🪫 Ego Depletion Theory

Why your willpower runs out — and how Jolt helps you conserve it

Introduction

Ego Depletion is the idea that self-control is a limited mental resource. The more you use it — resisting snacks, ignoring messages, avoiding distractions — the more it wears out. By the end of the day, your willpower is running on fumes.

This theory is backed by dozens of studies showing that after sustained decision-making or self-restraint, people are more likely to:

Give in to temptations
Act impulsively
Abandon goals

That’s not failure — it’s fatigue.

Why it matters to you

Most screen-time problems happen at the end of the day — when your energy is low, your brain is tired, and your willpower is depleted.

That’s when:

You scroll instead of sleep
You open apps without thinking
You break the very goals you set in the morning

Trying to make the right decision in the moment requires willpower. But if that willpower is already used up… distraction wins.

To protect your time and focus, you need systems that work even when your energy doesn't.

How Jolt uses this science to help you

Jolt is designed to take pressure off your willpower by making self-control automatic:

1. Sessions

You don’t have to decide when to focus.

Sessions auto-block distracting apps during set times — no decision needed, no resistance required.
2. App Limits

Once you’ve set your daily usage rules (e.g., 30 mins of Instagram), Jolt takes over from there.

The moment the limit is hit, access is restricted — even if you’re too tired to care.
3. Hard Mode

For high-risk apps or moments, you can activate Hard Mode.

To override it, you’ll need partner approval — offloading the decision entirely.

You don’t need stronger willpower.

You need fewer moments that depend on it.

🪫 Ego Depletion Theory

Introduction

Why it matters to you

How Jolt uses this science to help you

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