How to Stop Doomscrolling: Why It's Hard and What Works
Doomscrolling isn't a willpower problem. Why the feed is so hard to put down, and the small, practical changes that make stopping easier.
Playlock Blog
Get your time back from your phone
Practical, research-backed articles about screen time, doomscrolling, focus, sleep and making room for what matters. New posts every day.
Best App Blockers for iPhone (2026): An Honest Comparison
The best iPhone app blockers compared by how they stop you: scheduled blocks, a pause before opening or a challenge to unlock, and what Screen Time can do.
How to Reduce Screen Time: A 5-Step Plan That Actually Sticks
A five-step plan to reduce screen time: measure a normal week, pick the two apps that take the most, set limits that hold, add friction and replace the habit.
Why Do I Keep Checking My Phone? The Habit Loop Explained
Most phone checks aren't triggered by notifications. How the checking habit works (cue, routine, reward) and why adding effort at the moment of the urge helps.
How to Block Apps on iPhone: 4 Methods Compared
Step-by-step ways to block apps on iPhone with Screen Time on iOS 26 and iOS 27, Focus and third-party blockers, plus which ones you can skip in a tap or two.
How to Stop Scrolling Before Bed: A Plan You Can Start Tonight
A simple plan to stop scrolling in bed: a screen cut-off time, a charger out of reach, one if-then rule and something better for the last half hour of the day.
How to Stop Getting Distracted by Your Phone: 10 Fixes
Ten fixes to stop getting distracted by your phone at work or while studying: tame notifications, add distance and slow down the checks you start yourself.
No Time for Anything? Where Your Hours Actually Go
Feel like you have no time for anything? What the data says about hours lost to screens and feeds, and why capping your single biggest leak comes first.
Is Using Your Phone Before Bed Really That Bad?
What research says about using your phone before bed: screen light, texting after lights out and scrolling in bed, plus which findings are only correlations.
Apps That Make You Earn Screen Time: Do Challenges Work?
Why apps that make you earn screen time with push-ups, puzzles or mini-games can work, what the research on friction shows and how the formats compare.