Stepping into the General Store is like taking a step back in time. Glass jars full of Tootsie Rolls and Swedish Fish greet you at the front door. The cracked walls are lined with photos showing the Deli as the town’s original grocery store. There’s a framed copy of the local newspaper, and the headline reads, “Men Walk on the Moon.”

My interest in the news used to be like most — casual. Since 2020, though, I’ve spent an abnormal amount of time obsessing over it. A lot happened that year, if you recall. One article per topic used to suffice. Now, the News app on my iPhone follows any article I click with a delightful notification about another. The algorithm picks up my interests quickly. However, it seems as if the perspectives and opinions of each article I read get more polarizing, controversial, and perhaps even darker.¹ Another News notification? Click.

With the 2024 election on the horizon, I decided to give up the News app. But, with the satisfying vibration of each breaking story, I knew I couldn’t do this alone. I researched multiple screen time-saving apps, and decided on Opal — it promised 5 years of my life back, free from distractions. I created an account and decided which apps were the most detrimental to my focus. That was Monday night.

Breaking: The Urge is Real

Tuesday morning, I immediately reached for my phone. The apps I habitually open were blocked but, instead of checking other apps, I rolled out of bed and started my day. Throughout the week, I continued to click my phone’s notifications, only to be denied access to them by Opal. After each blocked attempt, I simply moved on to the things that needed to be accomplished. On Wednesday, I headed to the office 15 minutes earlier than usual. On Thursday, I arrived 25 minutes early! Opal awarded me with a new gemstone and let me know that I had saved enough time to watch 17 episodes of Friends. How nice, I thought.

This Just In: Data Doesn’t Lie

The Opal app was instrumental in preventing the urge to read the News, but does not provide free data. Luckily, Apple’s Screen Time app provides loads of interesting factoids. I learned that from Monday evening through Saturday, I picked up my phone 383 times! (91 pickups for Text Messages alone.) The number of notifications received during that time is also revealing — almost 150 from each of my email accounts. The biggest culprit? 263 text message notifications over 5 days. That’s much higher than I would have expected, and easily the largest source of my daily distractions.

News to Me

I didn’t look at the News app once, but I was able to ignore 173 notifications from it. I received almost as many notifications from News as I did from both my personal and professional email accounts combined. No wonder I’ve become so obsessed with the news. But the best news? Even though the number of notifications received went up each day, my daily screen time went down through Thursday. Just being more mindful about our time, I’ve concluded, seems to enable us to focus on more important things.²

It's Sunday, and I’m back at the General Store with my family. My wife and I are splitting the veggie wrap, my son Owen is enjoying his everything bagel — toasted with cream cheese — and Samantha, my daughter, is sipping her orange juice. I can focus on these little details, because I'm not staring at my screen. I also happen to notice the stack of newspapers by the coffee, and pick up a copy. I catch up on a week’s worth of news after 20 minutes, and haven't looked at the News app once. That’s one small step for man, I think to myself, one giant step for mankind.