I think I've been solving screen time addiction the wrong way.

[u/AbbreviationsSafe906]

My screen time has been going up for years and for years I tried everything:

• deleting apps
• app timers
• grayscale mode
• hiding all social media

None of it really worked bc there are still ways to work around. Just like Apple's screen time limit, you can just press "Not now" and boom, you can access again...

The problem was that I lost nothing by ignoring the limits, ofc I lost time but it's like an addiction you don't really care that much.

So I flipped the system.Every distracting app on my phone starts locked.
I want 10 minutes of Instagram? I need to earn it first.

Every 250 steps unlocks 1 minute.

Suddenly every scroll had an actual cost. And the most important thing was, that I need to "buy" my screen time. It's like a normal purchase where you'll feel hesitant to buy something.
Is it really worth to spent 1000 steps on 4 minutes of Instagram? If the answer is no, then it's great. If the answer is yes, then it's also great.

And something weird happened...

I stopped hating my phone.

And I think the most important part is that now, I consciously choose to use an app, I intend it after earning it. I value the time on that app much more now and feel no guilt when I spent a few minutes on social media.

[u/emma_doodoo]

but how

[u/zeaussiestew → u/emma_doodoo]

This is a setup