This $59 Gray Box Helped a Writer Beat Phone Addiction

Olivia Luppino spent the first minutes of every morning watching the clock tick forward as she scrolled Instagram and TikTok until she was late for work. Her phone had become more than a time-suck—it was a full-blown addiction that destroyed her attention span and pulled her out of real life.

She tried everything. Built-in app time limits? Too easy to override with one tap. Deleting social media entirely? She'd just open it in a browser or redownload the apps days later. A month without TikTok? She immediately came back.

Then she discovered Brick, a small gray device created by two recent college grads. At $59, she was skeptical it could help someone as hooked as she was. But desperation won out.

Brick works like a souped-up app blocker. You download the companion app, select which apps waste your time, then tap your phone against the device to lock yourself out completely. Instagram becomes just a gray screen telling you to "get back to living." To regain access, you have to tap your phone to the Brick again.

That extra step changed everything. Unlike iPhone time limits she could ignore without thinking, Brick forced her to pause and ask herself: do I really want to open this right now? The answer was often no.

She started leaving her Brick on the kitchen table before bed, blocking herself from late-night scrolling that stole 30 minutes of sleep. She couldn't override it without getting out of bed and walking to another room. Most nights, she chose sleep instead.

The device tracks how long you stay offline, and Luppino became obsessed with her streak. She'd brag to friends when she hit 24 hours, then 48. One co-worker joined her challenge, and they stayed off social media for five days together during a snowstorm.

Why This Inspires

Luppino's story proves that breaking phone addiction doesn't require perfect willpower or dramatic life changes. Sometimes we just need the right tool to create a tiny bit of friction between impulse and action.

Her attention span returned. Her presence improved. She got more sleep and felt less anxious. All because a small gray box made it just hard enough to scroll mindlessly.

The best part? She can still use social media whenever she actually wants to—she's just intentional about when that is. It's not about quitting forever. It's about taking back control.

For anyone who's failed at every other method, there's hope in a simple solution that finally works.

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