I spent eight years building the apps you're trying to quit.
Then I spent two more figuring out how to put my phone down for good.
I'm Theo. I'm a product designer in San Francisco, and for most of my twenties, I was part of the machine — the one that designs infinite scroll, variable rewards, and notifications you can't ignore. I helped ship features that were measured in "time spent" and "daily active users," the same metrics that now keep you up at night.
I don't say that with guilt. I say it with clarity.
Why I started this site
The digital minimalism space is full of two things: guilt trips and shopping lists.
One camp tells you you're weak for not deleting everything. The other sells you a $400 leather "productivity journal" as the solution.
Neither of those felt honest to me.
So I started writing — quietly, without judgment — about what I actually tried, kept, and deleted. Not what you should do. Just what I did. And what I learned along the way.
This site exists to answer one question, over and over, about every gadget and app you're considering:
"Do you actually need this?"
Not "is it cool?" Not "will it make you look minimalist?" Just: do you actually need it?
What I believe
You need less than you think. That's not a rallying cry. It's an observation — from someone who once owned three smartwatches and now wears a $20 Casio.
I'm not anti-tech. I still work in tech. I'm pro-intentionality. I believe your tools should serve you, not the other way around. And I believe the best way to figure out what's worth keeping is to understand why apps and gadgets are so hard to let go of in the first place.
That's where the designer in me comes in.
I can tell you exactly why you can't stop pulling to refresh — because I once worked on a product where we optimized for that. I can show you the dark patterns hiding in plain sight on your home screen — because I helped ship a few of them.
I don't write as someone who's "cured." I write as someone who's paying attention.
What you'll find here
Less by Design — The design mechanics behind digital distraction. Why apps are sticky, explained by someone who built them sticky on purpose.
The Quiet Desk — Practical setups for a calmer workspace. Email systems, focus tools, note-taking that actually works.
The Essential Kit — Honest reviews of phones, earbuds, cameras, and keyboards. Always framed around that one question.
Off the Grid — Experiments in going analog. Grayscale phones, film photography, dumbphones, hiking without GPS. Field notes, not a sermon.
A few things about me
I'm 31. I live in San Francisco. I've been a product and interaction designer for eight years, most recently at a small "calm tools" studio. Before that, I was at a consumer app company — the kind that sends you push notifications at 9 PM. I know both sides of the equation.
Outside of work, I shoot 35mm film on a rangefinder camera from the 1970s. I print my photos instead of posting them. I keep my phone in permanent grayscale. I hike the Marin Headlands with paper maps and no GPS.
These aren't disciplines. They're experiments that stuck.
A note on tone
I don't judge anyone for their screen time. I've been there. I'm not writing from a mountain top. I'm writing from the same desk you're sitting at, trying to figure out the same things.
You won't find all-white desks, $400 bags, or "delete everything" manifestos here. What you'll find is specific, grounded writing — real numbers, real tools, real trade-offs.
Every post ends with the one thing I'd keep.
Let's stay in touch
If any of this resonates, you can find me in a few places:
Newsletter — A quiet email every week. No fluff, just one thoughtful post and a note on what I'm trying this week. (Coming soon)
The comments — I read every single one. If you've got a question about a specific app or gadget, ask. If you've tried something I wrote about, tell me how it went.
Reddit — I hang out in r/digitalminimalism and r/minimalism. Not as a guru. Just as someone figuring it out, too.
Thanks for being here.
If you're reading this, you're already asking the right question. That's more than most people do.
Let's find out together what you actually need.