After noticing how much time my friends (and I) were spending on Instagram while preparing for competitive exams, I started tracking our daily usage using nothing more than Google Sheets.

Over just a few weeks, usage dropped drastically:

📉 Devashish: 157 → 38 mins/day

📉 Riya: 294 → 186 mins/day

📉 Akash (me): 86 → 44 mins/day

📉 Samriddhi: 174 → 111 mins/day

This wasn’t a productivity hack. It was a behavior design experiment.

Just being aware of usage created shock, then mindfulness, and eventually change.

But I didn’t stop there. I asked:

What if opening Instagram wasn’t easy anymore?

So I built a Sudoku-based unlock gate — a microgame that acts as intentional friction between impulse and action.

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Try the Puzzle for Yourself

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🛠 Tools Used

📊 The Experiment That Started It All

While learning how to use Google Sheets, I tracked Instagram screen time for 4 users (including myself) over 4–5 weeks.

We set a shared goal: Max 60 mins/day.

Every day, users shared their screen time with me. I tracked progress and sent out weekly reports in a group chat.

Over time, this small nudge turned into a big behavioral shift.