If someone asked you, “Are you addicted to your phone?” you might feel a bit defensive. “Addicted” sounds like such a strong word and holds many negative connotations. However, when you break it down, the definition of “addiction” is simply “a strong inclination to do, use, or indulge in something repeatedly.” For most people, that is exactly the power their phone holds over them.

The reality is that the average person spends over five hours per day on their phone. Many would likely claim that a lot of those five hours are work-related. Yet, the truth of the situation remains. People are still spending five hours of their day locked in, staring at their phones.

Whether decompressing, doomscrolling on social media, responding to emails, or talking with friends, our relationship with our phones has created a seemingly unbreakable tension between connection and isolation. Our phones provide us with instantaneous connection, yet the mental health crisis of our day rages with more fury than ever. People are feeling lonely, burnt out, anxious, and depressed with no hope of escape.

Now, several years into this problem, studies are coming out, revealing that our phones may well be the problem. The very object that acts as a lifeline for so many is the same thing dragging them down into the pit.

Even beyond the emotional toll, research by the American Psychological Association shows that our attention spans are shrinking at an astronomical rate. For most online activities, the average person’s attention span is 8 seconds. Inevitably, this goes beyond just online activities and is becoming an everyday reality. Already in a hurry, we’re growing more and more impatient as a society.

So, what’s the solution?

A physical answer to a digital problem

There are a variety of options that have existed for years, from screen time limits to simply deleting apps. Yet, every one of these solutions has an easy workaround. You can ignore screen time limits, and you can quickly reinstall apps.

This has left many people feeling helpless, out of control, and incapable of changing.

That’s where Brick comes in.

The Brick is a physical square device that blocks distractions on your phone. It was created by two Gen Z college grads, and it is meant to “put you back in control.”

Brick acknowledges that smartphones are “our greatest tools and our most crippling distractions. They can help us connect with those across the world, but in doing so can hinder our connection with those across the room.”

With this in mind, Brick is designed differently from screen time limits. The goal of Brick is to make you more productive, blocking out distractions while still allowing you to use your phone for necessary tasks.

Additionally, Brick creates a physical separation between you and the distractions. Unlike screentime limitations, you have to physically get up and tap your phone to your Brick to unlock it.

To start, you simply purchase a Brick device, select the apps you want to block, and define your custom modes within the Brick app. Then, to activate “Bricked” mode, you tap your phone against the Brick device. Now, you’re free to live and work more fully, without distraction!

The “Antidote for Doomscrolling”

People are raving about Brick all over social media. The Wall Street Journal has called the Brick the “Antidote for Doomscrolling,” while others are going so far as to say it’s changed their lives.

A writer for The New York Times says she tried Brick, and now her “brain feels much better.” Per her article, she said she can feel her attention span regenerating, and this has given her hope that she can break her phone addiction, once and for all.

Almost everyone who has Bricked their phone talks about the sense of relief they feel. According to Brick’s website, 95 percent of users feel less distracted, 93 percent feel more focused, and 99 percent have reduced their screentime.

All in all, these are all great things. The concept of the Brick is well-intended and is showing welcome results. It is a device that is single-handedly solving the willpower problem in our society.

Stewarding our focus and renewing the mind

As believers, we know that Scripture calls us to be “self-controlled” and “sober-minded” (1 Peter 4:7; 5:8). It would seem that the Brick is helping believers and non-believers alike to do just this. Yet, for the believer, we must remember that apart from the Holy Spirit, we are unable to produce true and lasting change within ourselves.

This is not to say we shouldn’t utilize the tools given to us, because we absolutely should, but it is a reminder that we mustn’t think those tools possess any real saving power. Only Christ and the Spirit at work in us have the power to truly transform us.

Brick is simply a helpful device that can free up space in our brains for the Spirit to work and move within us, so that we might be transformed through the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2). And so long as we use that space in ways that honor God and draw us closer to him,  it is ultimately for His glory and our good.

 

 

Denison Forum