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Self-improvement gets sold to us in a million different packages. Biohacking, dopamine detoxing, 75 Hard, entering our “____” era, and all the other things that suddenly seem more crucial than ever before.
But lately, no self-improvement challenge has consumed us quite like our relationship with our screens. And it's no longer just a personal one.
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Courts, governments, and school districts are drawing hard lines.
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Naturally, brands are wiggling their way in.
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There's now a booming industry dedicated to saving us from our screen—built largely on the same phones we can't put down. It's projected to hit $8.65 billion by 2035.
I like to call it the attention management economy.
The market is crowded with apps like One Sec that promise to “rewire your brain to hate scrolling.” Games like Forest make staying off your phone a virtuous act (like growing a tree). Timed lockboxes like Brick create physical separation with zero override. From 2021 to 2024, 18- to 24-year-olds drove a 148% spike in dumbphone sales, wearing their conviction where everyone could see it. People are flocking to and evangelizing these solutions, not just to curb their vices but to signal a deep sense of self-discipline.
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As we move toward ‘progress,’ the irony is glaring.
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A closer look and you’ll notice more “solution-shaped objects” than real solutions happening here. The mechanics we know all too well—streaks, dopamine hits, compulsion loops—are being cleaned up, repackaged, and remarketed as the way out.
The inescapable flaw of the “solution-shaped object” is that it rarely leads to sustained progress. Its promise is tethered to the vice instead of oriented toward what lives outside of it. Winning brands effortlessly create an appetite for something greater—and in doing so, the vice quiets itself.
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Winners set their ambitions higher, deeper, and wider.
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While the attention management economy is still in its infancy and a ‘winning’ brand hasn't yet been named, the roadmap to success isn’t exactly a mystery. It’s been drawn by brands that faced their own cultural moment and chose to lead consumers somewhere truly desirable. For brands building in the attention management space or other spaces that impose limitations to any degree, here are three moves worth noting:
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Center abundance, not restriction. When the alcohol industry’s answer to sobriety was low- and no-ABV versions of existing products, Ghia reframed what’s missing as irrelevant. Instead, it elevates the ritual, taste, anticipation, and social ease around aperitivo hour—making choosing differently feel like the more sophisticated option. It’s not just a mocktail. It’s an invitation—to take a moment for yourself, to watch the sunset, to move from work into play, and to take care of your loved ones. Ghia never asked anyone to give up anything. They gave them something even better to reach for.
Consider: What is the richer version of life your brand is pointing toward? How clear is this outcome to your audience?
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Build a world worth saying ‘yes’ to. The fitness industry knew that 45 to 60% of new gym members quit within six months, primarily due to a lack of motivation or routine. Immediately, the industry's response was to make exercise easier, more accessible, and more forgiving. Hyrox understood that to sustain commitment, the answer wasn't to be more accessible—it was to be more worth pursuing. A lively atmosphere, a global race format, and a budding community of people with a range of different relationships to fitness training toward the same finish line. It didn't solve the motivation problem. It replaced it—with a reason so compelling, showing up stopped feeling optional.
Consider: How might your brand create the conditions for discipline to flourish—instead of demanding discipline upfront?
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Don’t perpetuate shame. For decades, the sexual wellness industry moved with its head hung low. When its answer to living with stigma was darker packaging, quieter marketing, and products shipped in boxes with no return address, Maude moved in the opposite direction entirely. In fact, Maude’s founder and CEO, Éva Goicochea, believes sexual wellness should be “perceived as a part of personal care” and messaged and marketed as such. With this approach, Maude saw 200% growth year over year while becoming one of the first sexual wellness brands ever to launch in Sephora.
Consider: Does your brand act like the category is something to manage—or something to enjoy?
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At the end of the day, there are so many routes a brand can venture down. But if you remember one thing from this piece, let it be these wise words from behavioral scientist and author BJ Fogg: "People change best by feeling good, not by feeling bad." So, while a focus on restriction, shame, and guilt might initially spark a moment—lasting change isn't built on what people are running from. It's built on what they can't wait to run toward.
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Fadé is a senior strategist based in Brooklyn, New York. As a culture enthusiast and multi-fandom veteran, she turns a deep curiosity for human behavior into fresh perspectives for clients like Google, Nike, Beautycon, Andscape, Hinge, and more.
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Progress Report is a bi-weekly newsletter of business considerations, cultural conversations, and fun recommendations from around the world and web.
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