Backstory: About one month ago while visiting us, my wife’s parents were in a terrible car accident. Everyone involved is alive and going to be okay. But what followed was a series of emotional, physical and logistical challenges that pushed the entire family to their limits.

For the first week we were practically glued to our phones, contacting family members, insurance companies and air ambulance services trying to fly her parents back to Australia. I found myself obsessively checking my phone for updates, sending empty messages and mindlessly scrolling feeds. I was spending up to 12 of my 16 waking hours staring at a screen, instead of being there for my wife and her parents. I was hiding on my phone.

I finally accepted I have a serious phone addiction. I tried Apple Screen Time and a few popular screen time management apps, but found the blocks were too easy to bypass, and most apps (e.g. YouTube) were as useful as they were distracting depending on the context. I didn’t necessarily want to use my phone less: it’s an incredibly useful tool, and the distractions were sometimes helpful.

What I really needed was intentional stretches of time spent away from my phone. I built touchgrass.fm as a simple way to record and incentivize those stretches of time. It’s not quite finished, but it helped me stay present during hospital visits, meals and important conversations.

I decided to share it on the off chance it helps others get some control back and be a bit more present in their day to day lives.

More backstory here: https://softservo24.substack.com/p/touchgrassfm?r=2wsmj