Most phone blockers fail because they start from a huge plan.
Block every distracting app. Build a perfect schedule. Fix your whole attention span in one weekend.
That usually lasts until the first tired evening.
The better setup is smaller: pick the one app that gets you after 9 PM and make it harder to open before the feed loads.
The 9 PM rule
Here is the rule I would start with:
- Pick one app that regularly turns into a loop at night.
- Set a recurring block from 9 PM until bedtime.
- If a full block feels too aggressive, set an opening limit instead.
- Review blocked attempts after a few nights.
- Adjust only that one rule.
The important part is that the boundary exists before the impulse arrives.
If you wait until you are already tired, already bored, and already holding the phone, you are asking motivation to win at the exact moment it is weakest.
That is why I think distraction is not mainly a motivation problem. It is an enforcement problem.
Why Screen Time is not enough for everyone
Apple Screen Time is useful as a free baseline. It shows activity. It can set app limits. For a lot of people, that is enough.
But reports do not interrupt the loop by themselves.
A weekly chart saying you spent too much time on social apps is feedback after the damage is done. The hard moment is much earlier: the first automatic open.
That is where an iPhone app blocker is more useful. The blocker should meet the habit at the door, not summarize it later.
Do not block your whole phone
The mistake is treating every app like the enemy.
You probably do not need to block maps, banking, messages from family, or the tools that are actually useful. You need a boundary around the specific loop that keeps hijacking the end of the day.
For most people that is one of these:
- TikTok after dinner
- Reels before bed
- YouTube Shorts after a task
- A social media app opened with no real reason
- A browser loop that starts as one search and becomes twenty minutes
Start there.
One app. One time window. One rule.
Open limits are underrated
A schedule is not always the right shape.
Sometimes the problem is not total minutes. It is repeated checking.
You open the same app ten times, not because the app is useful ten times, but because your brain keeps asking for a tiny reset.
That is where opening limits are useful. Instead of saying “never open this,” you can say “you get a few intentional opens, then the door closes.”
That makes the rule easier to keep because it does not pretend every quick check is evil. It only stops the check from becoming automatic.
The useful data is blocked attempts
I care less about a productivity score and more about the moments where the rule caught me.
Blocked attempts tell you when the impulse actually happens.
If all the attempts happen after 9 PM, your night boundary is probably correct. If they happen during a boring work task, the rule needs a different schedule. If you keep hitting the same app after a specific trigger, that is the pattern to design around.
Good focus tools should make that pattern visible without turning your life into a dashboard chore.
What I built
I built Monk Mode around this idea: stop distracting apps before they open.
It is an iPhone app blocker with immediate blocks, schedules, daily time limits, opening limits, strict modes, focus sessions, recovery analytics, and blocked-attempt logs.
The goal is not to shame you for using your phone. The goal is to put a real boundary between the impulse and the feed.
If you want to try the 9 PM rule, the app is here:
Start with one app tonight. If that works, make the next rule stricter later.
