Feel free to delete this if it is unhelpful. I have now quit consuming short form content as a whole (finally!!) and almost completely quit social media as a whole.
I found that using timer apps like apple's Screen time, or something akin to LeechBlock, is unhelpful for me because once I start, I find it hard to stop. It needs to be difficult for me to *access* the source of the problem.
First I deleted all of the apps that had enough content that I could "instant refresh" and get new content immediately. The only way for me to access these apps now is through a mobile browser, which they are not at all optimized for and it feels really clunky.
Second, I close the browser tabs as soon as I am done with them. My object permanence is terrible, so if i have to seek it out, I often forget about it.
Third, I mentally flag when I get the urge to pick up my phone. I write up a little mental report like "why do I feel the need? What else could fulfill this urge?"
That way, my brain often goes "i want to watch a video" --> "Why do I want to watch a video?" --> "I want to watch a video because I am too tired to do something mentally engaging but I still want to be entertained." --> "What else could fulfill this criteria?" --> Cross stitch and listening to music or catching up on the single podcast i listen to
Anyways hope this helps someone. Also update I stopped having my phone beside my bed altogether now. I've just been LARPing as a 90s kid who doesn't have internet access and gets stuck in video games a lot.