don't have to come up with something when you next catch a Scroll Loop.

Like this: “When it catches me, I put the phone in another room.” Where does a Scroll Loop usually catch you?
What will you do when you notice?
Things you've said you'd try:
Want to make the next Scroll Loop easier to catch? When it catches me... I will... Your plan {{ planLine }}
Your seven days {{ weekTitle }}
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Your review will be ready after seven check-ins. They don't need to be seven days in a row.
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See what you notice next...

Remember to save this to your home screen
Why and how
Your daily check-ins stay on this device. If you choose to complete the review, your review answers will be sent to The Attention Experiment to help us understand what people are noticing. {{ installHint }}
It works better with other people noticing too. {{ shareUrl }}
Go deeper
Noticing is the skill. Big Tech has spent millions, if not billions, making it easier for you to keep scrolling. Each time you notice, you make the next Scroll Loop easier to recognise. {{ cycleHeadline }}
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Scroll · Loop · Notice · Choose
{{ insight.stat }} {{ insight.label }} {{ insight.note }} Virgin Media O2 year-long study of 6,000+ people, 2026, with the Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge.
What works for you Not general advice. This is what happened when you tried it.
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What you've discovered
Your doorways
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In your body
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The experiment, in short Scroll · Loop · Notice · Choose
📱 Scroll.You pick up your phone.
♾️ Loop.The scrolling starts carrying on by itself.
👁️ Notice.Say “Scroll Loop”, feel your feet and take a few breaths.
❤️ Choose.Carry on or do something else. Either way, it is your choice now.