Ditch the app blockers, it’s discipline that helps

livemint.com:

A few months ago, Prabhuti Desai, an performing artist based in Bardoli, Gujarat, was driven to her wits’ end by Lock Me Out, an app that promised to help her focus. She was deep in the middle of drafting an idea for a project, when she had to check something on Instagram. She tapped the Instagram icon on her phone, but a pop-up—from Lock Me Out—asked her to pay Rs180.

This was a monster of her own making. A few months earlier, in a bid to cut out distractions while she worked, Desai, 31, downloaded Lock Me Out which would limit her access to certain apps and sites for certain hours of the day. A creative entrepreneur and facilitator, she was finding it hard to stay focussed without falling into the vortex of Instagram Reels or Youtube Shorts when between projects and ideating and researching for new ones.

Initially, it seemed quite “cool" as the app gave her various options: did she want to be alerted that her focus phase was starting; what were the apps she want locked; did she want to be able to bypass the lock for a few minutes; if yes, how many minutes; would she be okay with paying to unlock it? In a fit of idealism and desperation, she chose the toughest of safeguards. “But it got so irritating after a point," she says. “There was no wiggle room." Whatever one’s field of work, the distracting triumvirate of social media, messaging, and entertainment apps, has become ubiquitous.

For many, social media doubles up as a brand-building and networking platform as well as one that is populated with content that can inspire. Messaging apps have acquired more significance for communication and collaboration in a post-pandemic world of hybrid work. Entertainment apps don’t just consist of films, shows or music albums, they