The Mitigation of Screen Time
Five steps to cure the sickness of time wasted.
Hi, I’m Brando, and I’m addicted to feeling like shit.
A hyperbolic statement, but in a relative sense it’s also true. Losing myself in the vortex of potato-chip media is pattern I’ve tried escaping multiple times, but somehow—no matter how long I’ve been gone—I always seem to fall back into the same old trap.
The thing is, I try not to beat myself up about it. I don’t think anyone is powerful enough to win this battle without having the proper tools.
And today, I’m writing because I’ve finally found the tools that work for me.
In 2021, while halfway through watching the Netflix documentary, The Social Dilemma, I deactivated my Instagram cold turkey and did not return for over a year, never looking back once.
When I returned to the platform in 2022, it was because I wanted a place for my photography to live. Months later, I began my freelance career and convinced myself that the platform would be a necessary tool to generate an audience that would convert to income.
The result is that, in a little over two years, I’ve gained less than ten clients through means of Instagram discovery. On the other hand, the opportunity cost in the amount of hours I’ve wasted watching stupid shit—like some dude repairing a bathroom sink with ramen (seriously, what the fuck?)—is a statistic I wish to never know.
Alas, here we are today. Where I’d like to share how, in 2025, I’ve finally setup my phone to reduce screen time, which has in turn led to a dramatic increase in productivity and mental well-being.
My Current Screen Time Average:
This screenshot is from today, February 6th, at the time of writing. It is only 5:30pm, and based on my recent daily averages, I will likely add another hour to that total by the time I call it day.
Unfortunately, I’m unable to scroll back in time to the weeks before I deleted Instagram for a proper comparison. I think it’s fair, however, to tack an additional 1-2 hours on top of the above.
And while my current ~3 hours daily usage still remains high, I know the majority of that duration is spent using Spotify, Google Maps, Messages, and Mail—all of which are essential to my functionality as a self-employed picture boy.
I’m not implying screen time inherently bad.
Like everything, a smart phone is just a tool. And like a hammer, your iPhone can fuck your shit up, or it can be used to build and maintain something positive.
Now, before we move on, I must acknowledge that this is, of course, is a well-discussed topic. Go on YouTube and pick your poison. The following steps simply comprise of my own recipe for a possible antidote, which is at the moment working for me.
I’m going to list these items in order of my own implementation, as additional layers have proved more effective than others—combining in total for maximum efficiency—which is to say that the whole has proved more beneficial than any one part.
Feel free to follow as you please.
Step 1: I stupefied my phone.
This was achieved by following this YouTube video, allowing me to create a minimal non-distracting home screen.
My home screen now looks like this:
In addition to removing photo/color backgrounds from my home screen and front wallpaper, I have also minimized page 2 of my home screen to only include my top 12 most essential apps—which include banking apps, Quickbooks for my business invoicing and expenses, home smart controls, and photography apps that I use on a daily basis.
A total purge of non-essential apps was executed, and the remainder of my less-used apps are still installed in my phone, but are only viewable in the app library, which exists out of sight on page 3 of my home screen.
In sum: I made my home screen boring. I deleted every social media and distracting app that I do not need to be using, including Instagram*.
(*Although this time around I have kept my account active, giving me the option to still check it on desktop, which I do once or twice a week.)
Step 2: Remove the color
In addition to the minimal homepage design I implemented above, I also created a triple-click side button shortcut to activate a black-and-white mode through the ‘Accessibility’ page inside of ‘Settings’:
Unfortunately, this feature doesn’t display during screen recording, but essentially a triple-click of the side button turns everything monochrome. I admittedly don’t use it too often as my homepage is by default in black-and-white, but I have found it useful for when I am at the gym and in-between sets. Removing the color helps eliminate the temptation to open apps and turn a 2-minute rest into a 5-minute rest.
I believe Tristan Harris talked about this in The Social Dilemma.
Step 3: Turn Off ALL Notifications
This one is huge.
Go into your settings > notifications > and shut it all down.
I’m serious. The only thing you need notifications for are phone calls, text messages, and emergency alerts.
Why? Well, if you’re like me, every time my phone lights up with a notification, the door to hell is opened. I check a text and twenty minutes later I’m back in ramen land. The ultimate shame.
Step 4: Set Up Screen Time Limits
Now, I’m hesitant to offer this step as a suggestion as it has done little good for me, but I still use it as one of the four layers that play a role in the larger picture.
The reason for my hesitation is that if you use Screen Time Limits already, you will know how easy it is to bypass. Simply enter a passcode at the prompt and then select how long you wish to extent your Screen Time for.
The options given are: 1 minute; 15 minutes; or All Day.
What happened was that I quickly learned to unconsciously and automatically type my passcode and click “All Day” before realizing what my dirty, little fingers were doing—effectively rendering the Screen Time Limit feature utterly useless.
Still, as pictured above, I do have Screen Time Limits set for YouTube and Instagram (even though this app is now deleted off my phone). YouTube is an app I’d like to delete for distraction reasons, but I do utilize it often for practical use cases such as looking up tutorials—like how to use ratchet straps—at a moment’s notice. I also like to watch baseball highlights during the season.
Step 5: Tap The Brick.
This is the final and perhaps most intense layer I have implemented in making my phone work for me, instead of the other way around. The irony is that I learned about it through an Instagram ad.
It’s a physical device + application, called Brick. I’ve had mine for about two weeks and believe me when I say I am not being sponsored to advertise this thing to my 63 Substack subscribers.
However, for me, this was the final piece of the puzzle.
That picture, that’s all it is. A little square thing linked to their proprietary app in which you determine the apps you’d like to block. You can even customize categories as well—e.g. blocking a certain group of apps for work, another for the gym, etc.
The device has a magnetic backing and I put mine on my fridge, away from my desk and couch where I would be tempted most to bypass my restrictions.
When it’s time to limit your access, you simply tap your phone against the Brick, and all the apps you’ve marked will be blocked. I’m talking ZERO workarounds—full and glorious restriction. The only way to bypass the restriction (minus 5 emergency in-app overrides) is to physically tap the Brick again. So, if I Brick and then leave home, I’m physically blocked from accessing my apps until the time of my return, at the very least.
Overkill? Maybe.
Step 5: A Return To Normal
The first step with recovery is admitting the problem exists.
I am an addict.
I cannot help myself with these apps and I know a lot of you heathens can’t either.
And that’s ok.
These things have been engineered and intentionally designed for us to lose—but only if we play the game.