By India McCarty
Looking to curb your phone addiction in the new year? The Brick, a device designed to get you off your phone, might be the key.
“I’m addicted to bricking,” TikTok star Hayley, a.k.a. @hayleyreidtay, said in a recent video. “I have a schedule in the morning, and at night to limit Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest — anything that I’m just scrolling on mindlessly.”
So, what is the Brick? Per the website, it’s “a physical device that temporarily removes distracting apps & their notifications from your phone. Designed for simplicity. No subscriptions. No complex setups. Just more time for what matters.”
Related: This Device Helps Smartphone Users Cut Their Screen Time in Half
Users tap their phone on the Brick, which locks up pre-specified apps, like social media or games. It only unlocks when you tap it again. Calls and texts still come through, so you don’t have to worry about missing anything important.
“While the simplest solution we found was to simply stop taking our phones with us everywhere or switch to a flip phone, we quickly realized how important smartphones have become,” the Brick’s website explained. “Faced with this problem, we decided to build our own solution: Brick.”
They pointed to the physical aspect of the Brick, which makes users more mindful about unlocking their phone, and users agree.
“There’s something about physically tapping your phone to the Brick where you’re like, ‘Okay, I’m going to choose instead of being productive, or instead of screen time, I’m going to pick scrolling over doing whatever else I need to do,’” Hayley explained.
She continued, “Since I’ve been using this, my phone time is so much more intentional. I’m using it to actually do the content-creating work that I need to do — and then I’m done with it.”
Molly Greeves, a writer for The Independent, tried out the Brick to see how effective the tool really is and was pleased with the results.
“The Brick being a physical object is what sets it apart from other screen time apps,” she explained. “Having to get up to tap it forces you to think about what you’re doing and be more intentional with your phone usage. It worked well for me, and I can imagine it being great for families, too; parents could tell their kids to tap the Brick before dinner, studying or a movie night to avoid distractions.”
If you’re looking to kick your smartphone addiction this year, the Brick might be a good place to start!
Read Next: Why This Teen Swapped His Smartphone for a Flip Phone
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