Tips on Breaking Phone, Internet, and Media Addiction?

[kieranperez]

Along with the principles in the videos on ending addictions, what are some very practical tips I could do to break free from a strong addiction to media, internet, smartphones, etc.?

I really can’t take how much this is destroying my own cognitive functioning, not even performance. Basically thinking alone has become an incredibly hard task at this point. Much less critical thinking and meditating!

I’ve deactivated Facebook, Instagram, Tinder, etc. multiple times, some of which I’ve stayed off, some of which I keep coming back onto. I don’t watch TV or even go on social media that much but I notice I compensate all of that with YouTube (binge listening to Actualzied.org and other channels and also a bit of low consciousness stuff but not much), Podcasts, the forum here, self deceptive “research” which is just a distraction from my fear of action because I feel to insecure in myself, etc.

The rationalization I kind of have to not blocking certain websites and what not is that the ones I go to are good stuff but the problem is how I’m using them as a crutch. Same with my addiction to YouTube with a lot of the content I listen to. I feel like cutting back on the “good and healthy” still gives me enough to leeway indulge my toxic intent. 

Same with the internet and smartphones. It’s pretty much impossible to really kick the internet or smartphones  out of the life of someone who lives in the first world. 

Tips? 

I seriously want to kick this shit because it’s really destroying my psyche on top of my already bad cognitive issues with ADHD. Internet, media, etc. for someone with ADHD is like giving a guy who has a gambling problem a slot machine he can play with for the rest of his life. 

[mandyjw]

It's ironic that I'm answering this since I've been spending so much time here lately, but this reeeally helped me with a Facebook addiction a few months ago. 

 

Edited June 1, 2019 by mandyjw

[kieranperez]

@mandyjw thanks!

Quite ironic that I’m trying to break a YouTube addiction by going on YouTube...

Edited June 1, 2019 by kieranperez

[Forestluv]

I’ve found spending a day immersed in nature with no cell phone or human contact is helpful to recondition the mind and body. A weekend or week, even better. 

[mandyjw]

@kieranperez Ugh, I know.  I try to embrace the irony. 

@Serotoninluv Yes! I don't have much of a problem spending too much time online in the summer, it's too beautiful outside. 

[lmfao]

Unfortunately I don't think there is an easy way out, I'm in the same position as well. For me I feel as though the fundamental problem is emptiness/loneliness/boredom. It feels as though kicking internet addiction would require you go from 0 to 100 on your consciousness scale. The thing is, right now I don't have any time/energy to do things I genuinely enjoy since I'm quite stressed with exams. And consider switching your sources of stimulation. Like instead of wasting your time watching something, try reading something. Gradually changing your sources of stimulation to things which require more willpower and patience might help. 

I feel like the realisation is slowly starting to seep into my body that sooner or later I have to bite the bullet of suffering. Because on days that im stressed, sleep deprived, exhausted for whatever reason I'll jack off and watch Netflix rather than do something life purpose related. 

Edited June 1, 2019 by lmfao

[Shadowraix]

The internet is a huge source of information. Staying off it when everybody else is on it partially hinges on a fear of missing out I think. 

That and being used to constant stimulation. A good practice would be trying to embrace boredom more often than see it as a bad thing. Your brain needs to be bored. 

 

[Moreira]

You cant. Because your addictions to phone, internet and media are just symptoms of an underlying cause. Identidy and fix what creates your addictive personality.

[7thLetter]

Try starting small and limit yourself to them inch by inch so that your brain doesn’t notice it, if that makes any sense. For example, if you watch 4 hours of Youtube per day, shave off an hour for a week to 3 hours a day. Then next week do 2 hours a day, something like that. Because if you get rid of too many things all at once it will backfire on you and you’ll be in the same position that you were at before you got rid of those activities.

Also whatever you resist, persists. If you keep resisting the urge to engage in those addictions, it will have the effect of creating an even stronger desire to have those bad habits back in place.

Edited June 1, 2019 by 7thLetter

[Commodent]

Cal Newport's book is pretty good. One important thing he mentions is to go for long walks, and cultivate new interests instead of spending that time on the internet. Because if you're not spending your time with something else you're probably gonna find ways to procrastinate on the internet anyways. And you'll hate your life at the same time. That said, besides going for walks and cultivating new interests, what helped me the most was probably cutting out the smartphone and getting a dumbphone. Also, Cold Turkey is pretty useful for blocking internet access. You also have the Forest app which a friend of mine really like, but I haven't tried it as I don't have a smartphone.

The book makes a good point for solitude, making it clear how a lack of it severely messes up your brain. And no, sitting alone on the internet does not count as solitude, because you're still getting input from other minds.

[Inliytened1]

@lmfao yeah its hard.  But if you can delay pleasure up front and deal with some up front suffering it will lead to less suffering long term.   It's not easy because the ego wants only pleasure not knowing that this will ultimately cause more long term suffering.  

@kieranperez For addictions what can work great is no mind meditation when you feel an addiction coming on.  Just BE.  Just be yourself and let the pain of the addiction move through you until it finally passes.  So stay in a state of meditation and Being while these emotions are moving thru you.  

[CreamCat]

Focus on precise execution. Don't execute anything that is unplanned. Make precise short-term plans every few hours.

Remind yourself of precise execution often.

Embrace boredom.

I just reminded myself of precise execution and became aware that browsing this forum is a random unintended activity.

Edited June 2, 2019 by CreamCat

[DrewNows]

5 hours ago, Moreira said:

You cant. Because your addictions to phone, internet and media are just symptoms of an underlying cause. Identidy and fix what creates your addictive personality.

Bingo. So this and meditation 

Addiction is behavior which simply becomes an unconscious conditioning pattern.

It is the form of psychological escape, distraction, and continuation of the false sense of self in thinking 

also fear of addiction (being an addict) can and will only strengthen it. Bring conscious awareness to the patterns until you understand the underlying cause then stop feeding the patterns with your attention. Bring attention back to presence/allow love even use gratitude. Don’t bother with using mental effort to resist as the urges will persist  

Edited June 2, 2019 by DrewNows

[Knock]

It is about the intention of your attention.

It is okay to watch some Youtube or google something on the internet, if you are coming to it with intention for a specific task. When you are coming to it out of boredom, and your only intention is 'entertain me internet', then you will never have enough, and you will get addicted.

Conscious awareness of your actions is the key, but that is harder said then done. The trick I apply is to use tools that create 'friction' between mindlessly doing tasks. The few seconds spent on overcoming the friction can be enough to bring awareness to your actions and to choose right action instead.

I can list some friction tools and tactics that I am using and worked for me in the past if you are interested.

[Inliytened1]

@Knock wise words.  

[DrewNows]

@Knock why don’t share some...?

i suppose what you mean by friction is movement to draw attention back to the now, something as simple as breathing 

Edited June 2, 2019 by DrewNows

[Knock]

39 minutes ago, DrewNows said:

@Knock why don’t share some...?

There is a lot going on here, so I won't be able to explain how it all works in depth. Some may seem silly and weird, but is what has worked for me. So here is a quick list:

Technology tools:

·         DF Tube – Distraction Free Youtube. Blocks autoplay, recommended videos, trending videos, comments and more. I have mine customised so it is just a search bar.

·         Cold Turkey – Free software that blocks specified websites for a set time.

Technological tricks:

·         Clear desktop on computer. Nothing within immediate sight that can distract you,

·         Clean phone home screen. Same as above

·         Grayscale phone. Most phones had a settings menu where you can change all colour to grayscale. This lowers appeal of browsing on your phone = less dopamine = less addictive draw.

·         Removing all trash content from your Facebook News Feed. Personally, I just unfollowed every page except close friends. However there are some apps that can do this for you.

·         Delete social media apps from you phone. You can delete the Facebook app but still have the Messenger app (most people use this over texting nowadays).

·         Long phone password. Use something like “myintentionis” or “Ihavefullintention”. This one has worked really well for me as I have to consciously think about what I am doing when I take out my phone. Yes it is a pain in the arse, that is the point.

Practical tricks:

·         Put your laptop away in its case out of sight before you go to bed. Same with your phone. Personally I put them in a drawer that is hard to get to without effort.

·         Get a separate alarm clock. These are cheap, no excuses. Use it to wake up instead of your phone (otherwise you will browse your phone instead).

·         Have a ‘shutdown’ time for your laptop or phone. Something like no screens after 9pm.

·         Have the better alternative right in sight. Personally, I have my workout clothes already laid out before I go to sleep. This works too with a journal or book.

Psychology

·         Obviously, all these tricks won’t work in the long term until you reprogram your psychology. I highly recommend reading books on dopamine addition and creating habits.

·         The books that helped me the most were:

o   Any 3 of Cal Newports latest books

o   The Shallows, by Nicolas Carr

o   Atomic Habits by James Clear

·         Fundamentally, what you want to do is make the additions undesirable and hard to do, and make the new actions you want to take more desirable and easy to do.

 

There is a lot to this all, and its not a quick fix. It took me many months to overcome my internet addictions and establish a healthy relationship with using technology and the internet. One last thing, I would not recommend anyone to give up the internet entirely. I have tried many times and it always results in bad ego backlashes. The internet is a tool, you just need to learn how to use it appropriately, instead of letting it hijack your brain and use you. I wish you all the best.  

Edited June 2, 2019 by Knock

[DrewNows]

@Knock Appreciate you sharing this very clean and well put together outer focus approach to managing addiction in one's environment perceived as separate from us, because, in the sense of duality. it surely is. 

Without fully understanding the inner, there's going to be an infinite amount of ways to go about dealing with the outer, but ALL of which will be susceptible to falling victim to one's old addictions. For example if your life goes to shit in a specific area and you will need a way to cope, then again we may fall victim to our addictions

Edited June 2, 2019 by DrewNows

[lmfao]

@Inliytened1 mmmmm yeah. Trying to dodge a small amount of suffering multiplies into a huge amount. 

[Proactive]

Quote

So the ultimate decision is to remain in this world. Uninstall all my games. On thursdays I'll install them back on and play. After i'm done for the day I will uninstall all my game.Youtube,netflix,twitch,ect is blocked on MONDAYS-WEDNSDAYS(except educational content). As I've said in one of my posts about how i'm gonna do shit, during the beginning, when pressure is low is when we apply pressure onto ourselves. The only entertainment I will have for these days are books,contemplation,music,meditation, and creating art.

If I don't do what i'm saying I will do, i'll take a 20$ bill and rip it up, or do something humiliating. Then I will take a picture of it and show my mom that i'm wasting her money without telling her about this thing i'm doing. If I do as my schedule as stated. I will buy myself coffee on saturday and sundays.

If I DO THIS 3 TIMES.  I can choose to double the amount I rip or add on a more difficult socially humiliating stuff. And i'll obviously post the ripped paper on here, or record myself doing that

I threatened myself last week. That's another thing you can try to do.