“You check your phone, you're looking at the time, all of a sudden, your thumb has has automatically gone and opened the most colorful icon on the home screen.”
"You don't realize you're making that decision when you unlock your phone. Your phone is designed that way."
I've had a lot of trouble with automatically clicking into time-sucking apps and these quotes are something I experience every day. But last month I sat down with Unpluq CEO Caroline Cadwell to talk about her innovative product that makes it possible to block a lot of distracting apps with a physical tag.
"Unpluq is digital habit change. We make a simple keychain Tag (NFC) that works with an app on your phone. It acts like a key to specific apps, and they don’t unblock until you physically tap it to your phone", says Caroline.
"You can put that Tag somewhere that's a bit harder to get to, like a drawer or in your car."
"You set it up to automatically block the apps you want to use less, either all the time or on a schedule in certain hours. For a lot of people, that looks like blocking distractions during quality time, say, dinner–or blocking time-wasters during work/study hours."
You set it up to automatically block the apps you want to use less, either all the time or on a schedule in certain hours. For a lot of people, that looks like blocking distractions during quality time, say, dinner–or blocking time-wasters during work/study hours.
How does it work?
"We based our design thinking in this really interesting habit-change science out of the Netherlands called rational override theory. What we've made with Unpluq is something that works for a much greater number of people because it forces you to use a different part of your brain when you're making decisions about mindless scrolling."
I've been using the app for months now and my habits are changing. The most notable change is that I've almost entirely eliminated Instagram from my life. It was one of the apps I'd go to instead of just taking a nap. I never got any real joy from it. Instead, the information on there would make me feel bad. But it was extremely difficult to prevent myself from clicking on it anyways -- even if I uninstalled the app.
I keep an Unpluq tag in my backpack. That way, if I *really* need to use Instagram while traveling, I can reach in the bag and unlock the app for 5 minutes.
Thanks, Caroline Cadwell! Can't wait to see more people using this product!
You can read the whole interview on the Calm Tech Institute website: https://lnkd.in/gUQs2Teb
#screentime #mentalhealth #addiction #calmtech
