Habits of Escape: Buddhist Wisdom for Our Hustle-Obsessed Age

We’ve all done it. You have a few hours to spare with no meetings or obligations and you think, “I should go for a walk.” Instead, you pick up your phone. Just five minutes, you tell yourself. A little scroll to decompress.

But suddenly, it’s dark out, your back hurts, and somehow you’ve ended up Googling obscure celebrity drama or adding shit to a cart you’ll never buy. The night disappeared into the feed. And you don’t even feel better. If anything, you’re more agitated, more checked out, more alone with yourself than when you started. And in a culture designed to exploit that instinct, even our smallest impulses can become cycles we didn’t choose.

The Invisible Horse of Habit Energy

Buddhist psychology has a name for this autopilot force: habit energy. It refers to the unconscious pull toward whatever helps us avoid the present moment. As Thich Nhat Hanh writes, it’s like “a horse pulling us along, and we are powerless”. No matter how much we intend to “just take a walk” or relax, our old patterns often win.

In Buddhist thought, these habit energies are how past conditioning (even generations of it) continues to run the show. They explain why we “say and do things we don't want to…again and again” – it isn’t weakness, it’s wiring: our habit energies push us. In other words, craving the familiar rush of distraction becomes automatic, even when it’s obviously hurting us.

Habit energy also encompasses addiction to illegal drugs, alcoholism, workaholism and other more societally conventional addictions that induce escapism. However, our digital compulsions and little escapes are no less real. Everyday coping like doomscrolling, binge-snacking when stressed, or isolating under the guise of “independence” are just subtle forms of the same force.

The difference lies not in the method, but in the social framing, however Buddhist psychology doesn’t moralize behavior—it names the pattern. Neuroscience echoes this: whether it’s a hit of dopamine from a like or a line of cocaine, the brain registers it as relief. Habit energy doesn’t care if your numbing tool is legal, digital, or delivered in a small plastic bag. It only wants you to not be here.

Neuroscience tells us that every notification, swipe or like delivers a small dopamine reward – the same “feel-good” chemical hit we get from winning money or eating cake. In the words of psychologist Laura Pigott, our phones “light up the same parts of your brain as other addictions” (nucleus accumbens and the reward pathway).

In other words, our brains literally start rewiring to make those rewards faster. With each scroll our brain “prunes” neurons to make the dopamine path shorter, which might sound efficient, but it means over time we become more impulsive and distracted. We literally train our brains to crave the scroll.

Habit energy, be it Buddhist or Western scientific, arises whenever being here and now feels too much. Maybe we had a rotten day at work, and a glass of wine or a donut seems easier than sitting with the tension. Maybe our mind is anxious about the future, so we pick up the phone.

Our culture even markets this avoidance: infinite-scroll feeds were literally engineered to keep us hooked. We’re sold endless distraction as self-care, from impulse buys during a late-night scroll to chasing the next series cliffhanger in bed. But in reality, these are just new versions of the same old numbing tactics—and they don’t solve our problems, they just bury them.

Sometimes it’s not just a habit—it’s protection. Many of us avoid being present because we were never taught how to feel. Emotional regulation isn’t instinctual; it’s learned through co-regulation in safe environments. If, early on, you were punished for crying, ignored when distressed, or praised only when performing then shutting down your emotions may have felt safer than expressing them.

As adults, this becomes self-avoidance: we scroll, snack, isolate, overwork, not because we’re flaky or undisciplined—but because we don’t know if it’s safe to feel. For people with trauma histories, being still and aware can trigger panic rather than peace. The nervous system learns that staying busy or numb is safer than being present. So we avoid our feelings, not out of weakness, but out of habitual protection.

We also must look at the way we work and earn money to identify another form of habit energy: compulsive productivity and overworking—hustling not from inspiration, but from fear. It’s one of the most culturally praised forms of self-abandonment. You can drown in habit energy and still get a raise for it. Workaholism doesn’t look like avoidance on the surface—it looks like discipline, ambition, purpose.

But let’s be honest: how many of us fill every blank space in the calendar because we’re afraid of what might rise up in the silence? How often do we mistake constant motion for stability, busyness for worth? Overachieving can be just as numbing as binge-watching or drinking. Underneath the grind and productivity panic, however, is the same fear of being with ourselves and being still with whatever difficult feelings we’re avoiding or never learned how to hold. 

By contrast, mindfulness, or present-moment awareness, is the art of stepping off the hamster wheel. Research-minded sources define mindfulness simply as “the basic human ability to be fully present, aware of where we are and what we’re doing”. It means observing our thoughts and feelings without automatically reacting.

Meditation is the practice of exploring the “here and now” – noticing the breath, sensations or sights around us, rather than disappearing into the past or future. Neuroscience shows that regular mindfulness can literally change the brain: studies link meditation to reduced anxiety and depression, improved self-regulation, and even healthier brain structure and connectivity.

Mindfulness-based therapies (like Jon Kabat-Zinn’s MBSR) have become gold-standards because they’re scientifically proven to improve emotional control and self-regulation. In short, paying attention to the present moment is backed by a mountain of evidence: it trains our brain to step out of reactive autopilot and into choice.

What does that look like in practice? It can be as simple as one breath: Conscious breathing stops the habit train and brings us back to calm alertness.

When an urge strikes, even a quick pause to inhale deeply can interrupt the pattern. Instead of mindlessly scrolling, try actually feeling the air filling your lungs – you’ll be anchored in reality, not the “boat of consumerism” that habit energy drives us into.

In other words, whenever craving hits, you can literally pause and ask yourself, “What am I doing right now? What am I feeling?” – just like a Zen master saying “Hello, habit energy, I know you’re there”.

In Buddhist practice this very recognition and ability to smile at the urge makes it lose power. Thich Nhat Hanh noted that every time Mara (the demon of distraction) appeared, the Buddha simply said “I know you, my old friend,” and Mara fled. In short, naming and witnessing the urge to escape kills its grip.

Breaking the Cycle: Simple Steps

• Pause & Breathe. When you feel the itch to scroll, distract, or avoid, stop. Take three deep, slow breaths. Science shows paying attention to the breath can cool the stress response and break the loop for compulsive action.
  
  

• Set Boundaries. Not just with your phone—with any habit that numbs you out. Use screen-time limits, turn off notifications, set a timer before you open an app. But also know when to close the work laptop, stop refreshing your inbox, or step away from the snack cabinet. One episode, not five. A walk instead of another “just checking.” These kinds of boundaries aren’t meant as punishments or strict control—they’re about interrupting autopilot mode long enough for you to ask, “Do I actually want this right now?”
  
  

• Notice Your Feelings. Try mindfulness: pause and observe your body and mood. Are you anxious, bored, lonely? Try noticing and acknowledging your feeling,“ah, yes, this is anxiety”. This simple curiosity, rather than harsh judgment, can dissolve the urge to act on habit energy.
  
  

Over time, these steps build what Buddhists call mindful practice. There’s no gold star for perfect vigilance, and no prize for never slipping up. If you pick up the phone before a walk this time, that’s OK – just notice it and laugh a little at your elephant mind. Awareness itself is a win.

In fact, realizing you’re on autopilot is already progress: research shows the mere act of noticing a craving can drain it of strength. Each time you catch and gently release an impulse, you retrain those neural pathways.

Remember, You Are Human

Let’s be clear: you’re not broken or lazy for doing this. The urge to escape the moment is very human. Even the oldest teachings stress compassion for our own struggle. In the Samiddhi Sutra, the Buddha reminds us that true happiness only exists “here and now”—there’s nowhere else to run.

So if you find yourself doomscrolling or zoning out in your inbox, take a deep breath and meet yourself with a smile. You don’t have to transcend being human. You just have to be kind to yourself as you learn. Habit energy may show up uninvited, but it will lose power when you greet it with curiosity, without judgement and use mindfulness to guide your actions.