Digital Detangler

It hard to exaggerate the changes wrought by a handful of tech firms in the past two decades. Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Apple have defined and redefined user experience to optimize time spent on their products and devices. As research has begun to reveal the downsides of never unplugging—anxiety, depression, burnout, loneliness—there is a movement afoot to put user wellbeing in the forefront of design discussions. Former software engineer and author of Digital Detangler: A Guide to Mindful Technology Use, Pete Dunlap, shares hard-won strategies for maintaining focus in the face of alluring user interfaces designed to keep you scrolling.