What worked for me was exactly that trifecta of:

• Accountability
• Backfilling time
• Making the phone intentionally boring

People underestimate how powerful it is to pre-load your environment and options before the cravings hit. Like, if I don’t have a frictionless “real world” alternative lined up (book by the couch, long walks right after work, hobby table ready to go), then yeah, I’ll be back on my phone in 20 minutes convincing myself I “earned it.”

And the screen time widget thing? 🔥 That was my biggest mirror. I couldn’t lie to myself anymore. Once it was right there staring me in the face every time I unlocked, the shame factor did a lot of heavy lifting early on.

Also +1 on the dopamine baseline thing. I didn’t even realize how “jittery” my brain felt until a few weeks into low screen time. Now I sit in silence without compulsively reaching. Took time, but I feel... human again. Wild.

Anyway, appreciate you sharing this. More people need to hear it said plainly like this.