In the Next 10 Years, Screen Time Will Be as Big as Diet

I've been saying this for over a decade, but I've never been more confident: Screen time and focus will become as significant a market category as diet.

Not might. Will.

Here's why — and what it means for all of us.

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A Thesis Before a Product

I recently joined Phil Carter on the Subversive podcast to talk about how we built Opal. One thing I emphasized: we started with a strong thesis, not a product.

The thesis was simple: humans, not algorithms, should control their attention.

I called it "attention sovereignty." The idea that your focus belongs to you — not to the highest bidder in an ad auction, not to the engagement metrics of a social platform, not to the notification that just lit up your screen.

I believed this before Opal existed. Before the screen time conversation went mainstream. Before "digital wellness" was a category anyone took seriously.

That conviction is what made everything else possible.

How We Built Opal Differently

When we launched Opal, we ignored the standard 2010s playbook.

No freemium launch designed to maximize signups. No growth-at-all-costs mentality. Instead, we started with a hard paywall and paid acquisition targeting high-intent users.

People who actually wanted to change their relationship with their phones. People who were willing to invest in that change.

The result? We hit $10M in annual recurring revenue with just 11 employees.

That's not a flex — it's proof of something important. When you build something people genuinely need, you don't have to trick them into using it.

Mission Drives Growth

Here's something I've learned: products that genuinely help users achieve their goals don't need growth hacks.

When someone uses Opal and actually gets their focus back — when they sleep better, when they're present with their kids, when they finish the project they've been procrastinating on — they tell people.

Not because we asked them to. Because helping people do what they actually want to do creates natural advocates.

Word of mouth isn't a marketing channel for us. It's the result of doing our job well.

Why AI Makes This More Urgent

If you think screen time is a problem now, wait until AI fully arrives.

Here's what's coming: AI will make feeds and content infinitely more personalized, more engaging, and more addictive than anything we've seen. The algorithm that currently keeps you scrolling? It's about to get dramatically better at its job.

That's not a prediction. It's already happening.

This is why I believe technology alignment with human well-being isn't optional anymore. It's becoming core infrastructure. The question isn't whether people will need help managing their attention — it's who will provide it.

The Diet Parallel

Think about how diet evolved as a category.

Fifty years ago, "watching what you eat" was a niche concern. Today, it's a multi-hundred-billion-dollar industry spanning food products, apps, wearables, coaching, medical interventions, and more.

That happened because we recognized a mismatch: our food environment changed faster than our biology could adapt. Sugar, processed foods, infinite availability — our bodies weren't built for that.

The same mismatch is happening with attention.

Our brains weren't built for infinite content, variable reward schedules, and 24/7 connectivity. We're seeing the consequences: rising anxiety, fractured focus, declining sleep, eroding presence.

And just like with diet, we'll see an entire ecosystem emerge to address it.

What This Means for You

If you're reading this and nodding along, you're not alone. Millions of people are waking up to the fact that their attention is valuable — and that it's being harvested at scale.

The good news? Awareness is the first step.

The better news? Tools exist to help. Boundaries can be set. Habits can be changed. You don't have to accept the default settings of your digital life.

The next decade will be defined by people who take back control of their focus. I'm betting on them.

I'm betting on you.

Ready to take back your attention? Download Opal and join over 4 million people building healthier digital habits.

Listen to my full conversation on the Subversive podcast here.