It’s all about finding the right medium that fits you best

If you spend enough time looking at the benefits of journaling online, you will find some guidance around the medium to use to capture your thoughts.

Many will advise of the benefits of handwriting in a paper (or digital paper) journal; and science has shown the engagement with different parts of the brain when handwriting compared to typing on a keyboard. There’s also a slightly romantic notion of sitting down on a comfortable chair with a warm drink nearby, and handwriting your morning thoughts (or whatever time journaling works best for you).

There’s others that will advise on using the technology that we have everyday with us to journal your thoughts throughout the day; either using an app on your phone or even capturing voice notes to journal.

There’s no right or wrong answer here; however I tried to start a handwriting journaling practice for years with limited success. My journaling method was solidified recently when moving to a digital word processor.

Why typing works for me over handwriting

Being an elder millennial with early access to computers, I grew up with technology. While we were still handwriting all our assessments at school, there were computer labs and typing classes in primary school. I personally had access to computers before 10, putting together 286 PCs with my now brother-in-law before being able to get a 386 machine of our own (good old Packard Bell).

With that exposure to computers at such a young age, it wasn’t long before I was comfortable typing; and soon after I was more comfortable typing than I was handwriting.

Moving forward to today, while I can handwrite decently well it’s still not something I do often enough to ever be truly comfortable with it. I think as a society, many are in the same boat. Most of the documents we need to make now are digital; typed on a keyboard, a phone or even dictated with our voices.

So when I’ve tried to handwrite in either a paper or digital eink journal it’s not too long before I get frustrated with it; either because of mistakes in my handwriting or through general fatigue cause I’m not used to handwriting so much at any given time.

Some might find the benefits of handwriting a journal outweigh these downsides, but they have always presented a frustration and a barrier to myself. Getting my thoughts out of my head onto a page is always difficult and takes time.

Anything that introduces extra friction into that process adds frustration, distracting from the value of journaling in the first place.

Typing allows me to not focus on the medium or my frustrations with it, instead focusing more purely on getting the thoughts onto a page. There’s times where I can even get into a flow state when typing up my thoughts or something I’m working on (like this post).

My natural comfort with typing removes a layer of friction from my head to words on a page.

Why I prefer physical keyboards and a dedicated device to journal over smartphones and apps

I mentioned in my post on the Clicks keyboard accessory for the iPhone that I much prefer typing on a physical keyboard (even a Blackberry style keyboard) over any touch screen phone keyboard that is the default in the modern smartphone era.

This isn’t because I’m necessarily more accurate or faster on a physical keyboard, indeed it might very well be the opposite. However typing on physical keys is a tactile experience that encourages me to type more; something virtual keyboards lack for me, no matter how good the vibration feedback is.

So for a while, I was journaling on an old PSION PDA device. While its cramped, mushy physical keyboard presented some challenges; ultimately typing on this device was more encouraging and productive for myself.

Since that device died, I’ve moved my journaling onto a Writer Forte word processor (which is what I’m writing this post on).

There’s another reason why smartphones are not the best method of journaling for me, which is distraction. The distracting nature of phones and apps is covered extensively elsewhere, so I won’t expand too much here. But it is detrimental to the writing flow if your thoughts and attention are constantly disrupted by notifications, emails, messages, or anything else on your phone that draws your attention away from your thoughts as you journal.

Again, I’m not saying this is a steadfast rule. Some people have found great success in using their phone to journal their thoughts throughout their day.

Experiment and see what works best for you, like I have with myself.

Reading all the discourse leading up to the release of Apple’s Vision Pro headset, and the reviews now that the embargo has lifted; a lot of it feels very familiar.

While some die hard Apple fans have been going a bit too hard on their adoration of the product and a company they seem to have aligned a lot of their identity as a person on; many on the other side of the fence have also been equally as dismissive of it.

As usual, the reality lies somewhere in the middle (but that doesn’t generate clicks in the social media space).

Many in Apple’s camp are trying to align this release as equal to previous moments which has genuinely changed industries: namely the Macintosh and iPhone announcements.

However for myself, I see far more similarities to the Apple Watch.

The Apple Watch was also touted at the time as a new communications and computing platform. They tried to sell the digital crown as an input method similar in significance to the mouse or multi-touch FFS!

The reality is that while the Apple Watch is indeed a good business for Apple, and it can easily be argued that it’s the best smartwatch available; it is still just a very good smartwatch. It’s a fitness tracker and notifications device just like competitors before and after it. It just happens to be one of the best implementations of an existing idea.

The Apple Vision Pro (at least in its current form) feels more aligned to the Watch than the iPhone. One of the best implementations of an existing VR space but not a radical shift in computing.

It’s a VR headset

Apple is trying to shift the narrative to avoid comparisons by referring to their headset as Spatial Computing…but it’s a VR headset. Anyone trying to even suggest otherwise needs a slap in their weird VR avatar head!

Along with Meta and their push for mixed reality in their newer Quest devices, they are all doing the same thing; passing a video feed from your surroundings into your headset display to make it feel more like you are experiencing something within your environment instead of completely blocking it out.

Pretend all they want however, they are all just VR headsets.

The reason is clear. Everyone knows (either consciously or not) that the ultimate goal is a set of regular looking and feeling glasses that has AR capabilities; computing overlays within your actual environment, not a video feed replica. The technology just isn’t there yet.

Once the technology is capable of this, that will be the breakthrough.

The real interesting thing is Meta’s willingness to try moving towards this ultimate goal from both ends; via the traditional VR headsets in Quest, and via limited but more regular looking smart glasses through their Ray-Ban Meta range.

It feels like Apple has cornered themselves into the top-down approach of trying to make VR feel like AR, marketing the device as something you can just use throughout your day.

But no one wants to talk to someone who is wearing a giant headset while their eyes are being digitally recreated on the front display to make it feel like they are in eye contact with you.

That’s not maintaining a human connection while being digitally connected, that’s just being a weirdo.

What’s next

Much like the next few years after the Watch, it’s going to take some time for Apple to figure out what this device and its iterations are best for. Part of me thinks that this will just end up being a very nice display for Apple services and the Mac; until Apple can achieve proper AR through some regular looking glasses.

For that reason, I think this remains a very niche device for a very long time. Apple can’t play the “get it into everyone’s hands at the lowest cost” play Meta did during the Quest 2; even Meta can’t do that anymore.

The Watch got successful becoming focused on what it was good at and getting it down to a cost acceptable by many as a secondary device to their iPhone. Can Apple achieve the same or similar thing with the Vision Pro and future revisions?

Recently I went with my wife on a 4 day mini break to one of our favourite places; Bunbury in Western Australia. On the lead up to the break, I increasingly craved one not just physically but mentally. My usual routine of sharing my photos on travels on various online platforms just didn’t feel like it would be helping that purpose.

So, the day before we left I decided to delete all the social apps off my phone. While I’m generally purposeful of my usage of these apps on my phone; I knew in a holiday mode with time on my hands, I would be more prone to increase my usage out of a desire to share cool things I’m doing, or just out of boredom.

This isn’t my first time of disconnecting from social media. Indeed I’m constantly attempting to be more mindful of my technology usage. As a result, a lot of what I’ve experienced I expected. So while I don’t have a list of lessons learned per se; here are some things that were reinforced as part of my mini-disconnect.

Social media moves on without you

It’s often said but it needs reinforcing here: while social media works off many people sharing content, isn’t reliant on your content specifically.

Only your closest friends may even notice that you aren’t online (and most won’t even know). Those few that do notice are most likely to contact you directly by other means if they have any concerns.

These networks do a great job in mimicking the connections of the physical world. While they can increasingly lead to very real friendships and more, the majority are confined to the online space they share.

While our online life might appear more integrated with our lives while we are knee-deep in commenting and posting; the volume of noise is so vast and constant that our presence no longer in a space just can’t be felt.

It’s not that our online connections may not care about us; but more likely they are so overwhelmed with the voices of everyone else that it’s less likely to notice when one goes silent.

This is probably easier to do when on a break outside of your normal life

For most of us, our lives are very routine. Get up, get ourselves and the kids (if you have them) ready, go to work and come home, maybe do some regular activities during the week and some catch ups with other loved ones on weekends. With the prevalence of smartphones and (virtually) unlimited connectivity, it’s been so easy for social networks to become integrated into those daily routines.

So those who have been trying to go without social media on their phones, or even restrict usage to certain times, may have experienced difficulty doing so as our brains have become accustomed to having those dopamine hits routinely throughout our day; I know I certainly have.

But breaks and times away from your usual location breaks that routine. Even if it’s a place you are lucky enough to visit often, you are doing different activities like taking time to enjoy a breakfast meal at a cafe or visiting local tourist sites.

At least for myself, breaking the social media cycle has seemed easier when on such a break from my regular routines compared to trying to do so otherwise.

Despite the change in routines, there will still be triggers

Our brains are wired to enjoy and look for the regular hits we get used to from social media usage. So when you stop completely, even in a scenario where your routines are disrupted and you are kept busy by other activities, there are always things that can trigger you into wanting to use social media.

For myself, I like to take photos. I enjoy the process of making them, but I also enjoy sharing them. Most of my photos shared are for the close family and friends on Facebook (I have less than 40 connections, so it is very much limited to those close connections), but I also like sharing wider on such platforms such as Instagram.

While I’d like to say I do my photography for my own needs and wants; it’s hard to deny that reactions to photos posted hit that reward centre. It’s all so easy to get into the trap of posting something and waiting for the likes or possibly comments indicating what you have posted has attention, and therefore value.

So times during my break when I have visited a nice cafe with some appealingly presented food and drink, or a local lake with beautiful scenery; I’ve taken my photos then felt the trigger to find somewhere to post them.

Some things have helped with these triggers. The main one is that I’ve always treated this as a break from social media; not a break up. There is value I still find in online communities that I want to experience without it negatively impacting my life. So those triggers have been followed by a realisation that I will post some of those photos at a later stage.

What I hope to get out of this moving forward

There’s probably a bit of hesitation or scepticism of such a social media break. That’s a bit understandable; why go through a cold turkey state just to pick up exactly where you left off once the break is over.

Indeed, if the plan is to not learn and adapt how you use these services moving forward; going cold turkey may not only have minimal benefit in the short term, but may also exaggerate your usage once you get back online (like someone consuming extra amounts of unhealthy food after a forced diet which they have not enjoyed).

As such, here’s some of the things I hope to take with me in my usage of social media moving forward.

Breaking the real time nature of my social usage

One of the things of noticing those triggers to share my photos on my break was the feeling that I needed to share those experiences as close as possible to when I was having them. Social media has been increasingly used like a real-time telling of our daily stories, even when the reality has always been carefully curated, small parts of ourselves and our lives that we want the world to perceive.

So while I still wish to share my experiences online in various forms; I want to be more mindful of when I share and interact with social media and move away from the desire to post about things in the moment.

Social media when it is best for my life, not for when it’s best for the networks themselves.

Continuing to keep my phone with minimal social media applications installed

I still hope to have the majority of social apps off my phone and accessing them on my personal laptop; where I’m not tempted to quickly check things when I’m out or at work.

Not only is this a great way to control your usage it’s actually a great way to improve the battery life of your phone; as apps try the best they can to funnel as much data as they can from our device to their service, with minimal care about how much battery that processing is using.

Re-review of which social media services I use and provide value to me

The reality is that we should be constantly evaluating the services we use and whether they are valuable to us or take our attention and time from more important things. A break is a chance to think about which services you may want to reduce the use of, or even remove completely if it no longer fits your needs.

I mentioned Instagram earlier because that’s the easiest one to mention when it comes to photo sharing social media services; but the reality is I stopped investing a lot of time into Instagram a long time ago. The reality is that modern Instagram no longer suits my needs from a photo sharing social service.

After the past few days, it has reinforced how little I actually use Facebook but it’s still my primary method of social sharing with friends and family. Even more revealing however is how Twitter-like microblogging services such as Threads and Mastodon are probably not as important to me as I thought previously.

While I will continue to use them and get value, my move away from the real-time nature of modern social media moves away from the strengths of microblogging platforms. Although this is more accurate with the Threads service and its algorithm based feed, Mastodon is less troublesome here and more aligned with how I’m wishing to use these services in the future.

Disconnection is beneficial even in smaller doses

When reading or hearing about people disconnecting from their mobile devices, you most likely are imagining someone going completely without their phone or even moving their service to a dumb phone temporarily.

As you’ve read above, my disconnection has been purely focused on the social media services. I still used my smartphone as normal for other services such as a communicator via calls or messages, music and podcasts, GPS navigation via Google Maps and even the occasional YouTube during quieter times.

Removing the social apps that can occasionally pull my focus from whats in front of me enabled the use of my phone for other purposes without guilt or distraction. It allowed my phone to work for me and add value without needing to pretend that it doesn’t exist.

I’m sure at some point in the future I will have some social apps on my phone. Sometimes they will add value, other times they won’t. I just have to b aware of each and take the actions necessary to ensure the technology is working for me as much as possible.

As such, my final learning from the past few days is it doesn’t have to be an all or nothing thing. We can choose to use social media when and where it suits us, but we can also disconnect and remove the distractions at times when we need it.

I think we need to normalise disconnecting occasionally when suited and not see it as a drastic action or anti-technology thing it’s always perceived as.

We can do so periodically, either in a planned or unplanned way, without feeling like we compromise part of ourselves in the process. While there are a subset of users who make their living off social media which will need further consideration; most are not going to experience a radical downgrade in their social media experience by disconnecting every so often.

Indeed by disconnecting from it occasionally, we may even develop a healthier relationship with our technology moving forward and maximise the benefits from these services more than we currently do as constant consumers.

I bought the Ray-Ban Meta glasses with minimal expectations

I had purchased these as a GoPro like camera for a family holiday. While I’ve always been interested in an action camera, I’ve never could justify one knowing I don’t lead an action-lifestyle in the marketing.

At best, I hoped it would replace my sunglasses to justify some of the cost. In reality they became not only my default glasses but my main headphones and, due to their convenience, my most used camera.

As Glasses

I decided to go with the transition lenses. This was to ensure I could use them in all conditions whether I’m outdoors or indoors. I don’t wear glasses normally for reading so having some on my face most of the time has taken some adjustment.

My first issue before I even bought them was fit. The Wayfarer series have never fit well on me, always seeming to pinch the bridge of my nose. This initially seemed to be the case with the Meta glasses as well, until I found a store which had the XXL version for testing.

While not perfect, they fit without causing discomfort. That’s a pretty low bar I know, and I have had to have silicon pads installed on them to make them very comfortable.

As with all glasses though make sure you can try them on, or you have a easy return option, before you buy a set.

As glasses, the transitions have compromises both for indoor and outdoor use. Indoors there’s a subtle hit to clarity overall. This was noticeable initially but my eyes have adjusted to be used to it; even then in darker conditions I will still take them off occasionally.

For outdoors use they work surprisingly well. The lenses tint fairly quickly once you are in sunlight. The main thing you might need to get used to is they don’t reduce as much sunlight as regular sunglasses; especially if you are used to polarised lenses.

As a camera

When making a camera designed to be housed in such a small area; compromises have to be made. There also has to be decisions based on what use cases a company plans for the product.

Once you know and accept these compromises and decisions, the Meta glasses have a very capable and impressive camera.

The main decision to be aware of is as a Meta product, the camera has been tuned for Instagram. This is shown by having the sensor orientated in portrait instead of landscape to cater for live streams, reels etc. This makes a lot of sense for the product but may annoy some die hard traditionalists unable to take photos and videos in the landscape orientation.

The photos and videos themselves are surprisingly good for such a small device on glasses; particularly the video. Devices can often struggle managing the exposure from a dark to light environment (such as walking inside to outside), but the Meta glasses handle that as well as any phone I’ve used. The stabilisation is also excellent for a recording device that is resting on your face.

Photos are good too but this feels like a camera made for point of view video captures. The camera has a decent resolution that you can crop the images, even to landscape, and get some usable images for online use.

The glasses pair with your phone via the Meta View app, which makes transferring photos and videos simple and effective. Annoyingly this also builds in a level of obsolescence into the glasses if Meta get bored and decide to close the division.

Overall, I find myself using the glasses more than my phone recently for both photos and video. Why? for the same reason most people use their phone and don’t have a dedicated camera with them: it’s more convenient and good enough.

Reaching up and clicking the shutter button for a photo or holding down for a video is way quicker than getting my phone out of my pocket. Unless I have a specific vision for a photo where I will take the phone out (or a dedicated camera); my default seems to be just using the Meta glasses.

As headphones

This area was the biggest surprise to me, even though it shouldn’t have been. I’ve been a fan of open-ear headphones for specific use cases for a while; from the bone conduction options from Shokz, to the open earbud like the Samsung Galaxy Buds Live.

Until now, my favourite option was the Sony Linkbuds (not to be confused with the Link-buds S). However, I’ve unfortunately experienced battery issues with the right earbud no longer lasting more than an hour.

But while the Linkbuds are comfortable with a good sound and great microphones for calls; the Meta glasses are all that without needing to put another device in or around your ears.

At a basic level, there are speakers positioned on the glasses frame near your ears; directing sound towards your ear canal. This leaves your ears completely unobstructed to be 100% aware of your surroundings. This is useful for specific scenarios such as working from home or taking a walk where you want to listen to a podcast or music but need to keep awareness of someone delivering a package to your house, or cars while you walk.

Of course, there are limitations. While decent for music, you’ll want on-ear or in-ear headphones for the best music listening performance; and of course they are completely the wrong option if you need noise cancelling in a noisy environment.

The other limitation you may need to consider is noise leakage a.k.a. others nearby also being able to hear your music. This is something other open ear headphone designs have to deal with too; and the Meta glasses perform similarly to the other I’ve tested. In a quiet environment, anything at 50% volume or higher may start to be heard by someone nearby. However in such an environment, I can hear audio from the Meta glasses at 25% volume quite easily.

They also get quite loud to be heard even in very noisy environments; and in this regard I find them better than the Linkbuds or bone conduction options. The microphones for calls are fantastic too, primarily though the location of one of the microphones on the nose bridge; meaning it’s just physically closer to your mouth than regular earbuds and therefore is able to pick up your voice better than most of them.

Overall, the convenience and quality of the Meta glasses as headphones means they are now my default option unless I need to use my in-ear buds for specific scenarios such as train commutes or pure music listening.

Bonus advantage, using them with your computer as a headset for video calls

Note: I can’t recommend this as an option for most people.

At this stage, the Meta glasses can’t easily pair to more than one device. In addition, switching between devices is a bit tedious requiring disconnecting and reconnecting each device in a specific sequence to minimise issues. BUT, if you are willing to deal with going into your Bluetooth settings every time and want to use the Meta glasses with your computer: you very much can. They also work as a headset with microphone capability.

As such, I’ve now got them paired with my work computer and use them as my default headset for video calls while in the office (I have a dedicated microphone at my WFH setup). The open ear design for video calls is also a much more natural experience than any other headset I’ve used (yes I’ve used AirPods Pro and transparency mode).

Battery life

The one area that people maybe hesitant about is battery life. I think Meta and Ray-Ban needed to make some compromises here; but I think they made the right choices.

The primary goal is to have these look and feel like regular Wayfarer glasses. In that regard, if they are too heavy they will start to be fatiguing and people won’t want to wear them for long periods. Batteries add weight and I feel they made these as comfortable as they could.

I mention this cause these aren’t an all-day use pair of glasses for the smart features. With occasional use of the camera and headphone features, you are looking around 4-5 hours before you need to charge the glasses via the included charging case.

This may seem a bit cumbersome if you intend to wear these glasses all day; however there are a few reasons why I’ve managed to not see this as such a big issue.

1. If the battery does die, they are still a normal pair of sunglasses you can wear as usual until you can charge.
2. The charging case resembles a classic Ray-Bans hard shell glasses case; so it’s not inconvenient to carry around. The case also can recharge the glasses a couple of times before needing a recharge itself.
3. The glasses charge very quickly in the case. Put them in the case for 5-10 minutes while you do a task and you will get probably a 20-30% battery boost.

Based on this, I’ve been able to incorporate quick charges a couple of times a day to get the glasses to have enough battery life to last me through a working day comfortably.

Would I recommend them?

As with any product, you need to weigh up the pros and cons of the device against what you need or want specifically. What is valuable to me may not be valuable to you.

Maybe you want something heavier with all day battery life for calls and photo/video capture without needing to carry the case around; these aren’t for you. Maybe these are just too expensive to justify the cost; completely understandable.

But, if you are like me and look at the cost of a pair of glasses and the cost of some decent open ear headphones; two of these combined would end up close to the cost of the Meta glasses, which isn’t including the camera functionality.

It’s a niche device. Much like many niche devices I tend to like if it can fit in your wants and needs and you can deal with its shortcomings; I think you can be very happy with the Ray-Ban Meta glasses.

In defence of the Clicks for iPhone and the physical smartphone keyboard

The Clicks iPhone keyboard. [Photograph] Clicks Technology Ltd. www.clicks.tech/press-kit

The Clicks keyboard accessory for the iPhone has attracted a bit of attention since its announcement. However, much of that attention has been trying to ask the same question: Why?

Didn’t we get rid of physical keyboards for a reason? Why would we want a permanent keyboard when virtual keyboards are there when you need it, and disappear when you don’t? Is this just nostalgia from Gen X and elder Millennials looking back at the past through rose-tinted glasses?

While there’s some validity in the above, there is a good reason why for a niche subset of us, a physical keyboard on a phone would still be beneficial.

The benefit of tactility is not about efficiency or speed

Many naysayers will argue that modern smartphone virtual keyboards, with auto correct and swipe typing gestures, are more accurate and faster than typing of physical keyboards of the past. But that’s missing the point.

I will fully admit that I can probably type faster on a smartphone now, and with greater accuracy even on my tiny iPhone 13 Mini screen, than I ever did back when I was slinging emails back and forth on my beloved Blackberry Bold.

However, what’s missing from a virtual keyboard is the tactility of a physical response to every key that makes me want to type on the phone more

Those emails I was slinging back and forth on the Blackberry all those years ago? They weren’t just quick 1-2 sentence responses, they were expansive discussions with my colleagues and clients around work matters. More often than not, I would sit in front of my work computer with a full keyboard and mail application available but I would be sitting there on the Blackberry typing out emails.

Now, that was a combination of hyper-focused software with the luxurious hardware keyboard that made that experience so addicting and genuinely enjoyable. Smartphones have the software sorted, they are just missing the hardware to bring the experience full circle.

So while I can type quicker and more accurately on a glass screen of a smartphone; outside of a few sentences, I don’t actually want to.

But it will always be a niche

Yes hardware keyboards on phones will always be a niche product for select few who value the experience.

For most, their virtual smartphone keyboards will be good enough. Just like for most users their smartphone camera is good enough; but a niche subset of users will always value the benefits of a dedicated camera. Or for many the keyboard that comes with their laptops or desktops is good enough; but a niche subset will sort after a mechanical keyboard with customised switches and key caps for their perfect feel.

Because hot takes generate attention, there’s no doubt going to be a bunch of honestly ignorant takes on the Clicks keyboard accessory as a non-starter or dismiss automatically as a failure just because it doesn’t hit some sort of mass adoption. But, and excuse my language on this, fuck them!

Niche appeal does not mean a lack of value.

I may not have pre-ordered because I currently don’t have a compatible device; however I look forward to seeing the response from people who have been wanting a device like this; and hope for nothing but success for the Clicks team.

First, this is not a post to brag about how I’ve cracked the distraction pull of the smartphone and turned it into a productivity machine.

Like many of you, I’ve battled with my phone taking too much of my focus and not utilising the tools available to improve my workflow. I also believe being in control of your phone use is something that needs to be constantly worked on and not something to be “solved”.

With that in mind, I have spent a good part of a few years looking at ways to improve the use of my smartphone in order to serve me and not control me. The below is a list of things I do at the moment of writing this in early 2024.

While I have an iPhone at the moment, and this guide may feature iPhone specific apps; I’ll try and outline Android options for suggestions where I can. My last Android phone was the Galaxy S23 Ultra, so I’m familiar with modern Android and its capabilities. However, as with everything in technology it moves fast. So there maybe something I’ve missed in regard to Android here.

Alright, let start with what I feel is actually the biggest distraction of phones that many people don’t admit to: work apps.

Truly disconnecting from the work environment

The modern always connected world has somehow translated into the always connected workplace. The whole growth of the Blackberry organisation was built on constant connectivity to the office (I lived that for a short while).

One of the things I’ve focused on in the past few years is making sure I’m leaving work stuff during my work hours and not letting it take up mental space during my private time. This isn’t always possible for some, but for many I suspect they involuntarily give work items more mind share outside of work than it deserves.

Do you ever open up your work email or chat app while out of work just out of habit? Do you convince yourself you need to keep up on things in order to be prepared the following work day? Some apps have some controls built in that can be configured to help here. Microsoft’s Teams and Outlook apps have a Quiet times function to silence all notifications during certain time periods.

At the moment, what I have found works for me is completely blocking work apps outside of my work hours via an app called ScreenZen.

Setting up blocking on ScreenZen

ScreenZen is a free app on the iOS App Store & Google Play Store for Android. I have only had experience with how it works on iPhone, so I will be only referencing that version. I’m also not associated with the app at all, just a fan of a free useful application

On iOS, ScreenZen leverages Apple’s built in Screen Time and Downtime features; but expands the capabilities to be far more powerful. As an example, while Downtime allows you to set time limits for certain apps and block access after that limit is reached; the block is trivially easy to bypass via a simple input of your Screen Time passcode.

ScreenZen on the other hand allows you to implement Strict Blocks on specific apps, in specific time periods. In the below screenshot, I have setup ScreenZen to block my work apps completely both outside of business hours and on weekends.

There’s no easy bypass of the block without going into ScreenZen itself to adjust. In addition, ScreenZen allows you to hide a blocked app completely; so you won’t be able to even find the app in the app list or Spotlight search! Out of sight, out of mind. Using an app when it hits a scheduled block time? Bam, no warnings just kicked straight out of the app. This is a good thing, a firm reminder that it’s time to stop.

Don’t want to block apps completely, ScreenZen also allows you to simply set timers upon opening the app to be more mindful and think about it before opening them as well as implementing time limits before prompting you again to avoid endless doom scrolling.

For Android users, it is well worth trying to see if it’s just as effective on there. Hopefully it utilises and expands Android’s Digital Wellbeing features in a similar way. However Android does have a few built in services that may help here.

One is a focus mode within Digital Wellbeing. Originally designed to block distracting apps and focus on work, I did use it to block work apps and focus on life pretty effectively. Android also has a pretty robust Work Profile functionality which effectively separates work and personal apps and allows you to turn off the Work Profile at specific times.

Certain manufacturers of Android phones have also built their own digital management features into their devices; with Samsung’s Modes and Routines allowing for a wide range of customisations for how apps and services work on your phone based on time or location.

What about social media apps?

Of course, all of the functionality above can be used to manage social media apps as well. This is a balance I’m still working out as I genuinely enjoy some of the discussions on some social services, but I also identify that it occasionally consumes more of my time and energy than I would like.

While there are services that manage my use, my main tool for social media is actually removing the app from my phone and limiting my social usage to the personal laptop wherever possible.

I deleted the Twitter app long before I closed my account completely. Threads by Meta is quickly taking over that mantle, so I occasionally delete the app if it gets too much. Instagram is pretty much always uninstalled except when I’m on holidays etc.

Another option is to use built in app functionality to limit the dopamine parts of the service. As an example, YouTube (secretly a very effective social network) is a far more controlled experience once you turn off Watch History. No more recommended video spirals, no more random Shorts, still have access to all your subscriptions and manual searching for videos you are actually looking for at the time.

A few other tips to help

Being mindful of notifications and defaulting to ‘No’

Notifications are designed to hijack your attention. But with every app wanting notification access, our attention is being hijacked constantly. This advice isn’t new if you’ve been looking at mindful phone usage and digital minimalism but it’s still worth repeating: turn off all unnecessary notifications. This includes trimming down the notifications that go to your Smartwatch if you have one.

My default mode now for all new apps installed is simple; notifications are always disabled by default. If I find an app where I would like notifications to come through, I will enable but then tweak the notification settings in the app and phone settings to ensure the notifications are working for me and not the app.

Simplify first. Don’t get caught up in being “productive”

My final tip for you is avoiding an easy trap if you start looking at being mindful of your phone usage online. You will quickly end up down a spiral of productivity porn full of references to PKMs, second brains, to-do apps, calendar apps etc all promising to help you improve your productivity.

If you want to head down that path, that’s something for you to decide. However, even if you do I would highly recommend simplifying your phone usage first before you start heading down the productivity minefield.

Productivity wise what works for me? Well it’s actually not trying to do too much productivity stuff on my phone unless I want too.

I use Apple’s calendar and reminders app and share some calendars and lists with my wife to organise basic household activities and items. I personally use Logseq for note taking and Drafts for quick references, but neither are some sort of knowledge management systems to improve my workflow or build a second brain; they are just tools I get use from.

A sleek alternative to an older AlphaSmart or pricey Freewrite portable word processors

If you are familiar with the modern Freewrite distraction-free writing devices but have scoffed at the price of such niche items; you have possibly looked into the more budget friendly AlphaSmart devices of yesteryear.

For many in the U.S the AlphaSmart word processors was their entry into early computing due to their popularity in schools as an affordable computing device, compared to the pricey laptops available at the time. Recently, they have seen a resurgence in popularity as a distraction-free offline writing device in an ever connected modern world.

In my development towards ways of working more effectively; I discovered the joy of a distraction-free device by using an old PSION Series 5 PDA as my journaling device last year. Unfortunately as many of those old devices do, it developed a screen ribbon cable issue and eventually died.

In search of a replacement, I ended up down the rabbit hole of Freewrites, AlphaSmarts and even DIY WriterDeck devices to fulfill the gap left by the PSION.

It was during this time I stumbled across a little known set of devices called The Writer word processors by Advanced Keyboard Technologies Inc.

Why Forte over AlphaSmart?

Now from a device needs perspective, the older AlphaSmart devices fulfilled all my needs for a dedicated writing device; but there was one reason I never pulled the trigger on one: aesthetics.

I know how stupid that sounds as I write it but I have to be honest. Even the Freewrite devices (apart from the upcoming Alpha device) are not the most pleasing devices to look at from my perspective. While functionality should triumph form; form matters when you want a reason to use something on days you don’t really feel like it.

The Writer Forte, to me, is a pretty nice looking unit. It has an old school gadget feel to it without looking out of place in the modern world. Apart from the original AlphaSmart Pro (which is basically an old Mac keyboard with a screen), this is the most pleasant looking writing device outside of some custom made WriterDecks.

So what can it do?

At a high level, it allows you to write and create text without the distraction of notifications, internet browsers and services fighting for your attention.

The Forte adds a bit more functionality to its arsenal. While made for students like the AlphaSmart, the Writer series was designed to help students with learning difficulties. As such, it includes other functions built in such as a dictionary with spell checking, thesaurus, a word prediction function which allows students to find the next word more easily in their sentence etc.

It also includes other mini programs to help students learn such as a typing tutor called Perfect Form, a math application, and writing prompts that provide an idea for a student to start writing from.

Overall these additional functions are very useful for those who need it, but don’t get in the way of those who just want a dedicated word processor.

Much like newer AlphaSmarts, the Forte has a USB-B (think printer cable) connection to connect to a computer and send files via emulating a device keyboard. The Forte has a much more useful way of file transfer however via it’s USB-A port. With it, you can plug in any USB thumb drive and copy files from your Forte to the thumb drive as a standard txt file. This makes backup and transfer of text so much easier than the USB-B method.

Yeah yeah, but how is the keyboard?

All this talk about writing is fine, but anyone who has typed on any device for a long period of time will tell you the functions are all useless if the keyboard is bad to use. And let me tell you…this is fine.

That comment needs some clarity.

I’m not a writer. I work on computers all day as part of my job and I find typing more natural than handwriting; but I’m still not a writer.

I’m also not a mechanical keyboard guy. Laptop keys (such as my M1 Mac Air) work just fine for me and I use a MX Keys Mini at home. I’m also able to adapt fairly well to non-standard layouts; with the PSION Series 5 PDA being an example of something that works once you get used to its specific layout. (main article picture is a size comparison of all 3 devices)

Based on this, I don’t feel like I can give a proper description of how good or not this keyboard is as a writing implement. For my needs, it has enough travel on the keys to feel nice and I’ve been typing this article out without feeling hindered by it.

The one thing I do need to get used to is some of the layout. Being a smaller form factor, they have moved the right Shift key inwards to cater for the directional arrows. As a result, it is sometimes easy for me to hit the Up arrow with my pinky instead of the Shift key.

Again, something I’ll get used to fairly quickly but it should be known for those more picky about their keyboard layouts. As I sit here using this thing though, it is so far off from being a deal breaker for this device given the benefits on such a focused piece of hardware.

OK, you got me interested. What do I need to look out for?

Alright, no device is perfect and its usefulness will depend on your needs and what you value. But, if you are interested in one of these there are a couple of items I would suggest to keep an eye on.

The main one is battery. These devices run on an older style NiMH battery despite being fairly modern (this one is from 2013). Check for one that does not only work but hold charge as sourcing a replacement might not be possible or viable. The good news is that the battery seems easy to take out and is connected to the motherboard by a standard battery connector, which means it might be possible to replace and power it via Eneloops or an alternative battery pack.

The second one is to try and get one that comes with a AC charger. This is not always useful as my one did come with one but didn’t work. Thankfully for me, I managed to find another one from another device that worked; however the few discussions I found on this device on Reddit seem to list finding a working charger as a problem.

Edit: Since writing this, it would seem that the older Fusion models are the ones with the unusual power plug. The Forte has a more standard barrel plug which is way more common.

The third is less an issue but more a recommendation: find one that has the carrying case. The Forte is an odd wedge shape, and to protect the keys I would suggest keeping it in case even if you travel with it in a laptop section of a bag. I was lucky enough to find an eBay seller which had the official case in the package. Well recommended.

Overall I’ve called this post a “first impressions” cause I’ve really only just gotten this device. As such, I can’t give any opinions about it from a long term perspective but I can say this: I have no regrets about taking the plunge so far.

At a fraction of the cost of any Freewrite, and comparable to equivalent AlphaSmarts from what I’ve seen, it feels like a great option for those looking to dip their toes into the distraction free writing space but are unsure of the time and money investment the modern options require.