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

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71–80 of 216 posts

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

#71
I made a list of my strategies for this: https://davidbieber.com/snippets/2022-03-18-attention-strate...

So you don't have to click through, here they are: * Using an outliner like Roam Research

* Working with another person (e.g. pair programming)

* Working with another person present (e.g. independent coworking)

* Running a “distraction detection” program

* Mentally noting the distraction-kind and returning my attention

* Keeping my phone in my kitchen

* Writing on Go Note Go, my headless keyboard

* Attending meetings/talks in “clamshell mode” (laptop closed, no keyboard or mouse available)

* Making TODO lists

* And explicitly writing down the ^^active TODO^^

* Going to sleep at a specific time (e.g. 10:10pm)

* Exercising regularly (or at least aiming to)

* Stopping watching TV in the middle of an episode (ends of episodes are more addicting)

* 50 minute working sessions (e.g. focusmate.com)

* Stretching

* Taking short deliberate breaks

* Using Pomodoro timers for working sessions

* Using the “Intention” Chrome extension by DK

* Keeping all notifications on my phone turned off

* Asking the people I live with to get my attention first before starting a conversation with me

* Announcing my current active goal publicly (e.g. in a chat room)

* “Hide feed” Chrome extension, also by DK

This is all in addition to what I call the "Nike strategy". i.e. "Just do it". aka pure will power. But you don't need to rely completely on the Nike strategy -- the rest of the list can be useful too!

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

#72
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Use the CLI for everything Interesting, can you explain what this looks like in practice?

Usually a black screen with a bunch of mostly white letters :) Seriously though, I do this a lot too. All my instant messaging comes though a text interface, most of my note taking and other work. I use the browser a lot still because it's sadly unavoidable. If I really need to focus I even use my old VT520 CRT terminal. The soft amber glow really helps to focus <3

Yeah it might sound ridiculous but I do this too…

I wrapped the GPT-3 API in a stupid little CLI the other day, just to poke a davinci w/o having to go the browser. I like it.

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

#74

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…

those are some potent quotes right there

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

#75
Make a rule of doing something interesting with everything you learn. If there is nothing to do, talk to someone about it. If there is nobody, write a blog. If you can't write a blog, just detail it in a notebook. The point is to make a habit of interacting with things. That way you keep yourself engaged, slow down your intake, feel a bit more lively and it is overall a good habit to have.

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

#76

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…

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

#77

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.

Several threads here seem insightful, particularly the top comment with quotes on avoiding the pitfall of information addiction. I often find pragmatic, applicable advice for fuzzy mental and emotional problems here, more so than in most other online communities.

In the end, it’s the poster’s responsibility to comb through responses to find useful snippets. The cliche of “admitting the problem is the first step towards recovery” could also apply to asking this question.

Rather than comparing HN to patrons at a bar, I’d counter that HN is more like a large courtyard on a tech campus. Sure, there’s bars, foam pits and foosball tables, but there’s also chess matches, spirited debate, and plenty of like-minded people around too.

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

#78
post #22

Find out if your addiction is because you find the world boring, or if you're trying to escape from something you fear. If it's the former, block the addictive content and replace it with other things you find fun (hobbies, books, movies, etc), paying attention to how it's more worthwhile to do so. If it's the latter, find out how to overcome such fear / anxiety and to stop using addictive content as a crutch.

I show similar bad behavior when I am overtired. It took me a while to see the pattern and put my phone aside when I need rest.

This rings a bell! Thank you for commenting this.

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

#79
I write a newsletter[0] (in finnish) every weekday that summarises what has happened in tech. I've been doing this now for two years and its helped me keep my news addiction in check (ironically). Forcing yourself to write makes it easier to process stuff and during the weekends, when I'm not writing, I really don't have the urge to keep checking Twitter or Techmeme.

I've recently been playing around with Midjourney for the cover images and that's been a excercise as well.

[0]: https://www.transistori.com/

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

#80
> Does anybody else feel that way?

oh yeah, sure!

2 actionable things that changed my view on this things completely:

1) Huberman lab podcast on dopamine: https://hubermanlab.com/how-to-increase-motivation-and-drive.... It's not some self help BS, all based on science, backed by publications.

TL; DR, you might be riding too high on dopamine / layering too many dopaminergic activities. You might need to lower your base dopamine level.

2) for dealing with youtube specifically, block youtube recommended. Like youtube becomes only search bar, no recommended, no follow up videos etc. Complete game-changer for me.

https://pawelurbanek.com/youtube-addiction-selfcontrol https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29485064 https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=pawurb

@pawurb, thank you for changing my life by unlocking youtube for me, without the addiction. I am very grateful.

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