NewsBeat

March 2018 NewsBeat 13 block all apps and websites). There's even a bar you can slide to block all politics. I slid that bar. The other thing I did was turn my phone to grayscale, which is a popular hack people are using to cut down on screen time because you'd be amazed by how much less appealing a phone is without all those colorful icons that are designed to make you want to click. There are tons of websites that will walk you through the steps to do this, and you can set a shortcut so that three clicks on the home button will restore the color, should you want to watch a video or look at photos. So I created my own personal blocklist on Freedom, set the timer for 24 hours at a time, the longest allowable, turned the phone to grayscale, and set off. My phone could still do all of the things that I think of as positives (or, at least, did not feel like problems for me). I can still use my GPS for directions, and text my friends, and e- mail, and search the Web for answers to questions. I still listen to music and podcasts ("Moment" only counts the time your screen is actually on, not the time the audio is playing). What I no longer do is mindlessly follow my dumb thumb through what had become an unconscious routine nearly every time I turned on the phone — Facebook, e-mail, news, sports, back to Facebook to see if anything had changed in the two minutes since I was last there… I've been on my diet for about six weeks now, and the numbers on the scale are dramatically better. My average daily usage is now under 90 minutes. Most days it's closer to an hour, but occasionally I'll have a day when work demands or GPS directions drag my average up. My "pickups" have dropped to 20 on a typical day; I'm simply opening the fridge less. As a result, I have essentially given myself the gift of four free hours each day. That is staggering. What have I done with all that extra time? Well, it's surprising. I've begun the monumental task of finally cleaning out my basement. I've read books. I have used my phone as an actual telephone to call old friends. I've experienced quiet solitude. I did a woodworking project with my kids, who have received so much more of my actual attention, not just my presence in the room. This is pathetic but true. I am of the generation that goes to great lengths to control screen time for our children, but rarely for ourselves. Occasionally on this journey, I have experienced something I had practically forgotten about — I've been bored. And it has been amazing. I forgot how much creativity is born of boredom. Best of all, I'm learning new habits. Sometimes, my 24-hour Freedom timer will go off and I'll neglect to reset it, but I still don't dumb-thumb through my old time wasters. I don't miss any of them. Sure, there are still days when I pig out on smartphone junk food. A few weeks ago there was a moment when my phone notified me that my Freedom session had ended, and I stupidly opened my phone and started thumbing through the road to nowhere. Two hours later, I knew entirely too much about a sports radio commentator who had called Tom Brady's daughter a pissant. You think you're just going to eat one chip but then you eat the entire bag. I reset the timer and went back to my Freedom. — Reprinted from the Boston Globe

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