The Brick – Stop Phone Distractions and Reduce Screen Time

We’ve all done it. You pick up your phone to check one thing, and 40 minutes later you’re still there, scrolling.

There are now gadgets designed to help stop that.

The idea is actually ridiculously simple. You have a small physical device that works with an app on your phone.

Download it from the App store.

Setup after putting the app on your phone is fairly easy , pick the apps and time you want to block , even setup a weekly schedule and you are away.

You choose which apps you want blocked — perhaps social media, games or anything else you waste too much time on — then tap your phone against the device to activate it.

Those apps are now effectively locked.

The clever part is that if you want them back, you normally have to physically return to the device and tap your phone against it again. So leave the gadget at home and suddenly you can't mindlessly open Instagram , while you're out.

It's simply putting an obstacle between you and a habit.

People who've tried these devices report becoming more productive, concentrating better and, perhaps most importantly, realising just how often they automatically reach for their phone without even thinking about it.

The brick these devices costs roughly $80

And yes, your phone already has free screen-time and app-limiting features built into it.

But there's one problem with those: you can usually override them.It's called self-control.

Still, if it stops you wasting a couple of hours every day staring at your phone, it might actually be money well spent.

Brick can be purchased through Get Brick