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

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

#51

Post by CrackpotGonzo »

rygarfo wrote: post #34
CrackpotGonzo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Semi-computer functionality. I'm often working remote without access to a good wifi connection. Website goes down, I have to be able to respond no matter the time. Smartphone allows basic troubleshooting and provides notifications easier than standard SMS (notifications through slack and other apps). Any recommendations?

Yeah that's a tough one being on-call. Think you need a smartphone. Or setup some IFTTT triggers to notify you via SMS for emergencies. Sorry I don't have a better suggestion!

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

#52

Post by [deleted] »

rygarfo wrote: post #34
CrackpotGonzo wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Semi-computer functionality. I'm often working remote without access to a good wifi connection. Website goes down, I have to be able to respond no matter the time. Smartphone allows basic troubleshooting and provides notifications easier than standard SMS (notifications through slack and other apps). Any recommendations?

[deleted]

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

#54

Post by 3beans »

At 8pm I go read-only. I tell my colleagues this as well. Unless anything is burning to the ground I don't care.

Sometimes I'll do an /etc/hosts block and shift that site I'm over visiting to another device. Makes me realize I'm using it too much. Once that moment hits I unblock when I feel I'm ready for it on my laptop again.

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

#55

Post by LinuxBender »

elorant wrote: post #24

Simple. I don't have an account on Facebook/Twitter/whatever. While others might find it necessary I find them utterly boring and irrelevant. I think that not owning a smartphone helps a lot in that aspect. I have a dumbphone with a battery that lasts for weeks and I'm happy with my choice. As for e-mail, I have two accounts, one for work, one for everyone else. I don't check the latter while at work, ever.

Same. I deleted my facebook account shortly after being talked into creating it. I learned way too much about my friends and lost respect for many of them. I've never had a twitter account. I have a dumb throw away phone registered to an obviously bogus name. For email, I just dump everything from a domain into a text file and parse out the subjects. Very little makes it into that mail server.

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

#56

Post by tretiy3 »

In case of Facebook the solution is very easy. In desktop version, when you put mouse over friend image there is a popup menu with item "Following" which contains one more popup menu with "Unfollow" item. When you unfollow friend his activity gets removed from the feed. The friend will never see that he is "unfollowed": no any notification fired. In several days i just unfollow everybody and now my feed is empty.

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

#57

Post by randycupertino »

scotch_drinker wrote: post #20

I'm embarking on a Slow Information Diet modeled after Tim Ferris' Slow Carb Diet. Six days a week, no Twitter, no Facebook, etc. On cheat day (for me, my slow carb diet cheat day and slow information diet cheat days are the same, Friday) I get to read and consume and binge all I want. Because Slow Carb really resonates we me, this concept does to and has worked out well. YMMV of course.

Did you make up the Slow Information Diet yourself, or did you read about it somewhere? I want to emulate it so was curious if there was more written up about it somewhere. Thanks!

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

#58

Post by randycupertino »

CrackpotGonzo wrote: post #2

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…

Do you miss being able to use the phone for distraction, say for example when stuck in line at the bank? That is why I'm always sneaking a peak at twitter or facebook.

Also as lame as it is, I worry about not keeping up with the Joneses on social media and being seen as irrelevant because I don't have an online "presence." I applied for a job via HN a few weeks ago that wanted links to my facebook and twitter accounts. I ended up withdrawing my application because that seemed frivolous and nosy. But it did give me pause to consider my "online brand" and whether or not it was professional, and if I should work on keeping that up.

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

#59

Post by randycupertino »

tretiy3 wrote: post #56

In case of Facebook the solution is very easy. In desktop version, when you put mouse over friend image there is a popup menu with item "Following" which contains one more popup menu with "Unfollow" item. When you unfollow friend his activity gets removed from the feed. The friend will never see that he is "unfollowed": no any notification fired. In several days i just unfollow everybody and now my feed is empty.

I'm actually really surprised facebook green lighted this feature to roll out. They had to know it would decimate their user engagement levels??

It's made their site much less sticky and I spend WAY less time on facebook now that I've unfollowed almost everyone on there. It's awesome. The only people I still follow anymore are my immediate family who I care about not missing any updates from.

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

#60

Post by throwaway11100 »

Last week I got Modafinil. I've been using it every day this week. I've felt slightly happier throughout the day, and more focused than I've ever been in my life.

It used to take so much energy for me to start working. But on Modafinil I switch to emacs and start hacking.

I bet I'm going through a honeymoon period, but I'd say I've learned more about programming this week than in any (any!) month of my life. I feel really focused.

Many use it to avoid sleep. I don't; I get eight hours of sleep a night. I'm trying to avoid crashing, burning out, dependency et cetera by using Modafinil like an antidepressant, not a five hour energy.

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