Smart phone addiction

[Harikrishnan]

So its close to two years when i accepted i have smart phone addiction. But still i use it for hours.  When i sit for meditation i will switch off data usage after completing meditation  i put it on. Again switch it off doing kriyas then after completing i put it on and check watsaap, yt etc. So i do like this and i sit infront of it most of time since i dont have job now as iam preparing for my film studies. Smart phone is taking most of time from me. I have a deep thirst for pd and as a escuse for that i watch pd videos of everyone from leo to rsd max videos on YT. And not seeing It feels like some pd information will be missed that will be the magic pill for my problem.  I already have knowledge of 80% of things with pd, and havent taken use of 10% still i crave for more knowledge. Yeah so i have a stupid smart phone addiction. So, did u guys had smart phone addiction and how u get rid of it? 

 

[DocHoliday]

For all the time you seem to be more or less wasting watching more and more YouTube videos, go outside. Just take some nice walks and/or talk to some strangers. Then you could also actually put to use all the things you have mentally gathered so far. 

Strangers will teach you far far far far far far far far faaaaaar more than any YT video ever could. And you know why? 

Direct experience. 

As you said it yourself, being chained to- and bound by your phone addiction, all that it is is an excuse and an escape from the fear or just sheer unwillingness to expose yourself to direct experience. ?

[Harikrishnan]

No its not like that i walk everyday through streets and all. I talk with people also, i love talking with people to. 

[DocHoliday]

Ok then, so do you actually have a bigger issue with your phone itself or with your endless thirst for Pers.Dev. videos? 

[Hansu]

I have the same problem. Im aware of my addictions, but seems like with addictions awareness alone is not curative.

But today I found some insightful ideas on this Leo's video:

Im planning to try it with my own addictions. In this video, Leo basically shows you how to do emotional work with quitting addictions which is contrary to what I have been trying, which is getting away from the addictions (avoiding emotional work while trying to get rid of an addiction). But the video doesen't only tell you how to get rid of an addiction, but the way you quit your addictions with the technique described in the video also increase your being in the now, bluntly said generating happiness from nothing. And if you get happiness from nothing, why would you use your phone for "happiness" eh?

Hope I helped!

[thesmileyone]

No but my stoicism and love of all things frugal mean I have a smartphone that is 4-5 years old and no current apps work on it which is awesome.

[Harikrishnan]

8 hours ago, DocHoliday said:

Ok then, so do you actually have a bigger issue with your phone itself or with your endless thirst for Pers.Dev. videos? 

Actually a mix of both.

[Forestluv]

I lived without a mobile phone until 2014. I was one of the last holdouts. I only knew one other person without a phone. Yet, it became a major liability and I finally bought one. 

After I got my first phone, it only took a few months for it to consume a big part of my daily life. ?

[DocHoliday]

@Harikrishnan Okay then, as far as the thirst for the videos goes I can certainly relate to that to some extent because I know what you mean by that feeling to perhaps "miss something" essential. 

But, you gotta see what you're doing by that, namely putting the responsibility for your life and yourself into the hands of other people. It's outside authority that you rely on, to a seemingly unhealthy degree because it robs you of confidence and the ability to assess situations for yourself. 

I don't know man, it's always so difficult to find the right thing to say when you have to work with not a lot of information on the person you're trying to give advice to. Fact is, you need to find balance. But I think you have to look for yourself as to what it's gonna be that will give that to you. 

And if it's not balance that you need, then you need to unravel the "shadow-side" to your addiction. 

[LeoBacca]

buy a skateboard

[pointessa]

Turn the phone off when you are not using it. Keep it on, only if you are expecting something really important. Use it only for texting, calling and GPS, if needed. Don't make meaningless texts, of non substance just because you can. Make the phone a tool to serve you, do not live to serve your phone.

I live near a beautiful beach. Nothing make me more disappointed than watching someone standing or walking on the beach with their head down staring at that frigging phone, it really is a sickness. If I spend time with someone and they insist on staring at their phone, I will ask them to put it down, if they don't I will leave. If you look at it objectively, walking around and having to have this object in your hand or nearby at all times is really pathetic. Go somewhere for a short while and leave your phone behind and observe how you feel. You do not have to have that thing glued to your hip at all times.

Remember if you don't make application of what you have learned, it is meaningless.

[Harikrishnan]

1 hour ago, pointessa said:

Turn the phone off when you are not using it. Keep it on, only if you are expecting something really important. Use it only for texting, calling and GPS, if needed. Don't make meaningless texts, of non substance just because you can. Make the phone a tool to serve you, do not live to serve your phone.

I live near a beautiful beach. Nothing make me more disappointed than watching someone standing or walking on the beach with their head down staring at that frigging phone, it really is a sickness. If I spend time with someone and they insist on staring at their phone, I will ask them to put it down, if they don't I will leave. If you look at it objectively, walking around and having to have this object in your hand or nearby at all times is really pathetic. Go somewhere for a short while and leave your phone behind and observe how you feel. You do not have to have that thing glued to your hip at all times.

Remember if you don't make application of what you have learned, it is meaningless.

+1 ❤

[ParanoidAndroid]

Sell your smartphone and buy a basic feature phone. I sold my iPhone and bought a Nokia 3310 and I'm so glad I did. You don't need your smartphone.  Jump into the cold water, you will be glad you did. 

[RiseAbove]

I did do the following to reduce the addiction: removed messenger from my phone so I can only access it from my laptop. I am using a siteblocker to block facebook and my favorite news sites from my phone. 

When I am home I can check my messeages and notifications on my laptop, but I also use a news feed eradicator app that does what the name suggests. So daytime no FB and news at all, nighttime: messeages and notifications, still no news.

[MsNobody]

@RiseAbove Interesting, I was looking into it, I used Freedom app for a while, how do you block the websites? I've deleted the social media apps but still can access them through chrome or safari.

[RiseAbove]

I am using Android, and there is an app called BlockSite. It is a bit messy to set up, but If you get stuck I can help you.

[Consept]

Just signed up to one and have blocked facebook and insta. It has been becoming a bit of an issue for me, spending too much time looking at this screen

[RiseAbove]

The biggie for me was when I noticed that my attention span was and still is so low that I can not focus on a person talking. I guess years of gaming helped to become like this too.

[Harikrishnan]

What helped me to stop fb addiction was to delete the account. I restrained from undoing it. First few days are really hard and after 30 days, it wont matter. ? 

B/w it was good to know many people are fighting and many have won from this smart phone addiction. 

I also think this PD industry have this addiction and are not acknowledging it, its really complicated when its tied up with thirst of new knowledge and if we dont get it we will be left behind. 

[BjarkeT]

Check out cal newport’s book digital minimalism. It may have relevant information you can use.