Recently, I’ve started seeing and hearing from more and more people who were using the Brick to limit their phone scrolling time. The concept immediately intrigued me as someone who wants to fight the apparent social norm that has all of us glued to our phones all the time, but also someone who, if I am being honest, was also struggling with finding balance with it.
Part of my job as an online business owner is to show up online, with social media playing a pretty critical role in my day-to-day marketing of the Simply Strong App. While this is a fact of business in this day and age and one that has been a big blessing, it’s also completely changed my behaviors, and not always for the best.
I decided to go ahead and order the Brick (this is not a sponsored review; I purchased the Brick myself) and see if it could help me find more balance and be more present and productive with my time.
Why I Was Struggling With Being Present
As much as I hate to admit it, I was feeling an extreme pull to constantly check my social media accounts on my phone. It had become a habit – one that I really didn’t like. We live in a world where social media and the dopamine hit it provides are always right at our fingertips. And while there are so many positives to social media and the online world in general, I also believe that it can be a very toxic place that can quickly lead to an almost obsessive state.
As a content creator, part of my job is to show up on social media. I share my workouts, my approach to nutrition, and a little bit of my personal life on social media to help others connect with me and my message. It’s important to show up and share my message, but it can easily be taken way too far.
I started to become aware of the fact that I was posting stuff on social media and then pulling the app open frequently to check how it was doing, and while the app was open, I was scrolling through other social media content. Some of the content and people I follow provide really great information and relatable posts, and I enjoy supporting them by giving them likes, comments, etc. However, there’s also the side of social media where I am being bombarded with other fitness and nutrition accounts that are seemingly doing so much better than I am, thereby making me feel inferior.
The whole time that I am obsessively checking my social media accounts and scrolling through others, I am not being present in my real life. I told myself that I needed to be locked into what’s going on on my social accounts so I could optimize engagement (reply to comments ASAP, add my own comments, etc.), but the truth was, even doing that wasn’t really making a difference in my engagement. I was just on the apps, more or less wasting my time and energy while being checked out from the real life that was happening around me. I noticed that I would get short with my kids or only half-listen to them when they were telling me something because my focus was more on my phone. This is probably what hit me the hardest and woke me up to my phone habit. Even when I didn’t have my phone on me, I was thinking about my phone and pulling up my socials.
I grew up in the 90s and early 2000s, and we didn’t have cell phones until I was in high school, and social media really wasn’t a thing back then. I’ve watched the world completely transform over the last 20ish years, and while a lot of it is positive, there’s also a strong negative side as well. I think a lot of people my age and older have a love/hate relationship with the internet and social media. It can be really helpful and entertaining, but also very addictive. For those of us with children who want to raise to be educated, intelligent, confident people who can look someone in the eye and shake their hand, watching the way the younger generations are walking around with their heads in their phones is alarming.
I am raising children in a day and age much different from the one in which I grew up. I am grateful to have grown up the way I did, and in the era I did because I remember what it was like before smartphones and social media. I remember how much simpler things felt and how interaction, for the most part, happened in person. With that knowledge, I can show my kids that we don’t need to be glued to screens, scrolling through silly social trends, and chasing constant dopamine hits. My husband and I have been adamant that our kids won’t be getting phones until well into their teens, and we’re very diligent about screen time. But in order to fully practice what I am preaching to my children, I needed to set the best example possible, and that meant I needed to get off my phone and be more present in my real life.
Why I Got the Brick
Ironically, I was first exposed to Brick via social media (as I said, it’s not all bad!). I started seeing more and more people that I trust and follow on social media talking about “bricking” their phones, and more people in my real life getting this device, too. I knew I needed to quiet the social media noise and the mental toll is was taking on me, but I was also reasoning with myself that I need to be on social media – how will people discover and learn more about the Simply Strong App if I’m not showing up there sharing every day? How will I know what’s working in the industry if I’m not scrolling through and seeing what others are doing?
The truth is; a lot of what works for people in my industry on social media feels pretty icky to me. So why was I comparing what others are doing and trying to emulate it when it didn’t even feel aligned with who I am and what kind of message I want convey? Why was I so nervous to spend a significant amount of time OFF social media when I knew that most of the time when I was opening the app, I felt worse off than I started? There’s a real FOMO problem going on, and I know I’m not the only one who feels it.
Plus, in addition to all of the social comparison and mindless scrolling, I was following quite a few influencers, and I found myself adding a lot of extra stuff to my cart, spending money foolishly because that’s just the norm these days. Social media and influencers make it so easy to add stuff to your cart while making you feel like it’s a MUST-HAVE. And I am not immune to that type of marketing; the more time I spend on social media, the more money I spend. Again, this behavior is truly not in alignment with the type of person I want to be and the example I would like to set for my children.
I spent a few weeks marinating in the idea of reducing social media and phone time. I started being more intentional with leaving my phone in the other room more when my kids were home and just not checking it so much, but I was honestly still struggling with it all. This is what led me to pull the trigger on purchasing the Brick. I knew enough about how it worked and what it did to know that this was a tool that would provide tremendous value in my life and help me get my time and presence back.
My Experience Using the Brick
I’ve had my Brick for a couple of weeks now and can already report that it’s life-changing (hence why I’m sharing my experience here with you). First, the Brick was $59, which I felt was a reasonable price for a product that I knew full well would ultimately save me hundreds, maybe even thousands of dollars, on random crap I wouldn’t buy anymore because I wouldn’t be exposed to it. The Brick shipped really quickly and was in my hands within a couple of days of ordering it.
Setting the Brick up was simple; you just scan the QR code on the box, and then it’ll ask you to download the app. Once downloaded, you create your account and, boom, you’re in.
There weren’t any instructions with the Brick, but the app helps you, and it’s honestly very simple to understand and use. I was a little nervous that it would be a complicated setup process, but it was super simple.
The device itself is literally just a magnetic “brick” that you stick to your fridge or any other metal surface in your home (mine’s on my double oven unit, as it sits right next to the countertop where I plug in my phone).
How the Brick works is you select which apps you’d like to “Brick,” aka silence during a certain time. For me, the apps I chose were all of the social apps like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc. I know other people will silence their emails, but I don’t find my emails to be overly distracting.
Once you determine which apps you’d like to silence, you can either manually “Brick” your phone by hitting the “Brick” button inside the app and then aligning your phone with the device, or you can set your “bricking” schedule inside the app and have the Brick automatically silence your apps during certain times of the day. The best part about the Brick is that you can’t just easily “un-brick” it from your phone, as you can with features like “silencing” on your iPhone, where you can easily just turn that off. With the Brick, you have to physically walk about to the Brick device and tap that you want to “un-brick” it. So if you’re not home and you have the urge to do a little doom scrolling, it’s not possible. That said, Brick does give you 5 emergency unbricks, so if you had a valid reason to need access to something you bricked, you could unbrick it while not near the device.
You can also set your Brick rules via the app. You can choose to prevent ending an active Brick session by deleting the app, blocking mature content across apps (would be great for parents with kids with phones!), or blocking in-app purchases during active Brick sessions. I love that Brick allows you to customize your Brick rules and safeguard you from destructive behaviors. Honestly, when I think about it, it’s sad that we have to implement these safeguards, but I’m glad it’s an option. I am sure there are many reasons why people are interested in getting a Brick device that extend beyond what my reasons are, but the goal outcome is the same – we want to take back our time and energy, become more present and productive in our lives, and stop destructive behaviors.
I set my Brick on a schedule, and that has been working beautifully for me. I have it set to brick my social apps from 8:30 am to 2:30 pm (my normal working hours while my kids are at school). Then I give myself an hour in the afternoon to check in (2:30-3:30), and then I have it bricked for the remainder of the day and night until I wake up. Basically, that leaves me with a few hours in the morning to get all of my social posting for the day done. Is early morning posting optimal for the algorithm? Definitely not, but I like to post clips from my workout that morning and then share some kind of helpful informational post about the Simply Strong App or my approach to wellness, and then I sign off. Whether my timing is optimal or not, the posts are all there for people to discover and engage with, and at this point in my life, that’s just going to have to be enough.
How the Brick Has Helped Me Be More Present and Productive
As I am sitting here writing this review, I have my phone on the desk with me, but have no desire to reach for it every 5 minutes to pull up a social app because I know it’s not accessible to me right now. Instead, I’ve been able to sit down, focus, and pour my thoughts into this blog post. A common task like this (blog writing) used to take me significantly longer simply because I was allowing my phone to be a distraction. It’s really hard to get into a flow state of work when you feel this urge to be dialed in on social media all the time.
The first couple of days using the Brick were a bit weird; it took me some time to stop the habit of picking up my phone and wanting to check things. But, honestly, I adjusted so much quicker than I thought. There are definitely times when I have unblocked my phone during my scheduled bricking times because I thought of something I wanted to share on social media or whatever, and I don’t beat myself up about it. I am still running an online business. However, due to the fact that you actually have to get up and go to the Brick to unbrick your device, it definitely makes you take pause and analyze if unbricking right at this moment is a must. When you unbrick, you’re consciously choosing to become less present in real life and more present on social media (or whatever it is that you choose to brick on your phone) – it helps you to gain perspective and clarity as to whether or not unbricking is worth it at that time.
I have dramatically increased my work productivity since getting the Brick. I am able to dial in and plow through my to-do list because there’s nothing to distract me from it. My social media posting is done in the morning, I check in later in the day after my work is done, and that’s more than enough time on social media for me. I am also so much more present with my kids and husband. Instead of half-listening while I have my phone in my hand, I am giving them my full attention. I’m no longer picking up my phone and scrolling in car line while I wait to drop them off at school, we’re having conversations about our days and studying together. I don’t look at my phone when I am taking my kids to sports practices, I am watching them the whole time so I don’t miss a thing. Kids need us to be present with them, and it’s a huge goal of mine to accomplish it to the best of my ability.
Since getting my Brick, I’ve had more uninterrupted time reading books, which is a passion of mine. Overall, I am just less “addicted” to checking my phone and wasting my time on things that I don’t value nearly as much as I do the things in my real life like my family and friends. If you’re someone like me who has been thinking about reducing screen time but is hesitant or maybe has a lot of excuses like “but I need to do it for work” or “this is part of my job,” I highly encourage you to at least give reducing your time on your phone a try.
I know it’s only been a couple of weeks, but I haven’t seen any decline in my business sales. My social media engagement is always low, to be honest, I’m not sure if I have a bad strategy, bad content, etc. but I also don’t really care. I share what’s on my heart and what I offer to those in the Simply Strong App and trust that those who need to find me will and that they’ll resonate with me and my coaching style. Plus, there are so many other ways to reach people besides social media – it forces you to be creative, step outside of your comfort zone, and be more in alignment with who you are and the type of lifestyle you want to live.
I reached out to Brick to see if they would allow me a discount to share with you, and they graciously gave me a link that will save you 10% off your Brick purchase. To get the deal, just follow the link below. And if you decide to get the Brick, be sure to come back and share with me (and the rest of our readers) how it’s helped you get your time back and be more present and productive, because I’m confident that it will.
