Tools I use(d) for a digital detox ๐ฑ
I noticed a lot of blog posts lately talking about a digital detox or taking a break from Y1.
As I've also been battling with dopamine addiction and detoxing, I thought of listing all the tools I've used at one point or still use, as a suggestion or inspiration to you.
Do note that these tools are based on my needs and the devices I use, mainly iOS & Mac, with one tool supporting Windows & Android
So, if you're looking for an extensive list for Android or Windows, I'm afraid you need to look elsewhere.
Freedom - ๐
Freedom lets you block websites and apps via installing it on your device. It embeds itself into your network connection to ensure it's always active, independent of which browser you use.
Via the dashboard, you define blocklists of the things you want to block, schedules when blocklists should be enabled and the devices that need blocking.
With this, you can for example block YouTube during weekdays on your office PC, block social media after 8pm on your phone,...
The options are unlimited.
What I like about Freedom is that it's always enabled and therefore not easily disabled. You can even enable a locked mode that disables you from making changes to a blocklist or schedule while blocking is active.
One minor downside is that you need to define everything that you want to block. For example, if you want to block all social media websites, you'll need to add each one to your blocklist. A minor detail, but one to be aware of.
Pricing: $39.99/year. Get it cheaper with their Cyber Week discount for the next 4 days. Platforms: iPhone, iPad, Mac, Windows, Android, Chromebook & Linux.
iOS shortcuts
If you only want to block a limited number of apps on your iPhone, you could create a simple shortcut for it.
You can set up an automation that gets triggered when opening an app that for example checks the time, and if this is after a defined hour, the shortcut instead opens another app.
I used such a shortcut to stop using Instagram in the evening. When I opened Instagram after 9pm, the shortcut opened my reading app to help me focus on that instead.
While this method is effective, it's easy to disable it again through the shortcuts app. Though I must admit, I never did. That little extra effort needed to disable it was enough to stop using Instagram in the evening.
Additionally, you need to create this automation for each and every app you would want to block this way. So if you want to block a lot of apps, this will require some work.
Pricing: free
Platforms: iPhone, iPad & Mac
One sec - ๐
One Sec is an app that wants to nudge you into doing something else when opening a distracting app.
After defining the apps you want to monitor or block, you can set the behaviour when opening them and how to replace them with healthy alternatives.
For example, when opening Instagram you can set a delay of x seconds in which you need to breathe, wait, or perform another specific action, while a healthy alternative is shown (go for a walk, read, call someone,...). Ending with a do you really want to continue to that app? message.
On top, via One Sec, you can enable blocking sessions to prevent access to apps at certain time frames, get notifications of how long you've been using an app and also enable a porn blocker, that will disable any browser to open porn sites.
I've been using One Sec mostly on my iPhone, but it's also available for Mac and as a browser extension where its main focus is about delaying access, instead of full blocking.
Pricing: 19.99$/year
Platforms: iPhone & iPad (everything), Mac & browser extension (delayed access)
Jomo - ๐
Jomo integrates with your Apple screen time and offers ways to monitor your daily usage and define improvement actions to minimize distractions.
On the home screen, Jomo shows all the apps you use during the day and how happy you are with them (after setting a category and feeling about using it).
Via rules, you define what and when you want things to be blocked, both apps and websites. Rules can be paused and stopped if you want to allow this, but just as easy, you can disable any rule from pausing or stopping.
While rules are not transferred from iPhone/iPad to Mac, they can be set up in the exact same way on a Mac.
Besides rules, you can set limits. For example, 30min/day on Instagram. Once the limit is reached you no longer can open the app, unless you disable the limit (if you allowed this in the settings).
If you want to go monk mode and disable everything immediately, that's also an option.
You have the full power to block and monitor what you want.
A nice add-on is that you can reward yourself with more time for a certain limit. For example, 5min extra for every 1000 steps that you took.
Pricing: 29.99$/year
Platforms: iPhone, iPad & Mac
Before I found Jomo, I had a look at Opal, which more or less has the same features, yet at a higher yearly cost of 99.99$/year.
Little Snitch Mini - ๐
Little Snitch Mini is a tool that monitors the incoming and outgoing connections of your Mac and allows blocking of certain ones.
With its blocklist feature, you can use predefined lists of connections to block (advertising networks, malicious websites, porn,...), or define your own set of websites that you want to block.
Little Snitch Mini works on a Mac connection level, so blocking will work with all browsers that you might be using.
Pricing: 13.49$ /year (you can also buy the full Little Snitch version via a one-time purchase of 59$).
Platforms: Mac
Wrapping up
I'm sure there are a lot more tools available, but these are all that I use or had experience with and found in a way helping with a digital detox.
In case you really need it, you can combine solutions for a complete lockdown. For example, one app can set the blocking and another app can block access to the initial one.
Feel free to contact me for questions about a certain tool or setup.
I'm happy to provide my insight or guidance.
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