Your Own Company

Inspired by Cal Newport · Digital Minimalism Go to the source ↗

A phone is not the problem and a rule is not the answer. Every card here is one decision about what gets your attention and what gets your evening back — made once, on purpose, instead of a hundred times by default.

Choose from 13

What am I letting in?

Take One Thing Off the Phone

I will remove one app and find out whether I actually miss it.

I pick the one I reach for without deciding to and take it off the phone, then notice whether I miss it — and decide on purpose whether it comes back.

Make It Harder to Reach

I will put one thing behind a small obstacle.

I sign out of it, take it off the home screen, or move it to another device — enough friction that reaching for it becomes a decision. One notification stops interrupting me and I go looking instead.

Open It for a Reason

I will open the tool for something I named, and close it when that is done.

I name what I am opening it to do, use it only for that, and close it when that is done.

When am I alone with my own thoughts?

Leave the Phone at Home

I will go somewhere without it and let my mind do what it does.

Walk With Nothing in My Ears

I will take a walk with no podcast, no music, no call.

No podcast, no music, no call — the longer route if there is one, and if I stop, the wait is just a wait.

Write It Out for Myself

I will think something through on paper, addressed to no one else.

What do I do with the hours it gives back?

Decide What the Evening Is For

I will choose what the free hours hold before they dissolve.

I choose what the evening is for in advance, and pick what I watch or read on purpose rather than taking whatever comes next.

Make Something With My Hands

I will build, fix, cook, or mend one real thing.

Be in a Room With People

I will do one thing that puts me among others rather than beside a screen.

Move for No Reason

I will do something physical that has no purpose beyond doing it.

Who set these terms?

Name When I'm Reachable

I will set the hours I am easy to reach, so the rest of the day is mine.

I name a window when I am easy to reach and let the rest of the day be mine — and let the phone stop for the night before I do.

Go to the Slow Version

I will read the long, considered piece rather than the fastest one.

Say It Instead of Tapping It

I will have one real exchange rather than leaving a reaction behind.

You get your own editable copy — change anything, drop what doesn’t fit. They land in your Intentions, tagged Attention; you pull in what each day is for.