How do you actually cut evening screen time when your job is already on a screen?

I also work remotely and the only thing that stuck was treating the end of work like landing a plane. I block 10 minutes to close tabs, jot tomorrow's top three, and then a scheduled Focus/Do Not Disturb kicks in at 8:30 that hides social, email, and news and flips my phone to grayscale. Then I do a quick transition ritual (short walk, stretch, shower) so my brain gets a new cue that the day is over. The phone goes on a charger in the kitchen and stays there; I use an alarm clock, and I whitelist family in case of emergencies. That one bit of distance makes it annoying enough that I don't drift into doomscrolling by accident.

The other piece was replacing, not just removing. I pre-stage a wind-down kit on the couch: paper book or e-ink reader, a puzzle or knitting, a foam roller, and sleepy tea, so there's zero friction when I sit down. Audio is my bridge when my brain still wants content — podcast or audiobook with the screen off and a 30-minute sleep timer. I add tiny speed bumps: hide social apps from the home screen, require search to open them, set app timers after 9, and use a one-breath blocker that makes me pause 10 seconds before they open. If I really want screen comfort, I use a two-screen rule: TV from across the room, phone in another room, which is way less sticky than vertical scrolling. I track wins as phone parked by 9 nights per week; hitting 4–5 nights already improved my sleep a lot.

By 7:30 the phone goes in 'charging jail' next to the baby monitor, and I switch the house to old-timey mode. I put on a 20-minute podcast on the kitchen speaker and do dishes; if I touch the phone, I pause mid-episode and the kids notice, so I don't. Then I flop into bed with a cheap paperback that can survive applesauce.

After dinner I put the phone on the hall table and plug it in. I read a paperback.

I sort printed photos for albums. I play a CD or the radio. Alarm clock on the nightstand, not the phone. It repeats every night so it sticks.

Asked twice a day. The practical answers don't change.

Use device settings, not willpower. Schedule Do Not Disturb and app limits from a fixed hour. Grayscale after 8 pm. Charge the phone in another room.

I burned a week building Shortcuts that dim the screen, launch ambient playlists, and auto-close Reddit after 15 minutes, and the stupid apps still find ways to nag me with 'come back!' banners. Half the focus apps want a subscription just to lock me out of my own phone. Also, every night I think I need the phone to check one citation and suddenly it's midnight.

What worked was low tech: a shoebox labeled 'after 9' that my phone and mouse go into, and a cheap kitchen timer set for 20 minutes of reading. If I really need something, I write it on a sticky note to check in the morning. My grades improved more from that than any automation.

My eyes hate blue cast, so evenings are e-ink or paper only. Phone goes grayscale and into airplane mode, and I keep a stack of 4x6 test prints by the bed to flip through like a lo-fi gallery. It scratches the visual itch without the feed grabbing me.

I kept 'just checking one thing' and then misplacing the phone under the couch until 1 a.m., so I gave it a home. At 8:30 it docks on a bright little stand by the coffee maker, and I slap a tracking tag on it so I'm not tempted to keep it glued to me. The dock has a goofy night-light that reminds me it's bedtime mode. Once the phone is parked, I make tea and read one chapter, 🥲 no exceptions. I actually stopped losing it and I'm sleeping better.

I built a silly 'closing shift': timer goes off, I stash the phone in the breadbox and hit play on a ten-minute jazz playlist. Hands get busy tidying while my brain gets its dopamine. Then I reward myself with a comic book in bed, lights on a smart plug that shuts off at 10:45.

Whole house rule: wifi for personal devices shuts off at 9 via the router, work laptop stays whitelisted for emergencies. All phones go on the kitchen charger or they get confiscated from the group Netflix logins. TV goes to an HDMI input with nothing on it so the remote habit dies.

Paperbacks live on the coffee table so something else is in reach. It stopped the aimless scrolling because there's simply nothing to scroll.

I kept designing complicated systems, then I tried one rule: phone charges in the hallway. Bedside has a paperback and a tiny lamp on a plug timer that shuts off at 11, no debating.

Do Not Disturb is scheduled and only favorites can ring. The friction is enough that my brain stops negotiating. I fall asleep faster because there's nothing to open.

Put it in another room and sleep.