Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

#1

Post by pedrodelfino » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 8:02 PM UTC

In Hacker News we have the "no procrast" mode. Nonetheless, that's not a common function in social media or email apps.

I have been using Rescue Time (to track my activities) and StayFocusd Extension (yes, "focusd" without the "e" and it basically blocks the access to a determined site after some time).

Rescue Time and Stay Focusd have been useful on my desktop. But in mobile (I have an Iphone) I am lost.

Especially, concerning to Whats app, I definitely use it more than I should.

Does anybody have this problem? How do you manage it?

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

#2

Post by CrackpotGonzo » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 8:16 PM UTC

Honestly, the easiest way for me is to just use a "dumb" phone. I switched to an old Nokia and love it. I also use the SMS search engine Text Engine (http://www.textengine.info/) if I ever need to look up an address or directions. I definitely feel more productive, and most importantly present in my daily life.

Curious to hear if others have had success with other methods or if anyone else has tried going back to a non-smartphone.

Great question.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

#3

Post by pakled_engineer » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 8:21 PM UTC

I have a daily schedule/ritual to keep productive, after a week it just became the norm https://books.google.ca/books/about/Daily_Rituals.html?id=-t...

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

#4

Post by _csharp » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 8:25 PM UTC

I uninstalled Facebook app from my phone. Don't miss it at all. I have muted all the Whats App group conversations, as it is mostly recycled jokes. I still get notifications from individual friends trying to contact me.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

#5

Post by rygarfo » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 8:26 PM UTC

I had the same issue on my phone. Unable to switch to a dumb phone because of job requirements. Along with using some sort of ritual, I use an app on my phone called "forest" (iphone). Does a pretty good job of locking me out of distracting apps for chunks of time.

I like this question. I'll see what other better answers come out out of it.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

#6

Post by egypturnash » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 8:27 PM UTC

Every now and then I just delete the phone apps I think I'm using too much. If it's a stock app you could just put it on the kiddie block list instead, that's probably enough hassle to undo to make you think twice before impulsively falling into the email hole or whatever.

Come to think of it maybe I should delete Tweetbot from my phone for a while. It feels about time.

Coming at it from the other end, I find that the "Pomodoro Technique" [1] of timeboxing works pretty well to keep me on task, when I go through the whole ceremony of picking up the cute ladybug-shaped kitchen timer I've modified by painting out anything beyond 25min, giving it a twist, and having that kinesthetic memory plus the soft ticking reminding me that I have A Thing I Have Promised Myself I Will Work On For This Block Of Time.

I haven't been doing that much lately either. I should start doing it again.

1: http://pomodorotechnique.com

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

#7

Post by ashwinaj » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 8:29 PM UTC

Having a Pomodoro [1] app on your desktop/laptop helps. It sounded lame to me initially (do work in 25 min chunks), but it seems to work for me.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

#8

Post by prawn » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 8:29 PM UTC

Switch off all notifications to start with. That's an easy first step.

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

#9

Post by CrackpotGonzo » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 8:29 PM UTC

rygarfo wrote: post #5

I had the same issue on my phone. Unable to switch to a dumb phone because of job requirements. Along with using some sort of ritual, I use an app on my phone called "forest" (iphone). Does a pretty good job of locking me out of distracting apps for chunks of time. I like this question. I'll see what other better answers come out out of it.

Which features would a dumb phone need for you to consider to switch?

Re: Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

#10

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Feb 04, 2016, 8:29 PM UTC

rygarfo wrote: post #5

I had the same issue on my phone. Unable to switch to a dumb phone because of job requirements. Along with using some sort of ritual, I use an app on my phone called "forest" (iphone). Does a pretty good job of locking me out of distracting apps for chunks of time. I like this question. I'll see what other better answers come out out of it.

[deleted]