Benable — create shareable lists of things you recommend!
E.g., products you love, local businesses, travel recs - you can add anything to a Benable list!
What I Actually Do Between 6pm and Bed Instead of Scrolling
15
items Not a list of gadgets that block your phone, just one of those and then nine things that make the evening better than the phone was! Roughly in the order an evening actually goes: put the phone away, make a drink, do something with someone, read, sle...
Nothing else on this list works until the phone is actually out of reach! Three modes depending on how much willpower you're pretending to have. Get an opaque one, a see through box just means you keep looking at it.
Mindsight Timed Lock Box - Screen Control
The phone sneaks back into the bedroom because it's your alarm, and that one excuse undoes everything else! Silent sweep hands so there's no ticking to lie awake to, and the backlight only comes on when you press it.
Tetino Retro Analog Alarm Clock Silent Sweep
Making a proper pot of tea is a ten minute job that gives the evening a starting gun! Sounds twee written down, works anyway. Glass so you can see when it's brewed instead of guessing, and the infuser lifts straight out.
Hiware Glass Teapot with Infuser 1000ml
Putting a record on is one decision for forty minutes, instead of a shuffle you renegotiate every three songs! Not audiophile gear and doesn't pretend to be, but it's the most reviewed record player I could find anywhere.
Victrola Journey Record Player
Cheapest thing here by miles and it reliably fills an hour with someone else in the room! Two packs because one always goes missing. Learn three games properly and you'll never reach for an app again.
Bicycle Rider Back Playing Cards 2 Pack
Picked this over the fast party games on purpose! Those are done in ten minutes and everyone drifts back to their phones. Scrabble takes forty five minutes and rewards thinking slowly, which is the whole point.
Hasbro Scrabble Board Game
For the evenings where there's two of you and neither wants to talk much! Magnetic pieces mean a half finished game can move off the table and get picked up later, which is the difference between a chess set you use and one that decorates a shelf.
Wooden Magnetic Chess Set 15 Inch
Have one out on a side table permanently! It's the only thing here you can do for four minutes or two hours, which is why it survives a bad week. 1000 pieces is the sweet spot, 500 is over too fast and 2000 becomes a burden.
1000 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle for Adults
Amber light instead of blue, so reading in bed doesn't wreck your sleep the way a screen does! This is the one that takes away the last excuse for scrolling at 11pm. Clips onto the book and recharges by USB.
Hooga Amber Book Light for Reading
Least necessary thing on the list and I'm keeping it anyway! Turning the big overhead light off at 9pm does more for winding down than any app claiming to. Unscented on purpose, scented ones become a whole other hobby.
Unscented Soy Tealight Candles 50 Pack
Seven thousand a month at 4.8 stars from nearly thirty five thousand reviews, which makes it the most agreed-upon game I found anywhere! Tiles rather than words, so it's a different kind of thinking to Scrabble. Games run about half an hour.
Rummikub Classic Tile Game
Coffee at night is a personal choice but the ritual is the point! Four minutes of doing exactly one thing while it brews. Nearly thirty six thousand reviews on this one, and decaf exists.
Secura French Press Coffee Maker
The thing that ends the evening. Twenty four thousand reviews at 4.6, and the general rule is roughly ten percent of your body weight. It is genuinely harder to reach for a phone from under one of these.
YnM Weighted Blanket 15lbs
Sounds fussy until you've tried reading a fat paperback one handed! Bamboo, folds flat, adjustable angle. Nearly thirty thousand reviews. Pairs with the amber book light further up the list.
Bamboo Book Stand Adjustable
The refill for the teapot! A sampler is the right way in because you find out what you actually like before committing to a big tin of something. Cheap, and the one item here you'll rebuy.
Tea Forte Loose Leaf Tea Sampler