Guides
Beat Phone Distraction & Cut Screen Time
No willpower lectures. These guides explain why your phone wins — and the concrete setup that tips it back in your favor. Start with whatever is pulling you in right now.
Start here: pick the right tool
Most of the time, the fix is choosing a tool that actually holds. These live guides help you decide:
Screen Time isn't working?
Why Apple's built-in limits are one tap from useless — and what to use instead.
RankedWhich blocker should I use?
The best app blockers of 2026, ranked by how hard each is to bypass.
RankedCut your screen time
The apps that actually lower the number, not just the ones that show it to you.
RankedCan't focus?
Focus apps that protect a deep-work session instead of just timing it.
By the app that's eating your time
Switching from a tool you already tried? Each of these explains the trade-offs and the better fit: Opal, ScreenZen, Freedom, One Sec, and Forest. Studying? See the student productivity stack.
Why willpower keeps losing
Infinite feeds, autoplay, and variable rewards are engineered by large teams to defeat the average person's self-control — that's not a character flaw, it's the product working as designed. The reliable way to win isn't more willpower; it's removing the choice in the moments you're weakest, by making the app simply unavailable. That's the idea behind Ice Block: start a focus session and let the block hold until you're done — a melting-ice timer keeping you company.
All guides
Every guide we've published, grouped by what you're trying to fix: