Bad habits are really tough to break.

[LSD-Rumi]

4 hours ago, Schizophonia said:

It's okay, you're not addicted to heroin yet, just youtube...

standards?

[gettoefl]

don't watch impulsively, queue it and watch next day, slot it in to the available 24 hours now that you know how many hours are needed

when i wake up in the morning, i know how each hour will be spent, distractions don't faze me; the only thing with wiggle room is tomorrow

took a while to achieve this

[Schizophonia]

4 hours ago, LSD-Rumi said:

standards?

?

🤔

[Delusion Slayer]

@LSD-Rumi It is paramount to how I've gotten into deep flow when working. If I need to watch a video, I just search it up. Having hundreds of videos popping up in my face is distracting and pointless.

[Husseinisdoingfine]

Update: I just discovered a superior screen time blocking app: ScreenZen

https://apps.apple.com/us/app/screenzen-screen-time-control/id1541027222

[Ayham]

bro i know
I am always in a fight with all the distractions and stimuli, I tried every single thing and I am just losing, it is literally designed to be like that
And especially us younger folks are affected by this since we were born into this world  of technology

If only I can fucking do what I want to do

 

[Yimpa]

6 hours ago, Ayham said:

If only I can fucking do what I want to do

There are things that I really wanted to be able to do in the past, but looking back now I’m glad I didn’t achieve those dreams. For example, being a YouTube celebrity was a childhood dream of mine back in like 2009. But now look at how social media has evolved since then… I’m glad I actually didn’t wind up as successful and huge as someone like Mr. Beast… it’s a lot of pressure to maintain that.

[BojackHorseman]

It's very weird for me, I do manage at times to be healthy by dropping bad addictions and implementing good habits, but usually it doesn't last more than...one month? And after that, the backlash can be pretty fucking long and harsh.

For example last month was perfect. Exercise 5 days a week, started reading again, not a single unnatural thing in my stomach

But here I am today, barfing on my third croissant today and playing fucking Overwatch mindlessly AGAIN (I had manage to uninstall it for maybe 5-6 months and it felt good. When I was not doing something more productive than video games, at least I was playing newer solo experiences instead of playing an ego motivated competitive game)

Sometimes I fear I'll never be able to drop this kind of cycle. It might be a bit too late for that. Maybe some people are just here to be fed and I should stop thinking that I can fight in one way or another.

Or maybe my brain has been destroyed by a childhood and years and years of adult hypnotic addictive content. But even if I admitted that I'm jsut an addict, I tried to fight that as far as I could, but still, here I am. Not sure what else I can do.

[Yimpa]

@BojackHorseman there are apparently psychologists who help people with video game addiction

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists?category=video-game-addiction

[BojackHorseman]

52 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

@BojackHorseman there are apparently psychologists who help people with video game addiction

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists?category=video-game-addiction

No such specialist in my country

 

But To be honest I don't think the video game addiction is actually my deeper problem

It's just used to cope, avoid, not feel or be lazy

If it wasn't video game, it'd be something else

I don't think video game itself is worse than watching movirs or whatever. It's more about... How do I live this experience and Hats around it in contrast

[Alexop]

On 4/15/2024 at 10:49 PM, The Renaissance Man said:

@Husseinisdoingfine I suggest an alternative for the short-term. In the long-term understanding will be required to transcend those cravings. But back to the alternative, I believed I was addicted to youtube. I watched it 4 hours a day, after lunch, before sleep, during breaks.

Youtube was my last remaining distraction. I had removed successfully Instagram and video games. And it was easy, as long as there was an alternative. When I took away YouTube, I burned out in a week!

So the fight kept going for months. I couldn't understand. Am I addicted? I think we tend to call everything an addiction, when many times the root problem is different.

Well, 3 months ago I decided I would start reading novels, and replace youtube with that. Would you believe that after 10 years, watching youtube 4+ hours a day, unable to quit, I was able to quit it entirely in two weeks? Was it an addiction then, or are we demonizing normal brain needs? Maybe over time I'll be able to transcend novels and meditate all day. Whatever. At least compared to youtube novels don't have endless scrolling. They're less stimulating.

Healthy alternative!!

Be smart about it, think outside the box. The self-improvement world is full of this bullshit advice of habits and discipline. How many times do you need to see it doesn't work? Only being conscious of the situation will make you transcend the craving. But that's not something you do on command. So as you work on it, find smart alternatives. Marginal gains, that are a bit better.

I went from playing video games, being on Instagram and tiktok and then also youtube. Then I removed games. 6 months later social media. 1 year later youtube, and since it was the last thing remaining, I had to replace it with something: novels. Much healthier and less addictive.

I went from eating junk food and being ignorant about nutrition. I then learned about it and started being obsessive and weighing everything. Then I understood that the real way to make healthy nutrition sustainable was to find a healthy alternative to the junk food. So I found my combination of healthy, regular meals, and completely removed any junk food. Pasta became whole-grain pasta. Chocolate became only dark chocolate. Cookies became nuts. Pizza, sushi, and that stuff is only allowed outside my house. If I go out once a month, I don't care.

See? TRY. I was in your shoes, it's the whole paradigm of approaching those """""addictions""""" that's toxic.

Good advice overall. Whole grain pasta is still crap, novels can also become addictive.

[Schizophonia]

Spending two weeks to a month on vacation in the middle of nowhere without any form of new technology allowing access to the internet.
Guaranteed effect

[Carl-Richard]

I've gotten the habit of opening way too many tabs at once because I see something that I don't want to miss, and then I feel compelled to finish them all. It takes way too much time and feels like a chore, so I've decided to implement a three-tab rule (max. three tabs at once). That would also force me to watch higher quality videos. That said, I only really watch videos while eating, and I go for a walk after eating (and I feel like I have to when my blood sugar is rising), so that's a good way to break the spell.

This curiously only started happening after I started with brain training and cardiovascular training (more blood flow to the brain). I guess a faster brain can be a curse 😂

Edited April 21 by Carl-Richard

[Husseinisdoingfine]

8 hours ago, Schizophonia said:

Spending two weeks to a month on vacation in the middle of nowhere without any form of new technology allowing access to the internet.
Guaranteed effect

Can confirm. When I was 18 I went on a family road trip to East coast states and I forgot my phone. It was just two weeks of walking in nature and various national park. I felt so rejuvenated when I got back home.

[Husseinisdoingfine]

12 hours ago, Yimpa said:

@BojackHorseman there are apparently psychologists who help people with video game addiction

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists?category=video-game-addiction

Immediately thought of HealthyGamerGG.

[Yimpa]

35 minutes ago, Husseinisdoingfine said:

Immediately thought of HealthyGamerGG.

Nice! Content like his are useful for people who have difficulty accessing mental healthcare. 

[Raze]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wcs2PFz5q6g

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-moW9jvvMr4

https://www.shinzen.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/art_urges.pdf

[Nemra]

@Husseinisdoingfine

Turn off YouTube's watch history.

Try not watching videos for a week.

Please don't blame the internet for your addictions. You just haven't realized how great it is or can be.

Edited April 22 by Nemra

[Yimpa]

@Nemra what is the longest you’ve gone without watching videos? 

[Nemra]

@Yimpa

I haven't counted, but I think about a month or maybe a little more.