The 5-minute 'waiting room' rule cut my screen time by an hour a day

I started leaving my phone in the car whenever I have any appointment where I know I'll be waiting, like at the DMV last week or the dentist office. It sounds dumb but just sitting there with nothing to do made me realize how much I was scrolling just to fill dead time, so now I bring a paperback and it's been way easier to stay focused the rest of the day. Anyone else got a weird physical barrier trick that works better than any app?

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walker.julia2mo ago

That NYT piece about "attention residue" basically backs you up, the phone just sitting there in your peripheral vision is still pulling at your brain even if you're not touching it. Leaving it in the car is like closing the door on that whole mess, way harder for any app to do since they're all still on the same device you're trying to escape.

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kai_chen22mo ago

Paperbacks are fine and all but acting like leaving your phone in the car is some genius life hack is a stretch. You just discovered that boredom exists. Half the people at the DMV are probably reading old magazines or staring at the wall, they're not all addicted to their phones. Also what happens when you actually need to check something, like your appointment got moved or the office texts you? Then you're walking back out to the car like a maniac. Apps already do the "block your screen" thing way better, you just gotta actually stick to it. Feels like you're making a bigger deal out of this than it needs to be.

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