Solutions to Doomscrolling?

wwfwilla

I saw this advert on Facebook (ironically) for a device called 'Brick' available from getbrick.com.

I liked the premise of it. It cost £50ish for the product but the app is free.

I am really bad for doomscrolling after i've gone to bed.
The way it'd work is you pick which apps you want to block (Facebook, Instagram etc) and you touch your phone to the device (a small plastic brick as big as a matchbox).

When you try to access the apps you've blocked it doesn't let you. To turn it off you have to physically take your phone to the plastic block and scan it to 'release' the apps.

This device appealed to me as anything you can override on your phone isn't effective for me. Having the solution downstairs is enough of a deterrent to make me use it properly.

Naturally, their own website states thousands of 5-star reviews and supposed publicity in the usual newspaper/lifestyle websites.
Trustpilot gives it a 3 out of 5 as peoples devices seem to go missing in transit and poor customer service. Their own app, unsurprisingly, is rated 4.9 on the app store from thousands of reviews.

I've educated myself enough to understand that I probably shouldn't buy this product because of a lack of trust.

Has anyone here ever had one? Or can anyone recommend to me a different product/app where you can't just bypass it?

Thanks for you help :)

flaneurs_lobster

The newspaper reviews (WSJ, NYT) look genuine enough. Looks legit to me.

The "brick" itself is nothing but an NFC tag - with some digging online and enough nous to be dangerous you could install an open source program to do much the same as the Brick software and an NFC tag is a few pence.

But you probably don't want to be installing non-Play Store software on your phone.

If you feel that your doomscrolling is having a detrimental effect on your sleep/wider life then you must judge if this solution is worth the £50.

Maybe the fact that it has a significant cost is part of the psychology of keeping you from just ignoring the thing.

wwfwilla

I genuinely reckon I lose about an hour or more of sleep every night through doomscrolling. I lost about 2 hours last night to it. If it does what it says and isn't a scam then its worth £50 to me.

But from the digging that i've done it doesn't fill me with confidence.

N.B. I suppose its a mix of doomscrolling and revenge bedtime procrastination.

elsien

Personally , I would go with leaving your phone downstairs when you go to bed. Pretty much any contacts you get overnight can wait till the morning.
Just saved you 50 quid. 😀

Vitor

Would you have the willpower to touch your phone to the device before toddling up the wooden hill to Bedfordshire?

forgotmyname

If you do not have the willpower to think it's bedtime so put the phone out of reach and just do not touch
it what makes you think you will have the willpower to use a tag to activate and not simply deactivate it?

Emmia

Both iOS and Android have apps that will curtail your usage - which you can set to prevent access overnight.

Realistically I think the brick will migrate upstairs so whilst you may have good intentions, these are likely to fall by the wayside - leaving your phone downstairs is probably the cheapest solution... If you use it as an alarm clock, buy an alarm clock.

Bigphil1474

I plug mine into charge overnight downstairs. Not having it in bed has not caused any issues.

onomatopoeia99

My solution for evenings is learning the piano, so I have pieces and scales I need to practice which if I sit scrolling I won't get that done. This is a more expensive solution as lessons aren't cheap.

When I go to bed, I go to bed rather than using it as screen time in a prone position, so phone on charge and muted.

wwfwilla

Thanks for all the replies so far.

The logic behind leaving the Brick downstairs was that I wouldn't want to disturb my dog once i've gone to bed. I do believe i'd be able to keep it up as i'm very particular about not disturbing him once i've gone to bed.

I'm normally of the frame of mind that when I do go to bed that its time to start winding down. I don't specifically plan to scroll for an hour. Its just amazing how a chain of events can happen. I'll go on Instagram and hear a song that I like so I go to Spotify and listen to it a few times. Then i'll realise i've not checked my emails for a few hours. I see there's an M&S sale and its my mums birthday soon so I start looking at sale items. None of it was planned before getting in bed.

I like the idea of leaving my phone downstairs but I don't have a landline. My mum does caring responsibilities for my brother and its not uncommon to get a call first thing from her.

I don't help myself either with our binge culture. If an episode of tv ends on a cliffhanger then i've got to watch the next one even if it takes me over bedtime.

My self discipline is very poor hence why I was looking for a tool/aid to assist me at bedtime.

elsien

Is “ first thing” after you’ve got up though? And if it’s not urgent, can you ask her to make her call a little bit later when you are up? Going downstairs to pick up your phone in the morning is no difference having to turn off the brick.

My winding down when I go up to bed takes the form of reading. A proper book rather than a Kindle or phone or any other device. Much better on the eyes and brain late at night.