🖊️ How to Reduce Screen Time

Hey there! Welcome back to The Flow by Flocus. If you’re new around here, welcome! 👋 You can catch up on our previous editions right here.

This week: Get in, bestie, we’re going analog! Why taking regular breaks from your digital life is crucial for your nerves and attention span, why it’s so hard to break the scrolling cycle, fun offline activities to try, plus how to make analog living part of your daily routine. Let’s get to it!

Also, The Flow just turned 2 🍰🥳 Whether you’ve been here since day one or just joined last week, we appreciate you more than you know. We can’t wait to keep sharing tips with you!

🧠 Why Analog Helps Your Focus & Nerves

Your brain was not designed for digital.

Smartphones, social media, and the internet are not part of the natural world. They’re human inventions.

That doesn’t mean they’re not “real” or useful — it means your brain is still learning how to process a ton of inputs from this new, unnatural, and unfamiliar source.

To complicate things, your digital life moves so much faster than things do offline. Not to mention your brain also loves new stuff and latches onto it whenever the opportunity arises.

Since there’s always something fresh and exciting to explore online, it’s no wonder your focus is constantly scattered and you find it so hard to break free.

Analog (aka offline) activities, like journaling or reading a physical book, are much more familiar to and replenishing for your brain.

Going analog helps you slow down, single-task, and actually feel present. Less tabs, pings, and overall stimulation = a better attention span and a calmer nervous system.

You don’t have to go fully off grid — small analog moments each day can make a huge, noticeable difference.

Let’s explore more reasons why it’s so hard to put the devices down, plus some easy ways to make analog living a regular part of your day.

😵‍💫 Why It’s Hard to Go Analog

• 📱 Convenience — Your phone is always there, and analog tools require a bit more effort.

• 🎰 Engineering — Those apps aren’t addictive by accident; they’re made that way. (Not-so-fun fact: Social media sites were deliberately built to mimic slot machines.)

• ⚡️ Stimulation cravings — Scrolling gives you fast, low-quality dopamine. Analog is slower, which can feel boring and unfulfilling at first.

• 🧠 Habits are hard to rewire — You’re used to reaching for your phone every time you pause. Analog habits require conscious swaps.

• 💻 We associate digital with productivity — It’s easy to think going analog means wasting time (especially when a lot of your work is online) when it’s actually restoring focus.

🤹‍♀️ Analog Activities to Try

Here are some of our team’s favorite offline activities to enjoy on those much-needed breaks from our devices:

• 📔 Journaling or writing by hand – helps with memory, reflection, and clarity

• 📚 Reading books – less eye strain, fewer distractions

• ✔️ Paper planning or to-do lists – as much as we love Flocus, sometimes on-paper lists make priorities feel more tactile and permanent

• 🧑‍🍳 Cooking, baking, and savoring new flavors – whether at home or on the go

• 🧶 Getting crafty – scrapbooking, painting, weaving

• 👩‍🌾 Outside play – do some gardening or take a phone-free walk

• 🎧 Offline listening – spin a vinyl, CD, or cassette to hear the album as the artist intended

• 🃏 Analog puzzles & games – cards, board games, sudoku, crosswords

• 🧹 Touch-based rituals – tea-making, cleaning, organizing small spaces

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Now, here’s how to incorporate more analog activities into your life!

💿 How to Build It Into Your Life

There’s no need to quit tech entirely — the goal is to rebalance your inputs, not eliminate them. How can you do that? Let’s take a look.

🤲 Keep both hands busy

The reason why activities like weaving, journaling, and reading are so effective for resisting the urge to check your phone? Because they keep both your hands busy.

Our phones have become almost like an extension of our arms — always in our pockets, at our fingertips. Trying activities that occupy both hands will mean less time and space to reach for your phone!

🥰 Choose tools you like

A nice pen, a cozy notebook, a planner that sparks joy — choosing analog items that you really like will make it easier to stick to. Plus, it’s a wonderful way to romanticize your life!

👀 Make it visible

Put your analog tools somewhere visible and accessible — keep a book on your nightstand, or your journal on your desk.

Similarly, make the digital invisible — put your devices in another room, or set automatic app and website blocks.

🤏 Start small

A very popular book on building a mindful digital life encourages you to take a 30-day break from all tech.

But if you’ve ever tried it, you know just how impossible it feels to stick to — especially when you use your phone for critical stuff, like paying bills and contacting loved ones.

Instead, start as small as you need to, repeat often, and build up gradually. A 5-minute break from your devices is always better than 0 minutes!

☕️ Go analog while on a digital break

If your days involve a lot of screen time, try to go analog on your breaks to give your brain a full reset. Leave your desk, talk to a friend, put your phone in your bag while you eat lunch — whatever you need to do to make it easier.

You can also try stacking with other habits, or use analog activities as a transition between digital tasks.

🪅 Flocus Picks

A curated list of things worth sharing.

• How to Stop Doomscrolling (The Flow Archives) — ICYMI, we talked about morning doomscrolling a few weeks ago! Check it out if you need a refresher or didn’t catch it the first time

• lofi cool down (Playlist) — Heat got you in a slump? Cool off and unwind with this breezy summer lofi playlist that’s perfect for analog breaks or wind-down work sessions.

• How to Make a Cardboard Loom (YouTube) — Cardboard weaving is a fun and simple analog activity! All you need is some yarn, a piece of sturdy cardboard, a ruler, a pencil, and scissors. Learn how to do it in 5 minutes!

✨ Flocus: Your Personal Productivity Dashboard

When you’re ready to return to your screen, let it be with intention.

Whether you’re trying to scroll less, focus more, or take truly restful breaks in Ambient Mode, Flocus is your calm, digital space to build a more mindful day.

Go to Flocus

If you need another reason to go analog? It’s super trendy right now. CDs, cassettes, VHS, vinyl records, and “dumb” phones are making a huge comeback. We love to see it!

Now, put your device down and go touch grass, literally. You’ll thank us later 💜

Until next Sunday,

Flocus Team