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Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?

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Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?

#151
In my opinion, the hard part of habit change isn't discovering the specifics of the changes you need to make in order to alter your habits. The hard part is meta aspect of actually doing the things that you know you need to do for long enough to break your old habits and to form new ones, all while your subconscious mind is longing for the sweet comfort of your old habits! We are masters at fooling ourselves, at talking ourselves into momentary pleasure at the cost of our long-term wellbeing, at repeatedly procrastinating 'just this once' until we completely forget that we were trying to make a change!

In my experience, the solution to this problem is good old-fashioned journaling. Sit down for a few minutes every morning and write down a few words about the change that you want to make and why. That way, every morning you have a chance to re-affirm the importance of this change, and hold yourself accountable for failing or procrastinating. If you're anything like me, as you attempt to change your habits you will fail repeatedly. Your journaling session is a dedicated session during which you can be honest about this failure, consider why you've failed, and to change your approach and to press on toward a better future.

To start, get out a journal (like, right now!), put it in a place where you can't miss it, and commit to writing a single sentence every single day. Don't beat yourself up about failing to execute on your target habit change on a given day, but do commit to never missing a single day of journaling.

If you can pick up the pen once per day, you can get it done.

Also, read Atomic Habits, which is an absolute must-read for folks who want to make changes in their lives.

Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?

#152

Some HN community member recently plugged his side project in another thread and it seems quite fitting here: https://pausbox.com/ It's a configurable phone enclosure that physically separates you from your phone but lets important calls get through. There are surely cheaper and probably more efficient ways to address OP's question but I might throw it in here anyways since it's sufficiently related.

Configuring "Do not disturb" mode to allow calls and important texts through is my default phone mode all day long.

Makes a big difference.

Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?

#154
There is a theory that addiction works by learning some behavioral patterns so good that you can execute them without any effort whatsoever. Like on autopilot.

If that theory is true, you could see an effect by forcing you to use your weak hand on it. This should force you to concentrate much more on every task and thus disrupt your habit.

Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?

#155
Something that helped me with productivity immensely was going to the doctor. After a long discussion about a variety of issues, I was diagnosed with ADHD, at 31. Sometimes this stuff is a result of a condition that can be managed via medication.

Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?

#157

If you have a M1 powered mac computer, you can see if your banking app allows you to run things on your Mac. Another thing I found useful was to Grayscale the app, it puts a damper on any scrolling apps. https://www.wired.com/story/grayscale-ios-android-smartphone... .

And if you have a Chromebook, that might be able to run the Android app.

Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?

#159

~The Triple Ziploc Bag method.~ I dedicate a few days a month to being absolutely phone-free. The key point is I'm allowed to use Reddit/IG but I have to use a laptop/desktop to access them. This method requires a key ingredient: three ziploc bags. I wrap both my work phone (when not oncall) and my personal phone in three nested ziploc bags and put them in a drawer. This acts as a great deterrent most of the time. I'…

Can recommend something like this. You can even buy something with a timerlock. Atomic habits (book) gives this advice. The idea is that “bad” behavior shouldn’t be super easy. I have a small cupboard with a key lock where I put some of the chocolates. Not saying I can’t have any, but walk around the house to get the key gives me enough time for meditation to ask myself Am I hungry, or do I really want some chocolate…

I give my key to my wife, who is tolerant enough to act as my gatekeeper and only gives it to me once a week. Pretty lame but it seems to work.

Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?

#160
post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

S/he is telling addicts to tell themselves to stop.

Indeed, and that's like the one thing addicts usually cannot do, almost by definition. At least that's how it is for me.

Sometimes addicts don't actually want to stop. Instead, they just want to slow down or control the thing they are addicted to
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