I'm a distractionaholic.
In 1984, we visited a family friend's house, and they had a Nintendo Entertainment System. One of the first. It was my first introduction to Duck Hunt.
The family story goes that I got so intense, so PANICKY with shooting ducks, three millimeters from the TV, that I had to be asked to stop. I was out of control.
In college, I'd waste hours at night getting caught up in the latest long-play computer game. Warlords II was my favorite. But there was Civilization, SimCity, Starcraft, and others. There was a minor video game addiction there. Or maybe I’m underplaying it. Maybe it was more than I even want to admit today.
A few years out of college, I bought a PS2 and Grand Theft Auto and played it 18 hours a day for five days in a row (it was Christmas break). I emerged back to the real world, packed up the whole system and sold it on eBay.
When I started dating Katie, she asked if I wanted the new XBOX as a birthday present. "Only if you never want to see me again," I replied.
And today, I feel that same out-of-control energy ALL THE TIME.
It's the phones, dummy.
Not just games. Not just Wordle. It's everything in the phone experience.
I deleted Snapchat, Instagram, and Facebook from my phone two years ago. I stopped posting on social media.
I have never had TikTok (this is a confession but also a point of pride?).
And I still go down dumb rabbit holes ALL THE TIME.
I'm a 46-year-old man, and yet I'm still shooting ducks.
So you saying there’s a chance…
I know I'm not alone here. We all have a bad relationship with our phones and lack the willpower to fix it. We are the first generation of this. This is smoking in the 1940s. This is no seatbelts in the 1970s. This is The Macarena in 1993.
There’s an incredible article by Ted Gioia making the rounds about the power and influence of dopamine chasing in our culture. It’s a must-read.
The odds of succeeding against these cultural headwinds seem overwhelming.
But here's one thing I'm doing about it.
I bought The Brick.
As I write this, my phone has been Bricked for 57 minutes. I am locked out all the apps I chose to block.
I was locked out for 5 hours yesterday.
The Brick is a physical device that I tap to lock myself out of distractions. Then the app locks you out of distractions.
I have control over it, and it doesn't ruin your iPhone. In fact, it uses the "Screen Time" settings in a way that makes sense to real human beings.
I have my Brick in the kitchen, so I have to unlock my phone in front of my wife and kids. Just the smallest amount of transparency.
I haven't fixed my duck-shooting issues, but I have found a little help.
Happy hunting!
Do you have the same distraction addiction? Games? Phones? Games on phones?
Made efforts to stop?
I’d love to hear your solutions (or at least the things you’re trying this week!).
Thanks for following along.
If you’re new here, here’s a quick update and a few previous stories to check out:
I founded, grew, and sold my social media agency McBeard
I’ve set out to be a writer and did a writing retreat last year
I’m wrestling with my misplaced personal identity of “being successful” (and have a forthcoming article on what fellow founders have experienced as they sold their companies)
One time I met Alan Rickman in London
Here are three types of work and whether or not they should be done remotely
I’ve committed to getting on stage in front of strangers 20 times this year. Here’s the story I told at The Moth.
Stay cool. Have a great summer—
Alec
Okay, Woa- never heard of the brick! I deleted Instagram and never been happier!
Duck Hunt was awesome!