Overcoming phone addiction

[Jo96]

I was wondering if we could brainstorm as a community how to overcome this. I feel this a super important topic because one of the main problems with phone addiction is that it’s not simply that you can get rid of your smart phone like cutting unhealthy food or something that.

The smart phone has a lot of great utility and therefore does improve aspects of our lives if used correctly, however the larger problem is how much of a distraction it is and how easily it is used in an unhealthy way. I find myself sometimes spending hours looking at my phone looking at mindless topics or videos.

 

I think the first obvious thing is to cut out lower quality apps like Tik tok. Personally this one is utter garbage and has no personal utility or social interaction that’s valuable. 
 

The more difficult one YouTube.  Which is especially difficult because it does actually have a lot of valuable content. The problem is that it’s programmed to keep our attention on it as long as possible and often pulls at emotions that will keep you engaged longer.  Even if you were to only watch higher quality videos it’s still super tempting and easy to get distracted. 
 

 

 

 

[hyruga]

You can use an app like simple pure tuber where you can play youtube in the background while you do other things.

[Sincerity]

Have something worth fighting for. Distraction is much easier to set aside then, and it's done from the heart. No discipline and mental strain required.

[Rafael Thundercat]

If online search was the only problem with distraction would be amazing. In my life even other people coming with their blabling with no consideration and little meditation on why they decided to speak. This is for me the distrction top, because online I can decide to stop a video or if is a text I can skip over  but with daily life interactions you cant turn of your ears as you do with your eyes. So these days I am using ear plugs,like literally everyday, and I say to the people who live with me that I will take off to listen what they have to say as far as what they have to say is relevant. To much controler from my side, yes, maybe, but this is may way to send the message that our speach if so misused, we speak way to much unecessary. This is also for me. I know this seen like off the topic but what I want to implicit say is " you can sense naturally what is distraction and what is relevant" and is up to you develop your unique strategy to cut what is needless noise in your life, and sometimes the noise is even internal. 

You know when is too much, same way you know when you exagerate in your meals. So just dont be a phone gluton. Moderation

Edited February 7, 2023 by Rafael Thundercat

[Basman]

like Sincerity mentioned, it is easier to set aside distractions when you have something you are motivated to achieve in a tangible fashion.

That aside, when it comes to apps that are useful but also distracting like Youtube, there are a couple of things can could help:

• Find an app that can block other apps like Youtube. You could for example have it block Youtube after 15 minutes max per day. That way, you can still use the app for when you need it, but have it cut off for excess watching.
• This works for me, but simply don't use it. I just set a rule for myself, no Youtube for anything except useful things. I have Youtube blocked entirely on my desktop. 

I'm currently experimenting with a trial period of no social media what-so-ever that are built to be addicting (YT, Twitter, etc.) and just seeing how it feels. In my experience, it is actually quiet liberating. I waste less time, I get better sleep, and I find myself less inundated with outrage content.I only miss certain listenable youtube videos for when I do certain activities, for example I like to listen to news channels like SomeOrdinaryGamers while I make breakfeast. 

[bazera]

This is what I did that basically solved that issue.

• Researched and found 3 Android website / app blockers.
• Blocked YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, etc. applications with all blockers, before deleting the apps.
• Deleted all the apps. Now if I install any of them, it will be pre-blocked already.
• I blocked website versions of those social networks. 
• I blocked the blocker with another blocker. And I did this for each of them.
• I also blocked Facebook, Instagram and TikTok on my laptop with ColdTurkey app so that it's impossible to enter those from it.
• I set a chrome extension that hides YouTube feed so that I don't get distracted with recommended videos / shorts. If I want to see recommendations, I can disable the extension.

Results:

• I basically don't use phone in a toxic way anymore. There is nothing to scroll. First 2-3 weeks was harderst with cravings but then it's like Facebook and YouTube mindless scrolling doesn't even enter my mind. Not to mention TikTok or Instagram reels.
• I still ise YouTube from my laptop because it has some valuable content. 
• In emergency situations, if I want to use Facebook app, for example to see what events are happening near me, I do that by removing blocks temporarily on my phone, installing app, logging in, then blocking again and deleting it. So it takes like 6-7 minutes to do that. The trick is that you'll be too lazy to do that daily and mindlessly, so addiction is gone. You have to somehow make it harder to use those services and your brain will be too lazy to turn it into addiction.

[Entity]

On 2/7/2023 at 7:40 AM, Sincerity said:

Have something worth fighting for. Distraction is much easier to set aside then, and it's done from the heart. No discipline and mental strain required.

This... and if your passion is loud enough you will hate your device.