I’ve had screen time limits on my iPhone for years, allowing me 30 minutes on social media each day. How many times have I dismissed the limit notification and continued watching mindless Reels? I’d be horrified to find out.
It turns out that all along, what I needed was a $59 hunk of grey plastic (self-discipline would have been more affordable, but it was out of stock). The Brick — a magnetic, matchbox-sized gadget — has accomplished what no screen time app has ever achieved. It actually got me to use my phone less and improve my sleep habits.
Brick stands apart from your standard screen time app because it takes things a step further into the physical world. The gadget is a branded, NFC-enabled square that only lets you deactivate your custom screen time limits if you tap your phone to the Brick, just like you’re buying something at a tap-to-pay kiosk. Apparently, if I have to physically get up and tap my phone to the Brick to go on Instagram, I will not go on Instagram.
“Brick was born from a personal need: our phones were getting in the way of living,” co-founder Zach Nasgowitz told TechCrunch via email. “We searched for solutions to this problem in our lives, but we found that nothing was quite right, so we decided to build something for ourselves that would solve this problem.”
Image Credits:Brick (opens in a new window)
I used Brick to help me with my sleep hygiene, and I am embarrassed to admit that it’s working even better than I could have hoped.
Like many other millennials — especially those of us whose jobs are so connected to the internet — I have a bad habit of getting into bed at night and scrolling mindlessly on my phone, making it harder to sleep. Even worse, sometimes when I wake up, I end up staying in bed on my phone, and I start the day feeling groggy.
I created a “Sleep” mode on the Brick app, which turns on each night at 10:30 p.m.. Then, my phone automatically blocks all apps except for messaging apps (I want to be reachable, just in case) and audio apps (I sometimes …