You're receiving this because you joined the RISE Network when you downloaded the free RISE Reading Tracker, the app that helps you read more and spend less time on your phone.
This newsletter has one job:
Teach you the science behind what screen time does to your brain, and how to fix it.
ANDROID UPDATE.
Development is finished.
We're now testing and preparing for publication.
It should be live within the next 2 weeks.
THIS WEEK: WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU TAKE THE INTERNET OFF YOUR PHONE?
Researchers ran a randomised controlled trial with 467 adults in the US and Canada.
For 2 weeks, an app blocked all internet on their phones. Mobile data and Wi-Fi.
Calls and texts still worked. Laptops still worked.
Just no internet in their pocket.
Here's what happened.
Screen time halved.
From 5 hours 14 minutes a day to 2 hours 41.
Attention improved.
On an objective attention test, the gain was about the same size as 10 years of age-related decline.
Mental health improved.
The effect on depression symptoms was bigger than the average effect of antidepressants, and similar to therapy (CBT).
(The authors are careful here: these were everyday people, not clinical patients. But still.)
91% of people improved in at least one of the three: attention, mental health or wellbeing.
With the time back, they socialised more in person, exercised more, and spent more time in nature.
They slept a little more and felt more in control.
THE PART THAT GOT ME.
Only 1 in 4 people actually kept the block on for at least 10 of the 14 days.
And this was an app with a "Locked Mode", built so you can't switch it off from inside the app.
People still found their way back.
The ones who stuck with it got the biggest benefits.
And when the 2 weeks ended, screen time crept straight back up to almost 4.5 hours a day.
You don't have a willpower problem. You have an access problem.
That's exactly what RISE Pro is built for: device-level restrictions you can't bypass, delete, or work around.
TRY THIS WEEK.
Pick one block of your day. The first hour after you wake up is a good start.
Put your phone on airplane mode for that hour.
Notice what you do instead.
YOUR TURN.
Hit reply and tell me two things:
1. What's your daily screen time right now? (Settings → Screen Time on iPhone, Digital Wellbeing on Android.)
2. What do you want me to dig into next? Kids and screens, focus, sleep, social media?
I read every reply.
See you next Thursday.
— Chris
The study: Castelo N, Kushlev K, Ward AF, Esterman M, Reiner PB. Blocking mobile internet on smartphones improves sustained attention, mental health, and subjective well-being. PNAS Nexus. 2025;4(2):pgaf017. doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf017