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Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#191

Post by d4rkp4ttern »

I devote 30-45 mins each morning scanning and bookmarking HN and Reddit, and stay away from info-scrolling during the day. I completely stay out of twitter. If something is blowing up, it will surface on HN or Reddit. I also subscribe to several newsletters of interest in my field, and set up feeds in the Reader app, and I occasionally check what landed there.

I think it is essential to avoid the “raw” sources like Twitter or Google News, and instead scan what bubbles up into higher-level sources such as HN, reddit or newsletters.

I also meter my time on various projects using Toggl Track so I can monitor how I am using my time. Tracking also acts like a promise to myself that I will focus on something: e.g I start the timer to focus on X, and it acts as a subtle nudge to keep me honest and really focus on X.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#192

Post by zoom6628 »

labrador wrote: post #11

I handle it by collecting quotes that tell me to knock it off. I've since started to focus on just the things I really care about: The purpose of knowledge is action, not knowledge. ― Aristotle Knowledge isn't free. You have to pay attention ― Richard Feynman "Information is not truth" ― Yuval Noah Harari If I were the plaything of every thought, I would be a fool, not a wise man. ― Rumi Dhamma is in your mind, not i…

I try to deal with it by action - try to use what I read. But the best thing for me has been running. Gets me away from the tech.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#193

Post by goldfeld »

lobocinza wrote: post #187
goldfeld wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know it's weird but here has been my ANALOG solution to HN information consumption and even to tab overload (a chronic incurable autoimmune disease I acquired when just leaving my teens, during college life, which may have impeded my growth). I write much, sci-fi and always draft some articles (but never publish), so that keeping up with HN is a sort of reference material building activity, other than it I don't go…

I do something but on the computer. I issue `j w` on the terminal, which means journal write, to create a new time coded entry and open it on an editor where I copy the URL and any immediate thought I have in my mind. Most people will just bookmark and forget which I also do often. Anyway, we replaced a tab overload problem with a notes/bookmarks overload.

I used to swear by org-mode until I realized I’ll never look at nested folders and files again.

Maybe you could automate pasting the url by copying it beforehand and having the new entry draw it from the clipboard.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#194

Post by rollcat »

whywhywouldyou wrote: post #143
labrador wrote: post #11

I handle it by collecting quotes that tell me to knock it off. I've since started to focus on just the things I really care about: The purpose of knowledge is action, not knowledge. ― Aristotle Knowledge isn't free. You have to pay attention ― Richard Feynman "Information is not truth" ― Yuval Noah Harari If I were the plaything of every thought, I would be a fool, not a wise man. ― Rumi Dhamma is in your mind, not i…

So the top comment/advice on HN about how to avoid information overload is to collect a list of information to remind you to stop addictively collecting information. Sounds about right.

I think there's a parallel to what someone (can't find the link) called "human vs elven" technology.

"Human" technology focuses on adapting the natural world to one's needs, the ultimate result being the whole natural world removed / replaced by said technology.

"Elven" technology focuses on adapting oneself, to remove the need to rely on, or change the natural world. The ultimate end being the complete removal of oneself from the natural world (while continuing to exist, of course). However that process still requires you to take "human" steps to ensure survival and progress.

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#195

Post by perrygeo »

Install a plugin that blocks all your problem sites. I'm using "Impulse Blocker" on Firefox and it's helpful to break the habit. You can easily turn it off and waste time on HN if you want to... you just need to do it intentionally. Just having that one extra barrier is enough for me to avoid almost all consumptive media during my work day (still read too much before and after work but that's my choice)

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#198

Post by shepherdjerred »

balaji1 wrote: post #163
CobrastanJorji wrote: post #28

I wonder if this can be a good forum for your question. You must suspect every answer here simply because everyone here is a self-selected group of people idly reading and commenting on Hacker News threads. It is like asking your friends at the bar for suggestions on how to quit drinking: many there have no interest in it, and the rest are interested but have not succeeded.

I do not feel so good about 30 items hitting my brain each time I open HN. (even though I am only scanning, sometimes just filtering by the vote count). Is there a smaller number like 10 that might make me feel less guilty?

Check out https://hckrnews.com/

Re: Ask HN: How do you deal with information and internet addiction?

#199

Post by throw_away1525 »

perrygeo wrote: post #195

Install a plugin that blocks all your problem sites. I'm using "Impulse Blocker" on Firefox and it's helpful to break the habit. You can easily turn it off and waste time on HN if you want to... you just need to do it intentionally. Just having that one extra barrier is enough for me to avoid almost all consumptive media during my work day (still read too much before and after work but that's my choice)

Plugins are too easy for me to disable. Somehow editing /etc/localhost and redirecting time wasters to locahost requires higher activation energy for me and works so that's what I do.
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