Read before you open Instagram: turn the feed into a reward
You do not decide to open Instagram. Your hand goes on its own when the screen lights up. Use that trigger: put one page of a book in its way.
The one-page rule
Before opening the feed, read one page. Just one. If you still want to scroll after that, scroll. Half the time you keep reading and forget the feed.
One page is not much. That is exactly why it works. The cost of starting is so low that you do not negotiate with it.
Why the feed wins today
The feed is one tap away and pays off immediately. The book is several taps away if you have not opened it yet. The game is rigged against reading before you even choose.
Cut those taps. Leave the book open where you stopped and block the feed during the hours you usually fall into it. Lergate closes Instagram in the window you choose and drops you back on the page.
Make the feed the prize
A reward after the work sticks better than one before it. Read a chapter, then unlock ten minutes of feed. In that order, the feed stops competing with the book and closes the loop.
Three weeks to make it stick
Week 1: just the one-page rule. Week 2: add the block in the two windows where you scroll most. Week 3: keep both and do not raise the goal. Raising too early is the mistake that resets everything.
If the phone is what holds you, read read on your phone without getting distracted. To swap the habit entirely, read book instead of scroll.