I'm addicted to my phone, so I 'Bricked' it
Updated
I’m not afraid, albeit a little embarrassed, to admit that I’m addicted to my phone. Like many people my age, I’m reliant on it. Not in an “I can’t be without it” addiction, more of a “I feel compelled to scroll for no reason” type of need.
Say hello to my little friend, Brick. Siena Hocking
And safe to say, I feel digitally burnt out. While I need my phone for work and to connect with friends and family, the constant stream of messages, notifications, and temptation to take a quick five on TikTok gives me a headache.
My screen time is a major detriment to my productivity, too. It’s a compulsion: the need to pick it up and flick between apps whenever there’s a spare moment in my day. Often, before I know it, I’ve wasted 20 minutes on nothing. It’s a habit that needs more than “do not disturb” to break.
Enter: The Brick. Could this palm-sized square be the antidote to being glued to my phone?
The Brick at a glance...
The Brick Supplied
The Brick app blocker is a physical cube that pairs with a (free) app designed to curb smartphone addiction by forcing physical interaction to unlock distracting apps.
To "Brick" a phone, users tap their phone to the device to block selected apps and their notifications from use, making them inaccessible until the phone is tapped and "Unbricked".
You can create different custom modes – deep work, mindfulness, family time, exercise – with tailored apps being blocked, depending on what's distracting you.
The fact that you have to consciously "Unbrick" your device creates a break in the subconscious habit of constant scrolling. So, if you leave The Brick in a different room, or tucked away out of sight, you have to decide whether you can be bothered to retrieve it, or you completely forget about it in the first place.
It creates a separation between our fingertips and phone that some of us so desperately need.
My Brick in action. Siena Hocking
What are the benefits of reducing screen time?
The thing about screen time is that you don't quite realise how deep its hooks are in you. Every Monday morning, a notification pops up on my phone to pleasantly remind me that I have, in fact, wasted at least five hours a day scrolling on my phone.
"Many people don't realise how mentally overstimulating constant notifications and scrolling can be until they step back from it," Narelle Dickinson, clinical psychologist and director of Lotus Health and Psychology, tells me.
'Doomscrolling' is often seen as a way to relax, a form of escapism. Yet, more often than not, it leaves people feeling depleted, anxious, or distracted. So, stepping away helps to improve concentration, sleep, mood, and overall mental well-being, Dickinson tells me.
Frequent phone checking fragments attention, so it really reduces productivity. So app-blocking tools add a moment of pause between impulse and action. This small layer of friction helps "create practical boundaries around distracting apps, so we don't need to rely on willpower alone to make habit changes," she says.
So, could The Brick help me to be more intentional with my phone use?
My experience using The Brick
Look, my attention span is declining at a rapid, and quite frankly, alarming, rate. The Brick arrived on my desk at a great time, when I needed a wall between my wandering mind and TikTok.
It's super simple to set up; you choose which apps are getting in the way the most at any given time. My primary focus was work, and abstaining from Instagram, TikTok, and WhatsApp. I set up a "Mindfulness" mode, so my phone automatically "Bricks" at 10 am on weekdays, shutting out my distractions. (It even works when you're not close to your Brick, too. Fortunately, if you need to access your apps, you can "Emergency Unbrick" to return to normal.
While you can set your phone on various “Do not disturb” modes, it’s still too easy to swipe and check notifications without any real barrier. Using The Brick acted as a wall between me and opening my phone to check my emails, only to waste time scrolling through WhatsApp group chats, Instagram reels, or TikTok. Ridiculous as it may seem, it’s a subconscious pattern that can waste a lot of my day.
Using The Brick genuinely cut my screen time throughout the day, making me more focused and productive and less anxious post-doom scrolling.
I'll make The Brick part of my everyday to keep distractions at bay. Siena Hocking
My final verdict
It might seem extreme to need to buy one device to help alleviate an addiction to another, but it seems a lot of us are struggling. According to an Australian Government report, more than a third of Australians spend more than five hours each day on their mobile phones. And 60 per cent of those who use their phones for more than three hours a day are under 27 years old.
Extreme as it may be, I found using The Brick genuinely useful. It helps my brain concentrate on tasks, socialising, and winding down before bed without being distracted.
So, if you find yourself in a rut of the above, I’d urge you to try this little gadget out.
How can I better manage my screen time and stop doomscrolling?
If you are also struggling to peel yourself away from your device, Dickinson shared some of her top tips to help curb the dependence:
My desk essentials for a distraction-free workflow. Siena Hocking
- One of the most effective strategies is to make your phone less psychologically rewarding: turn off notifications, move apps off the home screen, or use app limits to help reduce how much you reach for your device. Our phones are designed to capture attention, so use actions that actively protect it.
- Look at the emotional drivers behind your phone use: are you doomscrolling because you're stressed, tired, anxious, or overwhelmed? Doomscrolling often feels soothing in the moment but draining afterwards, so maybe it's time to find new strategies to help you regulate your emotions.
- Before opening an app, ask yourself: 'What am I here to do?' That moment of awareness can interrupt mindless scrolling. Aim for intentional screen use.
- Create small phone-free boundaries like avoiding screens first thing in the morning or before bed. This can make a surprisingly big difference to mood, sleep, and focus.
READ MORE: I'll never lose anything again thanks to this little piece of tech
