How I prevent myself from wasting hours on stupid apps
Learn the best free technics to get your freedom back
I don’t know you, but I used to spend countless of hours everyday scrolling through my Facebook feed or watching stupid youtube videos. I still do, sometimes. And I know I am not the alone. On average, Facebook users spend 50 minutes a day on Facebook, Messenger or Instagram. Snapchat ones spend 30 minutes every day on the app. I don’t even want to see the stats for Youtube.
If you add these figures, it gets pretty scary. You can easily imagine people spending 3 to 4 hours a day on this kind of apps. And while spending time on Youtube or Facebook is not bad in itself, we usually use these tools like shit. No, you won’t find the end of your Facebook feed going through it for hours… because there is no end. You won’t learn a lot, it won’t make you grow and you will even feel bad about it in the end. But the worst is that you know all of this. You know exactly what I am talking about but you cannot do anything against it… until now. If you really don’t see what I mean, please read this Wait But Why post, you will understand.
A few years ago, I discovered a book called Hooked, by Nir Eyal. In this book, he explains how to build habit-forming products. More precisely, he shows you how to make people addicted to your app. This is totally one of these things startups use to build their products and that make you say: “Hold on, I am not sure this is the world I want to live in”. If you had never heard about it, you should read it or to go through these slides.
“The Internet is, “a giant machine designed to give people what they want.”
― Nir Eyal, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
As scary as it is, the book is quite interesting if you read it with a critical mind. It explains why, even with all the will in the world, you can never only watch one Youtube video. You are not weak, they are good. You simply got hooked… probably dozens of times. And while some habits are good, it is not always the case. Before trying to show you how to beat them, let me show you how it works.
First, you should understand that building habit is great for companies. The more time you spend on their product, the more you are open to paying for it or the more they earn money from ads. In technical terms, your customer lifetime value increases. But how do they do it? In one word, they build pain killers. Every time you have a specific pain (which can be as simple as boredom), they create the conditions to make you use their product unconsciously. The word unconsciously is important because it makes the behavior much more difficult to control. In his book, Nir Eyal describes this 4 steps Hook Model: trigger, action, reward and investment.
The trigger, which can be external (a notification for example) or internal (a specific emotion associated with the app) activate a specific action from the user, in anticipation of a reward. There are 3 kinds of reward: social, personal or associated to new knowledge. In the end, the app makes you “invest” for future benefits and the model goes on.
To illustrate, let’s use the best example possible: Facebook. It is Sunday afternoon, you are feeling quite alone (internal trigger). You receive a Facebook notification because you have been tagged in a photo taken at the party you went on Friday (external trigger). You log in to see what it is (action). The photo is great, it makes you laugh (reward). You write a comment (investment). It will, for sure, trigger the next notification. You cannot wait to see what you friend will reply. And it goes on and on…
Just think about it and you will find dozens of Hook Models like this one in your life. When I learned about it I was like: ““Whaou, this is true !!! Fuck it! Now that I know it, I will stop whenever I want”. I could not. Habits are too strong. So I decided to take the next step. In order to break my bad habits and to get my freedom (of mind and of action) back, I decided to constrain myself. Like a child… because there is no other way…
I will share with you the simple techniques I learned in the last months, and that helped me stop some of my bad habits. They work for me, I hope they will work for you. I know they are not perfect, and I sometimes get hooked again, but they help me get some of my freedom back and feel more productive again. Our goal: break the Hook Model step by step!
Let’s begin with the triggers. I don’t like triggers. I am happy to use my apps when I need it but I hate feeling forced to do so. Here is how to limit triggers, both external and internal (emotions like loneliness):
- Notifications are evil !! Block Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube notifications in your phone RIGHT NOW. Then, in the next days, notice carefully which apps you use because of an external trigger. Block their notifications as soon as you notice it. Be honest, don’t fool yourself !!
- Put your phone in do not disturb mode and only allow recurring calls and alarms. It will remove the sound from all your notifications. Sound notifications are the most common way to get disturbed by apps and to feel compelled to check them. Turn them off and you are free.
- Go to your the Facebook web app and block, at least, all emails and Chrome push notifications. They are the worst! Also, disable the sound from your notifications in the web app. Again, you don’t want to feel compelled to check a new event, you want to do it when you want. If you feel strong, block also your useless group notifications because, yes, they are useless. Do this for Twitter, Pinterest, Linkedin and every single social network you use.
- Plan your day !! If you know precisely what to do the whole day, you will be less inclined to lose hours on useless apps. Play sport, see your friends, schedule meaningful moments! The less bored you are, the less likely you will be to spend hours on stupid apps. Don’t forget to plan your free time so you won’t feel guilty when you take it! I love Wunderlist and manage everything with it but you can use the tool you like or, even better, a good notebook.
- Do not work in your bed !! When you work, you want to work in the right environment. It is the only way to be productive !!
Did you remove most of the unwanted triggers from your life? Great ! You will begin to feel better! But it is not enough. Let’s say you want to watch this Youtube video you really like. Will you only watch this one? Of course not, not if you don’t prevent you from getting hooked again. Now let’s make sure you just take the actions you want to take. I use Chrome and Android but I am sure you can find similar tools for other browsers or OS.
- First, stop taking the risk to fall in a Youtube or Facebook trap by installing 2 Chrome extensions: a Youtube Feed remover and Facebook Feed Eradicator (with motivation quotes, it is even better). I am sure you can find some for other social networks if needed.
- Now, limit the time you spend in “dangerous” apps and install these 3 tools: StayFocusd, AppDetox, and Digital Detox Challenge. Basically, StayFocusd allows you to block blacklisted websites after a certain amount of time using them. AppDetox does the same with apps. Assess precisely which ones you use the wrong way (don’t forget the game apps) and limit the time you lose on them with these tools. And be strong, you know that you don’t really NEED 40 minutes a day on Facebook. Now, use Digital Detox Challenge to block your phone between 11 pm and 8 am so you can sleep more easily. It is great and you can still unlock your phone if you really need it !! Finally, if you are a Hacker News fan, you can use their NoProcrastination option. I love it!
Rewards are a bit more tricky to handle. Why? Because I want the rewards !! I love them !! But I don’t want to get hooked on them. Stopping notifications and limiting the time spent in apps will help you control social and personal rewards. But what about what Nir Eyal calls hunt rewards, the information or resources rewards? How can you learn from the websites you love without being hooked on them?
- Unroll.me is the tool you need. First, it will detect all your newsletter subscriptions and allow you to unsubscribe in bulk to the ones you don’t need. You don’t even imagine how many useless newsletters you receive !! Then, it will send you one single daily email with all the newsletter you want to receive, aggregated. Say goodbye to full inbox and emails interruptions. But it can go further. To avoid checking several times a day the news sites I like, waiting for updates, I subscribed to all of their newsletters and added them to Unroll.me. This way, every morning, I receive an email with all the info I don’t want to miss (Product Hunt, Techcrunch, etc.).
Finally, by limiting the triggers and the actions I can take, I limit the consequences of the investment step of the Hook Model. I don’t really have a specific solution against it but I don’t think I need it!
Great, are you done? Now the hard part can begin. Losing a bad habit is fucking hard. It will take time, it will sometimes feel uncomfortable and you will possibly hate me. More important, you will try to screw your tools. Don’t tell me you won’t, you will. Make it really hard right now !! First, allow your chrome extensions in private mode (just google it). Then, prevent yourself from changing the settings in StayFocusd (there is a setting for this too). You will notice that some of the tools are more efficient than others. Why? Because they don’t trust you! And neither should you !!
“The cigarette of our century” — Ian Bogost, talking about mobiles devices
Good luck, you are not alone. I am sure you will soon be able to enjoy life at its best again !!
If you know great tools or have great advice, please share them in the comments.
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