{"id":607732,"date":"2026-04-26T16:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/607732\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T16:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T16:32:09","slug":"the-best-way-to-break-your-social-media-addiction-isnt-brick","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/607732\/","title":{"rendered":"The best way to break your social media addiction isn’t Brick"},"content":{"rendered":"

This is\u00a0One Thing<\/a>, a column with tips on how to live.<\/p>\n

Like many of us, I have struggled with social media. After a day of working at Slate, I\u2019d close my computer, only to reach for my phone. Built in screen-time limits didn\u2019t work; I\u2019d just hit \u201cignore\u201d over and over. Leaving my phone outside my bedroom didn\u2019t work; there were so many hours of primo scrolling time between 6 p.m. and bedtime.<\/p>\n

So when my colleague Alex Kirshner wrote last summer about a trendy object called Brick<\/a>,\u00a0which offers a \u201cblunt-object approach\u201d to blocking (and unblocking) a selection of apps, I was intrigued. \u201cI put my little piece of plastic in the kitchen, 15 feet away from the den where I work,\u201d Kirshner writes. \u201cI tap my phone to it, and Instagram goes\u00a0poof.\u201d But this is not a recommendation for Brick. I just couldn\u2019t get myself to pull out my credit card for what even Kirshner, a Brick fan, describes as a \u201c$59 fridge magnet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Enter: Foqos<\/a>. Created last year by Canadian software developer Ali Waseem<\/a> to curb his own bad phone habits, the open-source iOS app offers all the benefits Kirshner described at absolutely no cost to the user. Instead of a pricey plastic widget, you can use anything with a near field communication, or NFC, tag to act as your \u201cBrick.\u201d (I found out about Foqos\u2014how else?\u2014via an Instagram reel<\/a>.) I used Foqos to turn an expired ski pass into my \u201cBrick,\u201d but any old hotel key or key fob would work, or you could even print a QR code off your computer to scan if you don\u2019t have an NFC-enabled doodad lying around.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Jason Farman
\n It\u2019s a Design Principle That Has Transformed the World and Even Saved Lives. It\u2019s Gone Way Too Far.
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<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

I Saved $800 on My Medical Bills With a Little-Known Trick. You Can Do It Too.
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<\/p>\n

A Trendy Way to Break Your Social Media Addiction Costs $59. I Found a Clever Dupe.
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

My ski pass stays in my desk drawer, and each weekday as I sign off from work, I tap my phone to the pass to disable all the most tempting stuff from my device. For me that means Instagram, Strava, Reddit, and Facebook. I can\u2019t access them again until I return to my office and re-tap the pass to unblock them. You can choose to block individual apps; whole categories of app, like social media or games; or even certain URLs. There\u2019s also the ability to use multiple different NFC tags or QR codes to create multiple profiles if, say, you want to block social media during the day so you can focus on work, and then block out work at night so you can focus on your family. Foqos is iPhone-specific; for those on Android, Foqos directs users to a similar app called Switchly<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once I block myself from social media for the evening, I find it so much easier to focus on cooking a recipe and listening to an audiobook, sitting down to read (I finished a physical book<\/a> last week for the first time in ages!), or actually spending quality time with my boyfriend on the couch. We\u2019ve even gotten to Season 2 of The Pitt without me constantly having to ask, \u201cWait, who\u2019s that again?\u201d I can still have my phone beside me for the useful things it provides\u2014texting a friend, or checking the weather\u2014but I\u2019m no longer tethered to its addictive endless scroll. And the solution was hiding in my desk drawer all along.<\/p>\n

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