[godzillafarts]

Lots of hate in this thread around the author writing about "only" three days offline. I get the sentiment, it isn't a particularly long duration of time, but three days offline can feel like an eternity if you legitimately have an internet addiction. Some of us are luckier than other in that we're able to self moderate.

I know that I sometimes struggle with pulling my phone out for no reason and refreshing HN or Reddit. Same with my laptop during work hours. I don't like it and I'm trying to do better; I want a healthier relationship with my devices and the internet.

I definitely took something from this article, though. For a while I've been using Do Not Disturb to cut down on distracting notifications throughout the day, with a whitelist for family members in case of emergency. But from now on, my phone's WiFi will be turned off and I've also disabled cellular data for all other non-critical applications.

Now if I want to refresh HN or Reddit for no reason, I either have to connect to WiFi or explicitly grant Safari permission to use cellular data. Overall, I feel like I'm taking steps in the right direction...

[unethical_ban]

Using DND for "only necessities" communication is great. Uninstalling social media apps that aren't comms is useful for me too (Instagram is non-essential, and reddit). Take away the muscle memory of opening the apps.

Finally, when it's appropriate, I leave my phone in my car entirely. Occasionally for dinner/breakfast, on runs, and going to the movies. Just leave it at home. The world will go on without you - especially if people know you're away.

[isitmadeofglass]

> I get the sentiment, it isn't a particularly long duration of time, but three days offline can feel like an eternity if you legitimately have an internet addiction.

Sure, and 3 days without heroine might seem like a long time to someone with a heroine addiction. But still doesn’t mean that someone writing a an article of “I went 3 days without heroine, here is my insightful report” and stating that it actually wasn’t that bad is somehow not deserving of a bit of healthy critique.

[ulisesrmzroche]

3 days is an excruciatingly long time for someone with a heroin addiction. An internet addiction is more like a weed addiction.