Daily app budgets and a visible override counter outperformed blocking for one writer's phone habits

A developer who struggled with full blocks, accountability partners, and cold-turkey attempts over 2024 found each method removed access without addressing the underlying reasons for phone use. Their approach instead assigns per-app daily time budgets, with messaging and maps left unlimited, and prompts once at the limit to either continue or do an intended task first. Each override is recorded in a visible counter without punishment or streaks. Logging from 1 to 21 October reportedly cut late-night phone use from 90 to 12 minutes per night, daily opens from 41 to 19, and weekly overrides from 23 to 6. The writer has released the tool, ChoiceField, as a free iOS app and suggests a week of manual logging as a starting point.