What's the best strategy for getting rid of internet/dopamine addiction?

[Something Funny]

By internet addiction I mean everything that you online simply to get some dopamine: youtube, tv shows, movies, games, social media, reddit, even actualized.org to some degree.

My main question are:

1. Is quiting cold turkey really the best option?

2. How do you draw a line between using internet for good and wasting time on it? Even sites like reddit have a tonn of good information on many specialized topics, so I am reluctant to cut the out completely. But then if I don't there is a high potential for me just getting sucked into scrolling it forever.

3. How do you strike a balance when it comes to allowing yourself to enjoy some stuff, like good movies and video games? Once again, I feel reluctant to just remove them completely from my life. 

4. How do you get through the initials feelings of void when you haven't adopted any positive habits yet and dopamine withdrawal in general? Should I just suck it up?

 

[Something Funny]

Also, what about music? I love music. 

[Basman]

The simplest and most effective way is to replace your smart phone with a dumb phone and use a blocker program like Cold Turkey to set hard limits for when and how much you can visit select sites, or at all. Social media is designed to be distracting and addicting. Will power alone is not sufficient in my opinion if you are serious about cutting down on it.

I had a period with no internet recently and its not that bad. You'll be more bored more often though. Having internet again after that period made me realize how drama filled and negative social media often is. And not in a fluffy way but I could tell that I more often feel angry, wrathful and plain negative when consuming digital content. And its by design because social media is made to be emotionally engaging which naturally emphasizes negativity since negativity is "sticky" in the mind. Like you'll be watching a video about the "downfall of (insert scumbag streamer here)" and of course being exposed to a variety of scumbaggery is upsetting but maybe you just don't notice as much without the contrast of not being exposed to that kind of stuff for a while due to lack of internet. Having that break made me consume less, especially drama type content. Also a lot less Reddit because it is so condescending and self-biased. Engaging with that community is the definition of throwing pearls to swine.

Also dopamine addiction isn't real. Just listen to music if you want to. Its simply a matter of how distracting something is and how much time your wasting on it. You are not getting the time back you are spending right now.