you are probably not looking for actual recommendations, and even as i type this i am feeling my own wariness on the issue of "an app to solve your problems with checking apps," and i also feel like i should give a disclaimer that i'm maybe a month in which is still well within the honeymoon period for such interventions, but i nonetheless feel compelled to share that i have been kind of shocked by how effective the app one-sec has been for me not just in "cutting down screen time" but in what really feels like reshaping my relationship with my phone. something about the way it operates (which is basically by making you wait an amount of time you can set, starting after an amount of app usage you can set - i have mine set for 10 seconds when i open the target apps, and i toggled yes on the option that has you wait a little longer every time you try to open a given app) works for me in a way screen time or other blockers never have... i typed up a bunch of stuff about why and other effects i've noticed but i mean you can investigate for yourself if you're curious, but i'll just say that i impulse bought a lifetime subscription (its price is the main pitfall) after 3 days on the free version because of how different i felt, like, holistically, beyond the logistical reality of "using phone less," and so far it feels like a good investment (and i think they also do a free week long trial of paid which a normal person would probably want to check out lol). i was going to say "idk if this will make sense" but i actually feel like it will to you: i find myself just straight up forgetting about the internet for whole stretches of time - i forget about my email! - in a way that hasn't even been true when i've done like month-long internet drynuaries.
this straight-up sounds like an ad omg but i swear they are not paying me... i just have already been reflecting a lot on this experience and then in came your newsletter and i felt the spirit move me so to speak... anyway bat boy: the musical rules
This all makes complete sense to me and thanks for the rec! I have a loooong dumb history with the "app to solve your problems with checking apps” industry with varying levels of success. I guess I always resent a bit having to turn to technology to stop me from using technology; it’s, like, I want the change to come from ME! But it ain’t working, obviously. I’ll definitely check out one-sec. Bat Boy 4ever!!
loved this. ordering that X-acto story as soon as i finish this comment! i just wrote about my kids going to camp at my mom's house for a week wherein i did NOT feel kidsickness but that's because i could reach them multiple times a day and had a constant stream of pictures of them sent to me. i think CAMP CAMP will feel much different (worse, obviously!!!).
KT, wish I went to your pool. That sounded less creepy in my head.
Come visit!!
I'm looking forward to the last Colson Whitehead to come out b/c it seems fun to read them back to back to back!
PS A Kate DiCamillo book for adults sounds a dream.
It will be!! Such great summer reading imo.
Dancing Bear rules.
you are probably not looking for actual recommendations, and even as i type this i am feeling my own wariness on the issue of "an app to solve your problems with checking apps," and i also feel like i should give a disclaimer that i'm maybe a month in which is still well within the honeymoon period for such interventions, but i nonetheless feel compelled to share that i have been kind of shocked by how effective the app one-sec has been for me not just in "cutting down screen time" but in what really feels like reshaping my relationship with my phone. something about the way it operates (which is basically by making you wait an amount of time you can set, starting after an amount of app usage you can set - i have mine set for 10 seconds when i open the target apps, and i toggled yes on the option that has you wait a little longer every time you try to open a given app) works for me in a way screen time or other blockers never have... i typed up a bunch of stuff about why and other effects i've noticed but i mean you can investigate for yourself if you're curious, but i'll just say that i impulse bought a lifetime subscription (its price is the main pitfall) after 3 days on the free version because of how different i felt, like, holistically, beyond the logistical reality of "using phone less," and so far it feels like a good investment (and i think they also do a free week long trial of paid which a normal person would probably want to check out lol). i was going to say "idk if this will make sense" but i actually feel like it will to you: i find myself just straight up forgetting about the internet for whole stretches of time - i forget about my email! - in a way that hasn't even been true when i've done like month-long internet drynuaries.
this straight-up sounds like an ad omg but i swear they are not paying me... i just have already been reflecting a lot on this experience and then in came your newsletter and i felt the spirit move me so to speak... anyway bat boy: the musical rules
This all makes complete sense to me and thanks for the rec! I have a loooong dumb history with the "app to solve your problems with checking apps” industry with varying levels of success. I guess I always resent a bit having to turn to technology to stop me from using technology; it’s, like, I want the change to come from ME! But it ain’t working, obviously. I’ll definitely check out one-sec. Bat Boy 4ever!!
every katie coyle substack drop feels like a fleeting little hug to my brain. putting my phone down immediately after this to pick up a book!
Best compliment ever! Happy reading!
loved this. ordering that X-acto story as soon as i finish this comment! i just wrote about my kids going to camp at my mom's house for a week wherein i did NOT feel kidsickness but that's because i could reach them multiple times a day and had a constant stream of pictures of them sent to me. i think CAMP CAMP will feel much different (worse, obviously!!!).
CAMP CAMP feels so much like a precursor to college it’s psychologically unmooring me!! But probably good practice for everyone.