The ObservatoryThe screen boundary that holds
Concrete friction tricks that make scrolling a little harder, instead of relying on willpower
How it works
- Friction, not willpowerChoose
- Build your boundaryListWrite
Most screen boundaries that hold aren't about wanting less. They're about making it a bit more awkward to pick up the phone, and a bit easier to leave it alone.
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Why does it work?
Concrete friction changes in your environment (charging the phone in another room, deleting the app) build on the same principle as other habit research: making the unwanted behavior a bit harder beats willpower in the long run. The figures on interruptions and screen touches come from Mark, Gudith & Klocke (2008) and from dscout's "Mobile Touches" measurement (2016) respectively. Both are American and not recent, so treat them as a rough indication rather than an exact truth about you.
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