Why I built this
At my worst, I was on my phone up to eleven hours a day. Seven on average. I'd cut back, hold out for a few days or weeks, then end up right back where I started. I tried app blockers too, and ended up overriding or uninstalling every single one.
None of this made me unusual. Most people I know do some version of it: the check before you're out of bed, the five-minute break that quietly becomes forty.
One day, I put my screen time on a life calendar. At my rate, I'd spend twenty-six of my remaining waking years looking at a screen. That left about twenty for work and free time combined, not counting sleep. I stared at that number for a long time, and knew I needed to change.
As a remote worker, quitting my phone was never an option. More friction wasn't the answer either. The solution I needed had to work with my life, not against it.
I needed to get down to the root cause of my phone habits. I started asking myself "why am I reaching for this, right now?"
On tough days, the answer was "I'm avoiding something hard I need to do", or "I'm bored and don't know what to do", or "I'm feeling anxious and need a distraction".
Naming the reason was often enough to break the reach.
But when I needed the question most, I was the least likely to ask it: on the couch after a hard day, thumb already on Instagram, or in bed, watching YouTube when I should have been sleeping. I wanted a coach in those moments, asking for me.
So I built it. It asks the question right in the moment, before the scroll starts. A coach, not a blocker. That's Memento Mode.
Your reasons for reaching will be different from mine. But the reach is the same, and it breaks the same way: by noticing what you're really looking for. The coach is there so you don't have to catch that moment alone.
— Nicholas Li