[xrange]

>...I wish I had found a way to stay clean.

Anyone have success stories to share? I've tried adding various sites to my hosts file. But I seem to lapse after a while, since I can restore the file anytime I want to. Any negative reinforcement ideas? Like an annoying sound (baby shrieking?) played or an electrical shock when browsing to particular sites? Any methods to prevent yourself from uninstalling things like that though?

Any ideas on how long it might take to get over any "withdrawl" period? Like you only need to "tough it out" for a month, and then it becomes more manageable?

[Mz]

Figure out what you are getting out of it and find something that is similar, but without the downside.

I have read that TV watching strongly correlates to people having exhausting jobs. So, they come home and zone out in front of the TV, too tired to do anything else. I think social media serves a similar function for many people. But if you crave social connection and you are getting it primarily via social media, it is sort of like eating a single potato chip when you are hungry.

Go find better social connections and these faux social connections won't be a case of "I can't believe I ate the whole bag and now I want to vomit, yet I'm still hungry too!" I think of addictive activities as those which grow a hunger rather than satisfying a hunger. If you find a way to satisfy your need, addictive things are less tempting because you just aren't starving anymore.

Also, just get more rest so you aren't spending so much time doing empty activities because it is all you have the energy or mental focus for. Or otherwise rearrange your life so that you are getting the depth or density you need of a particular thing and these types of behaviors get crowded out by healthier ones.

[dave5104]

I hide the Facebook app in a folder on my iPhone to keep it out of sight and out of mind. I still keep it around just in case I need to hop on for an event invite or something.

You should also turn notifications off--once Facebook notices you haven't logged in lately, they'll start sending you random "activity" notifications to draw you back in.

As for my laptop, I just signed out of Facebook in my browser. That was enough of a deterrent to keep me away. (I also deleted my quicklinks to my feed as well.)

It took me about a month and now I don't even think about it.

[sekou]

I started small and it's been somewhat effective, but I haven't stopped completely. What works well for me is only opening Facebook in private mode in my browser (which has other benefits as well, I was growing sick of seeing ads in FB from other sites I was using.) I have to log in every time I use it so I'm forced to think about it first. I do this on desktop and on my phone. I still use it but a lot less.

[Bakary]

As you have found out yourself techniques which revolve around setting an artificial block don't work well. That's because they fail to really address the problem. As soon as you move into an environment without those blocks the addiction will return instantly and your willpower "training" will have be a waste of time.

Unfortunately it seems the only real method is indeed "toughing it out". Books help a lot in this regard as whenever you feel the pang you can start reading. Since this activity involves concentration over longer periods of time and no task switching, it's tremendously helpful to rewire your brain over time. You definitely feel the effects after a few weeks.