Earlier this year, I decided to set up a couple of software based systems to reduce my screentime. They have been largely been successful. I have reduced my average daily phone screen time from 5-6 hrs to 2-3 hrs, around 1.5 hrs of which is 'wasteful' (reddit, HN, instagram) and the remaining 1.5 hrs is actual communication time (email, calls, chat). On my computer, my screen time is nearly all productive time by my standards. Some of the things I did are:
For my phone:
- Deleted all apps for social media, all browsing has to be via browser.
- Used SocialFocus (https://socialfocus.app/) to remove feeds and recommendations from all apps, any post access happens via shares or search
- Also turned on a timer for social media (45 minutes each for reddit/insta).
- Turned social media black/white instead of color.
- Used dumbify launcher (https://dumbifyapp.com/) to turn my menu bar into a text based one instead of icons.
- Locked up my Cold Turkey block with a long random text string, which increases friction if I want to unlock and as a result reduces my inclination to do so.
Honestly, these steps have worked quite well for me thus far. I have managed to get back into reading (both fiction, non-fiction as well as academic textbooks), freed up time to spend with family and friends, and also gotten into watching TV shows - something I had not really done in the last 2-3 years due to being hooked on short form media
Most large cities in India are extremely polluted, and the smaller ones aren't necessarily any better. I have been all over India, over 15 states and union territories. Even the cleanest Indian cities I have been to (e.g. Chandigarh and Puducherry) are filthier than a regular city in other countries I've visited. It will take massive overhaul of garbage disposal and recycling infrastructure, as well as a massive cultural shift in how we treat our public spaces to overcome our enormous pollution problem.
For my phone:
- Deleted all apps for social media, all browsing has to be via browser.
- Used SocialFocus (https://socialfocus.app/) to remove feeds and recommendations from all apps, any post access happens via shares or search
- Also turned on a timer for social media (45 minutes each for reddit/insta).
- Turned social media black/white instead of color.
- Used dumbify launcher (https://dumbifyapp.com/) to turn my menu bar into a text based one instead of icons.
For my computer:
- Used Cold Turkey (https://getcoldturkey.com/) to set up blocks for various websites, subreddits etc.
- Locked up my Cold Turkey block with a long random text string, which increases friction if I want to unlock and as a result reduces my inclination to do so.
- Use News Feed Eradicator (https://github.com/jordwest/news-feed-eradicator/) to remove feeds from websites which have some utility for me (e.g. LinkedIn) but can be a time sink.
Honestly, these steps have worked quite well for me thus far. I have managed to get back into reading (both fiction, non-fiction as well as academic textbooks), freed up time to spend with family and friends, and also gotten into watching TV shows - something I had not really done in the last 2-3 years due to being hooked on short form media