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Comment by Timwi | Hacker News Reader

Congrats on a useful and popular app! It sounds like something that could really help a lot of people.

Now, I really don't want to come across as smug or anything, but I'm not one of the people this would help. I already use my phone in a consciously controlled manner and I don't do things like endless doomscrolling. Despite, it's clear from the evidence that a lot of people do and would benefit from this app. So I'm really curious... what is that like? What goes through your head when you grab the phone, see the app, and then decide to put the phone back down? If you realize at that point that you don't actually want to use the phone right now, why did you grab it in the first place? I'm not insinuating anything, I'm genuinely just curious.

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In my case it depends on the nudge I'm currently set up.

If that's about using the phone less, like during focus time I pick it up habitually to procrastinate the screen can say "Just put it down and check it at the scheduled time". When I see the text I'm kind of dragged out of the habit loop and just putting it down or press the lock button. So it's a kind of replacement of one habit with another one. See an app screen? Lock the phone.

If it is about a weekend or a vacation I put a text on the screen about being more relaxed and not having FOMO. Like 'If that's something important, you will know about it'. Here the mechanism is almost the same, I'm replacing the habit of checking stuff with something different like music or locking my phone back again.

Usually it’s procrastination and anxiety escapism, and it’s all automatic. To know what goes through your head you have to reflect a lot and wouldn’t have the issue in the first place if you did that. Reflection is hard and its insights are very situational so I wouldn’t expect anyone to fully answer it.

I don't think about it at all, it's almost automatic. Like locking the door when you leave your house.

I have a free moment, I enter a bus, I sit down at a table, boom phone.

I may be an usual case as I believe it to be caused by general anxiety and wanting to avoid the world.

I am also not a doomscroller but a frequent "let's check if something new is happening" leads me to randomly picking up my phone regularly. It's almost automatic by now. Middle of work? "Muscle memory" sort of grabs phone, unlocks it, opens emails, messengers. Nothing new? Just close.

TL:DR;: For me (not a doomscroller) it's sort of automatic to check my mails and messages. Not thinking much while grabbing the phone

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