The tiny gadget that's changed the tech culture in our home

It's stupid simple, and it's brilliant.

Most of you know that while John and I agree on the big picture of tech's place in our home, we sometimes have differing visions for how it plays out on a daily basis. This is mostly fine—neither of us has a monopoly on perfect behavior, after all, and I think it's good for our kids to see that thoughtful people can use tech in different ways.

Yes, and :)

In reality, those magnanimous ideals don't stop us from getting into the occasional spat over each other's tech use—and if I'm being honest, it's mostly me getting frustrated with John being on his phone when I'd rather he not be.

The extra frustrating thing? Most of the time, I think he doesn't want to be on his phone, either! But just like the rest of us, he picks up his phone for a utilitarian reason (checking the weather or a text message, say) and somehow finds himself on Instagram or a news site when he’d rather be chatting with me, playing street soccer with our neighborhood pack, or shepherding the kids through the bedtime routine.

Enter: the unlikely hero of today's newsletter, the Instagram algorithm.

Yes, indeed! While Meta's recommendations typically keep us scrolling, tapping, and clicking, in this case they've led to their own (partial) demise: Instagram served up an ad to John, and he quickly hit purchase. Later that day he gleefully told me he'd bought something that would "drastically change our home," but wouldn't tell me what it was.

The momentous item arrived a few days later. He proudly stuck it to the side of our fridge:

If you, like me, were unfamiliar with Brick, allow me to introduce you. With the tagline of "your phone, minus the distractions," Brick is a device that temporarily removes distracting apps (and their notifications) from your phone — leaving only the tools you choose. With one tap, you can temporarily disable distractions like social media, streaming services, and even specific websites, while still having complete access to tools like your camera, text messages, Venmo, Spotify, or Maps. You get to decide the exact list.

Here's how the founders describe their solution:

"Life is better when phones help us do more of what matters, instead of constantly distracting us with things that don't.

Our 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. They can help us supercharge our productivity, and they can constantly distract us from our meaningful work.

While the simplest solution we found was to simply stop taking our phones with us everywhere or switch to a flip phone, we quickly realized how important smartphones have become. We use them to hail a ride, document our days with pictures and notes, get directions, and countless other things that truly enhance our daily lives. By giving up our smartphones, we would be forced to give up these luxuries we so take for granted.

Faced with this problem, we decided to build our own solution. Now you can decide which tools you'd like to keep with you, and then tap your Brick to ditch the rest for a bit. Because it's a physical device, you'll have no temptation to use the distractions until you come back to the Brick (whether that means across the room or across the city)."

While smart phones have some built-in controls, the pivotal difference is that with other solutions, the "key" that re-enables distractions is always present. Brick allows you to leave that key behind, turning your phone into a new, distraction-free device until you return.

So simple, yet so genius! For me, Brick has totally neutralized the parts I dislike about my phone. And while we've only been at it a few months, I think it's safe to say that John was right: it has drastically changed the culture of our home. Now, we’re both in the habit of Bricking our phones when we get home from work, and we leave them that way until the kids are in bed.

Some of my other favorite times to Brick my phone? When I'm in deep work mode, all day on Sundays, and at our church’s community group. In fact, I generally now leave my phone Bricked, unBricking it briefly each day to check my personal Instagram.

So what do we each Brick? For me, the most important apps are Instagram and Gmail. Instagram for obvious reasons; Gmail because even though I don't have the app on my phone, it's too easy for me to navigate to an open tab on Safari and check my personal email when I really have no need to do so. John says the most impactful things he's Bricked are Instagram, news sites, and streaming platforms.

Friends, if you're fighting unsuccessfully against the lure of apps but unwilling or unable to ditch your smart phone, I highly recommend giving Brick a try. This absurdly simple yet ingenious device has changed the game in our house, and I think it could in yours, too.

I know there might be questions about this, so please, ask away! And finally, my thanks to the Instagram algorithm — you did yourself proud on the day you introduced our family to Brick.

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