1 link tagged with all of: addiction + digital minimalism + attention + grayscale mode + friction design
Links
A developer explains how he reduced compulsive scrolling not through willpower but by systematically adding friction to distracting websites—grayscale mode, browser-only access, custom scripts that strip away appealing UI—accepting that addiction requires environmental design, not discipline.
- Willpower fails repeatedly; the author overrode his own website blocker for 444 minutes in a single session, forcing him to abandon self-discipline as a strategy.
- Grayscale mode on his phone for two years proved more effective than app blockers because it kills appeal rather than just restricting access—there's no override button for "this looks boring."
- He built a layered system combining no native social apps, LeechBlock NG, a custom Tampermonkey script that grayscales and blurs images on distracting sites, and deliberately clicking "Not interested" on feeds—each layer makes the default path slightly more annoying rather than impossible.
grayscale mode
friction design
digital minimalism
addiction
attention