An Inconvenient Booth
Heavy Lifting
Are you addicted to your smartphone?
If you never turn it off, unlock it more than 150 times a day, or periodically suffer from nomophobia — the fear of being without a mobile phone — the answer is probably yes. And you're not alone. A recent survey revealed that 57% of Americans admit they just can't put the phone down. But a "cure" might be on the way.
Matter Neuroscience, a Colorado-based startup, designed a 6-pound smartphone case — yes, 6 pounds — to curb excessive cellphone use. The case, made from solid stainless steel, is intentionally inconvenient. It looks like a 1980's brick mobile phone, won't fit into your pocket, and requires four tiny screws to attach. So to jailbreak an iPhone, you'll now need an Allen wrench.
These neuroscience nerds may be on to something. Early testing showed that converting a phone into a kettle bell actually helped some digital junkies cut their screen time by almost half. Positive results like that might compel Orangetheory to introduce an Extreme Doom Scrolling class.
"DON'T GIVE UP NOW! JUST 5 MORE LIKES!"
I get that some addictions require unconventional methods to overcome, but creating a physical feedback loop to make your body produce lactic acid instead of dopamine is pure 67. It makes as much sense as unplugging your Wi-Fi to stop checking your email.
Still, if your self-restraint runs lower than your phone battery — and you'd rather not drop into an N.A. meeting (Nomophobics Anonymous) — you could always drop $210 on Kickstarter to block your phone. And if you drop it, don’t worry, it'll be fine.
The floor, your foot, and your dignity? Not so much.
Inconvenient Awareness
That heavy-handed solution to a first-world problem sounds ridiculously inconvenient. And that's the point.
The case doesn’t stop you from using your phone; it just makes you aware that you are.
Imagine if we applied the same principle at work. Every time we clicked into yet another “quick sync,” opened an old deck to make “minor tweaks,” or answered an email that didn’t really need an answer — our keyboards hit us with a 12-volt shock. We’d quickly realize how much of our day runs on habit, not intention.
We’re obsessed with making things easier — automating tasks, templating presentations, optimizing workflows — yet the easier things get, the less awake we become. We call it efficiency, but it's often just autopilot in disguise.
Awareness is inconvenient by design. It slows your reaction, challenges your certainty, and reminds you that “easy” isn’t the same as “engaged.”
Comfort keeps us asleep; friction wakes us up.
The next time you feel the drag of monotony or the dull ache of déjà vu, try leaning into the friction:
When you’re stuck in an inefficient process everyone hates but no one questions, ask the inconvenient question: “Do we still need this?” People may look at you like you kicked a sacred cow, but they’ll secretly thank you for doing it.
When your calendar looks like a game of Tetris played by your anxieties, inconveniently draw some boundaries. Cancel meetings, decline invites, and protect your focus like PTO.
When you log off and realize you can’t recall anything meaningful from the day, sit with that discomfort. Ask yourself, “What do I actually want to remember about today?” Awareness often starts as unease but ends as clarity.
Inconvenient awareness doesn’t make work easier — it makes it realer. It’s that fleeting second between reaction and reflection, when you notice your own patterns — the moment that interrupts “just doing my job” with “what am I actually doing?”
If your keyboard shocked you every time you worked on autopilot, how many volts would you be at by noon?
Maybe that’s the real measure of growth — not how light your workload feels, but how often you’re willing to carry the weight of awareness.
So as you head into the week, think about the work habits that have become so automatic you’ve stopped noticing them.
If awareness had a weight, how much could you bench?
