News > When checking my messages got out of control, I sought the advice of experts on addiction: Smokers.

When checking my messages got out of control, I sought the advice of experts on addiction: Smokers.

Part of the impulse to smoke — and certainly to check your phone — is muscle memory. So I came up with a list of “healthy” things I could do that use the same muscle memory. I thought of it as replacing junk food with vegetables.

Most of them involve a note-taking app of some kind — ideally one with a widget that fills up your whole home screen. This substitutes writing on the phone for reading messages.