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How to overcome Phone Addiction

cognitiontoday.com

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Re: How to overcome Phone Addiction

#181

Post by andai »

cageface wrote: post #104
makecheck wrote: post #74

I basically discourage addiction by making things “difficult” for myself on my phone: - Minimal web bookmarks (i.e. I have to type in most web sites I want to visit; this is just enough of an encumbrance that I won’t flip open things like Reddit every 30 seconds). - I never install apps meant for content consumption, I use their web sites. (This is usually a better experience anyway, since the vast majority of them a…

Another tactic I find useful is to ban any apps with an endless content feed from my phone.

Deleted YouTube from my phone the other day. Suddenly my phone is boring and I find myself reading books (for the first time in years).

Re: How to overcome Phone Addiction

#182

Post by andai »

Noos wrote: post #51

Given this is Hacker News, I await the solution of LSD-assisted therapy to counter phone addiction to be proposed soon.

LSD actually cured my surfing (while I was taking it). I'd just be consciously aware the whole time that I was sitting at a computer, trying to distract myself.

Re: How to overcome Phone Addiction

#183

Post by LocalH »

bjt2n3904 wrote: post #61
Noos wrote: post #51

Given this is Hacker News, I await the solution of LSD-assisted therapy to counter phone addiction to be proposed soon.

It was on the front page earlier today, and still is. Why bother stopping a bad habit? That takes effort. Much better to play Russian Roulette with mind altering substances.

That's basically what modern medicine tends to do, just in a more structured manner.

Re: How to overcome Phone Addiction

#184

Post by mraza007 »

Nbox9 wrote: post #175
mraza007 wrote: post #173

Here’s what I did to counter my phone addiction. I was mostly addicted to social media apps and it got worse as I wouldn’t go without spending at least 2hrs on these apps. So in order to counter my addiction I ordered a kitchensafe box to control my addiction. Now I just lock my phone for certain amount of time and try to do something else or engage myself into new things such as reading, learning new skills and etc…

What would you do if you got a phone call while it was in the kitchen safe?

Well it depends honestly before going to bed I put my phone into kitchensafe box and set the time for atleast 2hrs so I can fall asleep without looking at my phone.

During the day if I’m working I’ll put my phone into kitchensafe for like 30 or 45mins so I can focus on the task without looking at my phone.

As far as calls are concerned if they are important they’ll probably leave voicemail and I’ll get back to them right away

Lastly I usually keep my phone locked at night before going to bed as It helps me stay away from it

Re: How to overcome Phone Addiction

#185

Post by TillE »

vharuck wrote: post #60
tompazourek wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I myself spent a lot of time on the computer back then, mostly playing computer games. And I remember how everyone talked about how addictive and bad computer games were.

I remember skipping college classes to play World of Warcraft. Then my graphics card crapped out. So I skipped classes reading psychology books I got from the library. Turns out, my problems were depression and social anxiety, not video games.

Absolutely. 99% of bullshit like "game addiction" is just a symptom of depression or similar, not some distinct phenomenon with a novel cause.

Re: How to overcome Phone Addiction

#187

Post by bumby »

friendlybus wrote: post #164
throwaway201103 wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What do you mean less valued? My impression is that the Marines are the most respected of the services. (I am not serving nor a veteran of any armed service).

I don't want to tell tales out of school or anything. I've met an ex-marine who suffered damage in training and stories from internet videos all corroborate the general story. The marines are the offensive branch, and the individuals get treated poorly. You get a lot of respect for your title, but other branches have a better quality of life and better jobs available. https://youtu.be/UMoLKLM8SMg Fun story time by an…

Counter to this anecdote, I’ve met a reasonable number of Air Force, Navy, and Army who retrospectively wished they joined the Marines. I’ve never met a Marine who wished they joined another branch (with the exception of when other branches offered even more difficult opportunities Marines didn’t, like before MARSOC was established)

Re: How to overcome Phone Addiction

#188

Post by testfoobar »

NotPavlovsDog wrote: post #75

The paper they are basing the opening sentence "phone addiction is one of the biggest non-drug addiction(sic) in human history" on is written by a Doctor of Business Administration, a dean that has "particular industries of interest are banks and non-profit organizations" in his bio and a third researcher with 2 publications total, including the article in question (published 2011). This may in no way weaken the poin…

That is a fair criticism of this article.

Anecdotally, I recently discussed phone addiction with a youngish tenured professor friend in the psych department at a major university. Two things stood out for me:

1. My academic friend really had a limited understanding of the success of machine learning in driving engagement online. How algorithms can and will enhance whatever mechanism they discover to drive engagement numbers. And how our brains are not wired to compete against them.

2. He took exception to the word addiction in the context of phones. He felt a phone could not drive addiction in the same way as a substance.

My opinion is that our academic research is significantly behind due to the sheer speed and exponential growth of phone/app usage.

Re: How to overcome Phone Addiction

#189

Post by Talanes »

maqp wrote: post #146
Bakary wrote: post #112

Some ideas on this topic: 1. Inconvenience based solutions don't address the problem: using apps to restrict phone use, physically hiding the phone etc. Once you leave those carefully constrained conditions, you are more vulnerable than ever. Not to mention the contradiction with the core issue that it's a symptom rather than a cause. 2. Turning abstinence as an ongoing status condition (e.g. "X days since I did Y")…

Few more ideas: 1. When I quit Facebook, I first started disabling my account but that didn't work, at all. It just brought me back. Every time. I realized it wasn't a feature for deleting account, it was a pressure relieve valve for people who need a quick break because they felt the service had taken control of too large a portion of their lives. FB didn't want people to quit and they didn't offer such feature. I s…

>This also applies to games. Every "headshot +100 points" is such a tiny dopamine spike. Games didn't used to have those.

Meaningless points popping up on screen when you do a thing is at least as old as Pac-Man.

Re: How to overcome Phone Addiction

#190

Post by username90 »

Bakary wrote: post #141
dasudasu wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It could be argued that #5 is just another form of distraction. Any form of "rich life" is mostly keeping the death anxiety at bay.

By a rich life, I'm referring to something that needs no further justification. When you are in this state, the need to contextualize, criticize, or philosophize about your experiences almost disappears. Think of a young child in a state of playful flow. Even if you fully take on the anti-natalist conclusion, the experience still justifies itself on its own, as an end in itself.

Which is what you get from computers? The only bad thing about them is the low social status associated with it. There is some weird bias in society that you are a lesser human somehow if you spend a lot of time in front of computers instead of doing more "rich" things like reading books. At least for me all anxiety related to spending a lot of time with computers disappeared once I stopped caring about what others think, I don't think there is anything inherently bad with it other than that.
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