[undopamine]

After ~4 years of doomscrolling, I finally uninstalled Twitter and Reddit from my phone (just minutes ago).

They were taking up 80% of my time, focus and energy while hardly adding 20% value on top of what I already know. Even if it weren't the case, delving into an activity would give infinitely more returns than reading yet another discussion on it.

I'm expecting to eliminate all infinite feeds from my daily routine by the end of this month. including HN.

[NoReg]

Sounds like a good plan. Technology and social media make us stick to the screens. Self-discipline can help to improve the quality of our life :)

[nusl]

Good luck. Resisting the impulse to open Reddit or Twitter every five seconds is hard. Then having a phone with stuff on but you can’t reflex-open those apps also takes a while.

[g3mo]

What’s your preferred tool for blocking websites like HN?

[undopamine]

Fortunately, my compulsion hasn't reached a state where I'd need to rely on blocking.

I'm just keeping the HN bookmark in a folder to keep it out of sight.

Rest of the job is to tame the mind that wanders every couple minutes to find an escape.

[deafpolygon]

I use the noprocrast feature on HN. It's enough to keep me focused. I wish more sites implemented this. I might need software to do the same for reddit and other social media platforms. Not that I need it, but it does remind me how much time I've spent.

[KTibow]

On one hand, the more time you spend on these platforms the more ad money they get so they have an incentive to keep you there. On the other hand, some platforms already have time limits implemented (some exclusive to children but still).

[hammyhavoc]

Learning self-discipline the hard way rather than treating yourself like a naughty child being told off.

[KTibow]

It's less mentally taxing when you know you can't visit a website compared to when you have to work to not visit it.

[hammyhavoc]

Yes, but that mental taxation is essentially unlearning a bad habit and why it feels so rough to go through.

I agree that if the sentiment of "but I didn't go on it" is the goal, sure, but it doesn't change the way you think. Breaking habits is hard and requires willpower, that's why most people never break them.

[mkbkn]

Social media on desktop -> Leechblock NG as browser addon.

[hahnchen]

fitting name