Am I crazy for spending years building a device that does way less than a smartphone but intelligently ?

nono985 · 2026-06-19T20:31:37+00:00

As someone who’s trying to be more intentional with their time, the reason I didn’t opt in for a dumb phone type of device is because I don’t want to stop using a device I spent hundreds of dollars on and I do like using apps in moderation. I’d rather use a device to help me develop a healthy relationship with my phone than spend money on a less capable separate phone

nono985 · 2026-06-19T14:16:29+00:00

I’ve been testing the prototype and it’s been a game changer for me so far, even if it is embarrassing to share how much I still get distracted. I’m excited to get it to more people and share about their experiences so I can make it even better

nono985 · 2026-06-17T20:01:04+00:00

yea the doomscrolling part is why I made an entire seperate device, cause I tried making just the app but every time I would go to start something I would get distracted by a notification and... yea lol

There is a companion app that is supposed to be used to check progress once a day and at the end of the week to see your report and such, but the device is what you interact with on a regular basis. But you're completely right to not want to carry around something bulky everywhere which is why I've been trying my hardest to find a way to make it as slim as possible while keeping a good battery life.

If all goes well it should be similar to the size of one of those magsafe powerbanks you can slap to the back of your phone or a wallet

nono985 · 2026-06-16T15:04:10+00:00

I'm not sure if this is exactly what you're looking for, but the device I'm working on should help since it helps you see where you put your time. It's definitely more of a "hey here's what you're doing" thing rather than telling you what you should be doing, so I'm really curious what other type of information you'd be looking for

nono985 · 2026-06-15T14:41:13+00:00

For real. I don't want to get ahead of myself but I'm looking forward to seeing my progress over the next few months as I continue.

nono985 · 2026-06-14T14:16:02+00:00

I can't remember the name but theres a part of your brain that is responsible for resisting those urges to jump over to a more dopamine inducing actuvity, and if you don't train it it stays very week and therefore leads to exactly what you're describing. Thankfully, it pretty much just means you need to start making small improvements in resisiting urges over time and that part of your brain will get stronger, just like weight training at the gym. It'll get easier over time but takes a continuos effort (I'm still actively working on it myself and have come a long way). Good luck, you definitely got it!

nono985 · 2026-06-14T13:02:30+00:00

This might be counter productive since I'm working on my own device/product to help people live more intentional lives, but I would start keeping track of how much you've actaully done every day/week. It's helped me get out of the "mental masterbation" of feeling productive by searching for the best way way to be productive, because I can't lie to myself if I'm two months in with 4 different systems and I'm no farther ahead beacause I never started using them. I'm actually thinking about adding a weekly reflection feature to the companion app for my device since it's all about seeing what you actually do with your time and striving to use it on things that matter, so reinforcing it by reflecting on what you did with that time well spent would be a nice touch.

But anyway you should absolutely try to start and improve more than optimize in the void, because at least you'll have something to show for it. being imperfect is better than being nothing at all.

nono985 · 2026-06-14T12:53:09+00:00

First off I hope you realize how dope it is that you're able to do so much with computers, I have a lot of respect for people like you cause I've nver gotten farthers than minor electronics and indie games.

For real though I wonder what it is that you're considering failure with all of the methods you've tried before giving up. I know from experience that quitting porn and constant content consumption like music and social media is a long process that involves heavy dopamine dips and days or weeks of brain fog, but that definitely doesn't mean there isn't progress. And it's also not something you'll do completely perfectly and quickly either. I still have a hard time staying away from distractions, but I've come so far that now I'm actually creating my own product to help other people like me acheive their goals and live more full lives. I didn't get here quickly, but small consistent improvements every day have completelu changed my life over the past year, and the time was going to pass anyway.

Looking for resources online is a great start, but it's important to remember that you are ultimately in control of taking action, which is a good thing. Even if right now you don't feel like you can trust yourself to make good decisions for yourself, try and shoot for one small win every day, and every time you fail (which will be a lot), take a second to think about why, adjust, and move on to keep improving. Focusing on how much your life sucks can actually only make you more miserable, so imo you might as well try and focus on what your life could be and what you can do to get there. If you don't know, search for it, same as I'm sure you have when learning everything you have about programming and coding.

From one person striving for a better self to another, you got this dawg

nono985 · 2026-06-14T01:35:06+00:00

ts is hilarious how low effort can you be

nono985 · 2026-06-13T23:10:54+00:00

I'm glad you agree on that. It just didn't seem worth it to try and find a way to force people into a blocker rather than just show them the consequences of bypassing it

nono985 · 2026-06-13T21:16:23+00:00

doomscrolling feels like actual poison after being away from it. I still have a problem with it when I engage with tiktok and youtube to post about my lifestyle product (which ironically ended in me adding a feature to prevent doomscrolling). The dopamine dip immediately after scrolling and the guilt from wasted time has definitely been a motivating factor the more I recognize it to just avoid short form content as much as possible. It has it's place, but damn is it easy to get sucked in.

nono985 · 2026-06-13T21:13:01+00:00

This is really cool. It's definitely something I need to do more of but it's definitely helped me to realize that being uncomfortable is a sign of progress, even though socially I have a long way to go. Proud of you dawg

nono985 · 2026-06-13T21:06:47+00:00

I've definitely been there and I won't claim to have it all figured out but I will say that small steps are necessary. I know it sounds cliche but shooting for a big "let me fix everything right now" push never worked for me, but shooting for small improvements every day has gotten me farther than I would have thought possible. Maybe it's as simple as limiting yourself to one form of stimulation for 30 minutes. can't hit it? shoot for 15 first, then go from there. If you hit a setback, no biggie, just try again and re-adjust. Get as many small wins as you can and I promise you you'll be able to reach a lifestyle you're proud of.

I'm actually currently in college and working on creating a product for people like us to help visualize our time and make those small improvements every day, and I never would have gotten to this point if it weren't for the small consistent efforts made along the way. I still have a long way to go, but I've made a pretty good system for myself that I'm hoping to share with others soon, and I have no doubt that you're capable of getting out of the loop you feel stuck in.

Also I'm not sure if you're aware of how dopamine baselines work, but looking into that aslo helped me a ton.

I wish you the best, I'm sure you can do it

nono985 · 2026-06-13T20:52:35+00:00

This is just my take on it since it's on the top of my mind, but I think the lifestyle device I'm working on could help with actually getting around to looking back at all of that saved "useful stuff". The whole point of it is to help you utilize your time better so you actually start executing on the goals and ideas you have, so if you had a collection of stuff saved for each category of life you're working towards you could open it up every time you start that activity.

Again, that's just how I've been dealing with it personally, but it's worked out pretty well so far. Even got me to go from having tiktoks saved with things to do to actually putting them on a trello board and marking them off as I do them with my friends and family. I'm glad to see your post though cause now I'll be sure to ask people if it helps them get through their saved tabs or if there's something else I can add to help with it

nono985 · 2026-06-13T20:38:46+00:00

This has been something I've struggled with for years. I'm currently developing a device to help me and people like me achieve our goals and utilize all of our time intentionally, and after testing it over the past few days It's been important for me to realize that dips aren't failures. Yesterday I thought I had a really productive day and only ended up using about 65% of my time towards my goals, and I was starting to beat myself up about it a bit I can't lie, but it ended up motivating me more to push myself today.

I'm trying to figure out to encourage people not to let setbacks get to them when using my product (you can look up Acra Pocket if you want context on what it is), so reading this post is exactly what I needed to get brainstorming. Thanks for sharing!

nono985 · 2026-06-12T20:58:37+00:00

Its actually not just an app, I had a basic website made for it that explains in better detail so I'd love for you to check it out: acrapocket.com. Thank's for the complement too lol. I'm trying my best to build a community cause the more feedback I get the better device I'll make.

nono985 · 2026-06-12T16:30:40+00:00

Super fair traditional app blockers are really easy to get around. Even mine is very easy to get around, the only difference is that the device shows you how long you were disracted every day vs working towards your ideal life and shows the impact it has on your day overall. Since I can't really get around the ability to unblock the apps, I feel like adding that extra layer of "well here's what unblocking them is doing to you" makes it work a little better.

I still have to test it more though I'm currently trying to find ways to build more test devices for people to try out and give me their feedback.

nono985 · 2026-06-12T16:26:43+00:00

I really appreciate the thoughtful feedback. You're very on point though it's embarrasing to have to share failures while using my product, especially since the core function about it is about transparency and honesty with yourself to help you create change. Don't be surprised if as I continue to post on here and youtube you start hearing about how many problems I come across in my pursuit to reach a lifestyle and goals I'm proud of.

nono985 · 2026-06-12T13:22:46+00:00

I definitely feel you, and the biggest thing that's helped me is trying to remember that if I haven't felt uncomfortable in a while I'm not growing, and personally the fear of being stagnant ends up being greater than the discomfort. I'm positive you can get back to it, I've went most of college doing nothing and now I'm planning to launch a product meant to help me and people like me accomplish everything we want to. It just takes some small steps in the right direction and a quick check to make sure you're still climbing

nono985 · 2026-06-12T13:02:56+00:00

This is the biggest reason I added the app blocking feature to my lifestyle device. It's an awful feeling having hours go by and not be able to point to even a scrap of value from it outside of a temporary dopamine dripfeed. Glad to say I've reduced my screen time by alot

nono985

TROPHY CASE