A physical solution for a digital problem.

I often struggle to put my phone down, especially at night when my willpower for self-control approaches zero. I would spend nights on Reddit or X, exploring things. At some point, I started deleting the apps. After each night, I would delete another one, but it was not a real solution. I did not want to go full digital minimalism, just more control when and where it matters.

Screen time limits are easy to "Ignore." I also checked out Brick and other similar devices that require you to tap your phone to block apps, but that is extra friction. With Brick, for example, you have to open the app and then tap the Brick. I wanted it to be automatic.

So I created this, the DoomCatcher.

The first version was made in late October 2025, sometime after my birthday. And it worked. I had to keep adding more and more apps to the blocked list. Now I only allow myself to read books on my phone. I am happy to say it still works, months later.

I hope it works for you as well as it works for me.