Doomscroll Tax
Turn minutes of feed grazing into hours and dollars. “Friction” is the waste factor (0–1).
Hours / week: 0.0
Hours / month: 0.0
Monthly burn: $0.00
Yearly burn: $0.00
Workdays / year (8h): 0.0
Copied.
Field Guide: make the number mean something
What “friction” means: the wasted portion. 0.6 = only 60% of that time is true waste; 0.9 = most of it is.
- Sanity check: if the number shocks you, lower minutes for a week and re-run.
- Swap: pick one feed → replace 10 minutes with a deliberate action (text a friend, read 3 pages).
- Boundaries: move apps off the home screen; set device “downtime” during your most vulnerable hour.
- Track: write the monthly burn on a sticky note near your desk; revisit next month.
For educators: 5-minute demo → ask students for their own minutes/day, agree on a friction factor, then discuss the yearly workdays lost. Optional prompt: “What’s one micro-habit to reclaim 30 minutes/week?”
How Doomscroll Tax Works
TL;DR: Tell it how much you scroll, what your time is worth, and how much of that scrolling is actual waste. It converts that into hours and dollars per month and year.
Inputs
- Minutes / day — Your average daily doomscrolling. (Screen Time / Digital Wellbeing is your friend.)
- Days / month — How many days you typically do it. 30 is fine; adjust if you take real breaks.
- Hourly rate ($) — What your time is worth. Freelancers: your billable rate. Salary: use
salary ÷ 2080(work hours/year). - Friction (0–1) — Percent that’s truly wasted.
0.8= 80% waste. If half of it is actually useful, set0.5.
Outputs
- Hours / month — Time lost after the friction discount.
- Monthly burn — Hours / month × Hourly rate.
- Yearly burn — Monthly burn × 12.
The Math
hours_per_month = (minutes_per_day / 60) × days_per_month × friction monthly_burn = hours_per_month × hourly_rate yearly_burn = monthly_burn × 12
Example (using the defaults)
Minutes: 38 · Days: 27 · Rate: $40 · Friction: 0.8
- Hours / month: (38/60) × 27 × 0.8 ≈ 13.7h
- Monthly burn: 13.7 × $40 ≈ $547.20
- Yearly burn: $547.20 × 12 ≈ $6,566.40
How to Pick a Realistic “Friction”
- 0.2–0.4: You’re skimming headlines, saving links, or scouting ideas. Mostly deliberate.
- 0.5–0.7: Half useful, half sludge. You learn some things, forget most of it.
- 0.8–1.0: Pure feed grazing. Reels, Shorts, autoplay doom. Be honest.
What Counts as “Doomscrolling”?
Passive, slot-machine timelines (TikTok, Shorts, Reels, “For You”). Active reading, messaging, or intentional research usually doesn’t — but that’s why friction exists: discount any part that’s legitimately valuable.
Make It Useful
- Use your real hourly: Salary ÷ 2080. Example: $85,000 ≈ $40.9/hour.
- Start with 2 weeks: Plug in screen-time averages, re-run, and compare before/after a small habit change.
- Set a cap: Pick a monthly “burn” you can live with. If you exceed it, raise friction or cut minutes.
Privacy
This calculator runs in your browser. No logins. No data sent anywhere.
Notes
- The little progress bar is a vibe check. It fills in as you approach ~60 wasted hours/month.
- Set hourly rate to $0 if you only want to track time, not money.