Jack Winston is the co-founder of Be Present, a screen time reduction app using app locking, gamification, and social challenges to help people take back control of their attention.

He joins Randy to unpack how a healthy relationship with tech became a keystone habit in his own life and how that realization led him and his brother to build a product that’s now helping hundreds of thousands do the same.

We discuss digital wellness culture, screen addiction’s downstream effects, behavior design, and the future of attention as a status symbol.

Shownotes:
00:00 – Intro to Jack Winston and the origins of Be Present
02:00 – How gamification and social competition make screen time reduction stick
05:00 – Understanding screen addiction as a keystone habit
08:30 – Drawing the line between digital inputs and mental health
11:00 – Why digital wellness isn’t mainstream yet—and how that’s changing
14:00 – Offline status as a new cultural currency
16:00 – Why saving time is the ultimate value prop
18:00 – Unpacking user behaviors and unexpected digital dependencies
21:00 – Gen Z: the most addicted and the most aware
24:00 – How Jack balances his own digital habits as a founder
27:00 – Frameworks for tech reflection and intentionality
30:00 – Rapid fire: last deleted app, favorite tech, underrated habits
35:00 – Where to find Jack and download Be Present