The quietest thief on the métro

Time is money—but is the attention economy buying yours? And more importantly, are you giving it away?

Over the past few months, I’ve been thinking about who—and what—deserves my time. Usually, faces or commitments come to mind. Recently, though, a quieter culprit has risen to the top of the list: my phone. More precisely, the apps that quietly absorb so much of my attention.

On a train ride home after a day out, I made a small but decisive change. I blocked Instagram on weekends—my social media péché mignon, and by far my biggest consumer of screen time—and limited it to 30 minutes on weekdays. I also restricted all apps from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m., except for messages and maps.

The shift felt immediate. A sense of agency, of reclaiming something that had been slipping away to endless feeds, notifications, and algorithmic distractions.

Now, I carry a book of mots fléchés on the metro (yes, the very Instagrammable ones everyone seems to have), and I’ve returned to logging books on Goodreads—proof that we don’t need to quit screens entirely to use them more intentionally.

I am guarding my time. Taking it back. Expanding it.

As my screen time decreases, I can’t help but feel my own value increasing. I invite you to consider where your attention is going—and what it might mean to take some of it back.