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Beating Internet Addiction

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BALKAN

BALKAN

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Comrades,

It's become clear to me over the past couple of months that I have been pissing away my life in front of a screen instead of pursuing hobbies. I always intend to just check my e-mail and maybe have a glance at my YouTube subscriptions for a few minutes but it always spirals into hours and hours of sitting and staring at crap until it's time for bed.

I want to change but I don't know where to begin. I'm lazy, procrastinate a lot, and am generally a grub. Anyone in a similar sitch? Anyone got any ways they know to overcome this cruel mistress?

Yours,
BALKAN
 

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Hipster Doofus said:
Get a job, play sport, go out with mates. Have a kid if you really want to lose a lot of your free time.
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I do play sport and go out with mates (ignore the fact I'm posting this on a Saturday night) and yeah I haven't had a job in a few months, but even when I did I'd still come home and piss away 2-3 hours on Reddit/Youtube/Bigfooty.

I'll come home and do a few hours of study/assignments and then take a "study break" which stretches out until bed time. It's a real concern because I don't even realise how much time has passed until I look up at the clock. I want to pursue hobbies like getting back into guitar, learning German or even upping the amount of books I read but I think all the time I spend online is destroying my concentration, attention span and it's definitely affecting my sleep cycle.

I have to use my laptop for Uni work but I want to be able to close it once I'm done. I AM A SLAVE TO THIS CRUEL MISTRESS.
 
Since I got a smartphone a couple years ago I find myself using the internet ****ing everywhere.

Less sitting with my own thoughts and looking out the windows of the tram/train/room/whatever place. Even in a park I start using it after a few minutes of the cheap showiness of nature.

Internet is great but it's a bit of a blur if you just go to the same places over and over. Like this one.

I should move to Twitter. My snarky attempts at humour might work better there than Facebook.

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Reckon best to way is to go cold turkey on one of the sites.
 
Set an alarm. After you've decided how much time you can spend online.

And, set yourself a goal...to get better at guitar or whatever
 

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Dunno if I would classify myself as addicted but I can be a very heavy user and procrastinator at times. Tends to be mostly linked to where I am with the rest of my life. Last few years I have been in a couple of pretty boring jobs which haven't really taxed me too much. Result has been lot of time on BigFooty. Now I am in a job that actually requires 40 hours a week attention/commitment, and the progression has been natural.

Reckon the internet is one of those things that is hard to tear yourself away from, but once you do it's surprisingly easy to stay away. I used to log on and trawl through almost every one of my subscribed threads in one sitting, read everything, respond to everyone who replied to me. Bit of my completionist/perfectionist personality coming through. Now I'm on BigFooty less I read less, ergo post in less threads, therefore getting drawn into less ongoing discussions. Even the discussions I do get drawn into, often I won't get around to going back to them for a week or so and if there's been too much posted in the interim it's very easy to just go 'eh, unsubscribe' without reading. Half the time I ignore non-mod related alerts unless they look interesting. Consequently when I do log on I spend a lot less time here.

Facebook I had a similar experience. Sort of just stopped logging on after university. I log in occasionally if someone sends me a direct message or something but again, at a certain point you are on there so infrequently that keeping up with everything becomes impossible and you don't even try. I'm so out of the loop on Facebook that I have no desire to spend any time there.

So I would say don't try and cut down on your internet to do other things. Fill your life with other things that demand attention and your internet usage will take care of itself. If you can eliminate or drastically reduce your usage of particular sites for a month or two then you will break the cycle and probably find you don't have much compulsion to go back to your previous levels.

If you do want to go cold turkey, delete your autologins. Install one of those browser plugins that blocks access to sites during certain time windows. If you do feel the need to procrastinate, use some other procrastination tool. That was a big one for me - I still procrastinate a fair bit but it's harder to lose 4 hours going for a cup of coffee or a walk than it is on the internet.

Don't know if any of that helps. I don't really know much about your circumstances or how much of that applies. Good luck, anyway.
 
Allgood Awesome said:
Since I got a smartphone a couple years ago I find myself using the internet ******* everywhere.

Less sitting with my own thoughts and looking out the windows of the tram/train/room/whatever place. Even in a park I start using it after a few minutes of the cheap showiness of nature.
Click to expand...

Same here. I can't enjoy sitting around thinking about things anymore. I can't even enjoy a sunset without thinking "jeez this would make a great Instagram picture"

skilts said:
You are more likely to cause yourself harm by worrying about this. "I can resist everything except temptation" - Wilde.
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I like this mindset but I'm afraid the internet is a pretty crippling thing to give into.

Caesar said:
Dunno if I would classify myself as addicted but I can be a very heavy user and procrastinator at times. Tends to be mostly linked to where I am with the rest of my life. Last few years I have been in a couple of pretty boring jobs which haven't really taxed me too much. Result has been lot of time on BigFooty. Now I am in a job that actually requires 40 hours a week attention/commitment, and the progression has been natural.

Reckon the internet is one of those things that is hard to tear yourself away from, but once you do it's surprisingly easy to stay away. I used to log on and trawl through almost every one of my subscribed threads in one sitting, read everything, respond to everyone who replied to me. Bit of my completionist/perfectionist personality coming through. Now I'm on BigFooty less I read less, ergo post in less threads, therefore getting drawn into less ongoing discussions. Even the discussions I do get drawn into, often I won't get around to going back to them for a week or so and if there's been too much posted in the interim it's very easy to just go 'eh, unsubscribe' without reading. Half the time I ignore non-mod related alerts unless they look interesting. Consequently when I do log on I spend a lot less time here.

Facebook I had a similar experience. Sort of just stopped logging on after university. I log in occasionally if someone sends me a direct message or something but again, at a certain point you are on there so infrequently that keeping up with everything becomes impossible and you don't even try. I'm so out of the loop on Facebook that I have no desire to spend any time there.

So I would say don't try and cut down on your internet to do other things. Fill your life with other things that demand attention and your internet usage will take care of itself. If you can eliminate or drastically reduce your usage of particular sites for a month or two then you will break the cycle and probably find you don't have much compulsion to go back to your previous levels.

If you do want to go cold turkey, delete your autologins. Install one of those browser plugins that blocks access to sites during certain time windows. If you do feel the need to procrastinate, use some other procrastination tool. That was a big one for me - I still procrastinate a fair bit but it's harder to lose 4 hours going for a cup of coffee or a walk than it is on the internet.

Don't know if any of that helps. I don't really know much about your circumstances or how much of that applies. Good luck, anyway.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this post, it gives me hope! The trouble with me is that I do have hobbies and interests but they always take a backseat to a Youtube marathon or writing nonsense on Bigfooty, which is why I think going cold turkey is the best option for me because then I'll have no other choice but to do something else. I don't want to start a whole new bunch of hobbies, just get back into things that I've been neglecting for too long.

Good call on the browser plug-in. Just installed 'Nanny for Chrome' but haven't activated it yet!!!!1111
 
I think it's impossible in all honesty.

And I tend to think the internet is so accessible and with so much on here, that it can essentially just replace what other people do or used to. I mean how many people sit in front of the tele as soon as they get home and then go to sleep? Is there a big difference between that and talking shit on here? Or what about people who play computer games, scrabble... they're more stimulating than watching the TV but at the same time, you can do things just as stimulating online.

It's such a wide thing that I don't think it's an issue.

Plus most people just do it because there's nothing else to do. Not many people would turn down going outside to sit online. If I have things to do, uni, an assignment, the footy's on, I'm going to see mates, I'm needing to do run some boring errands... I don't miss the internet or anything like that. This is just something to do when there's nothing else to do. It's what Caesar said basically. If you have other things going on, you won't be bored, and you won't think to come on here, Youtube, or Facebook.

It's just about minimising the time to use the internet, as opposed to minimising internet usage directly.
 
Silent Alarm said:
I think it's impossible in all honesty.

And I tend to think the internet is so accessible and with so much on here, that it can essentially just replace what other people do or used to. I mean how many people sit in front of the tele as soon as they get home and then go to sleep? Is there a big difference between that and talking shit on here? Or what about people who play computer games, scrabble... they're more stimulating than watching the TV but at the same time, you can do things just as stimulating online.

It's such a wide thing that I don't think it's an issue.

Plus most people just do it because there's nothing else to do. Not many people would turn down going outside to sit online. If I have things to do, uni, an assignment, the footy's on, I'm going to see mates, I'm needing to do run some boring errands... I don't miss the internet or anything like that. This is just something to do when there's nothing else to do. It's what Caesar said basically. If you have other things going on, you won't be bored, and you won't think to come on here, Youtube, or Facebook.

It's just about minimising the time to use the internet, as opposed to minimising internet usage directly.
Click to expand...

Of course I'm not looking to completely cut the internet from my life, nor would I ever want to. I agree too that being on here is better than watching TV as at least by writing and reading posts you're engaging your brain (most of the time) but I think being addicted to the net, at least to the level that I believe I am, it has ripple effects to other parts of my life. Most of all, it's impacting my concentration and attention span and my sleeping patterns.

I'm just trying to cut out the instincts I have to immediately go for the computer/phone the moment I have some free time and try instead to do something else.
 

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OK I'm gonna do it. Gonna enable Nanny for Chrome and wipe out all these websites.
My aim will be to last cold turkey for a week. Only using the net for Uni-related things.
Sunday, 11th May 1:00PM is my aim. WISH ME LUCK (=
 
BALKAN said:
OK I'm gonna do it. Gonna enable Nanny for Chrome and wipe out all these websites.
My aim will be to last cold turkey for a week. Only using the net for Uni-related things.
Sunday, 11th May 1:00PM is my aim. WISH ME LUCK (=
Click to expand...
Good luck!
 
BALKAN said:
Thanks for this post, it gives me hope! The trouble with me is that I do have hobbies and interests but they always take a backseat to a Youtube marathon or writing nonsense on Bigfooty
Click to expand...
Making them structured helps. I'm a fundamentally lazy person and I need accountability in my life. Half the reason I still have a housemate is because it gives me an extra incentive to be diligent about housework. Most of my activities I am accountable to someone else - sailing I have a team, tennis I have a hitting partner, that sort of thing. On shit days I can't just blow it off at the last minute to binge-watch Homicide or whatever.
 
Bunk Moreland said:
Problem I have is I'm one of those people who has to look something up if I don't know what it is etc. So often I'll reach for the phone.
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You are that guy who has forever ruined the ill-informed pub debate. Time was, I could have have an hour long drunken argument about whether Marrakesh is the capital of Morocco. Now some jackass just looks it up on his phone and proves me wrong in ten seconds.
 
Start using Wireless Broadband. The shit will drop out so often and lose the connection it will annoy you so much you just find something else to do.
 

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