A growing number of individuals are using apps to block access to social media and the internet.
When she really needs to focus on her work, Susie Alegre uses an app on her phone that blocks her access to social media sites for however long she requires.
Ms Alegre, a human rights lawyer and author based in London, says shutting off in this way enables her to better concentrate, because it stops her from getting distracted.
« I think it’s incredibly hard by willpower alone to have a smartphone and not waste a significant amount of time on it, » she says.
The app Ms Alegre uses is called Freedom. You can choose to block specific social media sites and websites, or turn off internet access entirely.
You pick how long you want the blocking to last for in hours and minutes. You can subsequently change your mind about this, and cancel it early. Or alternatively, you can tick the « locked mode » button, which then means that your block cannot be overridden until the time you scheduled is up.
Ms Alegre adds that she uses the Freedom app, as opposed to simply turning off her handset, « when I need to be contactable on the phone, but I really don’t want to be distracted ». Similar blocking apps now include ColdTurkey, FocusMe and Forest.
With the proliferation of social media platforms and devices vying for our attention, a growing number of people are looking for ways to help them resist the urge to continually check notifications and scroll through social media feeds.
This has seen a surge in popularity this year of an approach to productivity called « monk mode ». This involves dedicating yourself to a single task with no tech or other distractions.
The term has gone viral on TikTok, where videos marked with the hashtag #monkmode now have more than 77 million views, up from 31 million in May.
