Do you not use iMessage? How do you access that when you're using the flip phone?
Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?
131–140 of 266 posts
Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?
#132Look into setting up your phone in supervised mode. I think you can do it using any Mac. Essentially you can make yourself an 'admin' of your phone that can strip away a lot of functionality. Like you can dictate what apps are installed and other neat things. It will require some digging into Xcode or the iPhone Configurator. I haven't done it myself, but it's an option!
Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?
#133~The Triple Ziploc Bag method.~ I dedicate a few days a month to being absolutely phone-free. The key point is I'm allowed to use Reddit/IG but I have to use a laptop/desktop to access them. This method requires a key ingredient: three ziploc bags. I wrap both my work phone (when not oncall) and my personal phone in three nested ziploc bags and put them in a drawer. This acts as a great deterrent most of the time. I'…
Can recommend something like this. You can even buy something with a timerlock. Atomic habits (book) gives this advice. The idea is that “bad” behavior shouldn’t be super easy.
I have a small cupboard with a key lock where I put some of the chocolates. Not saying I can’t have any, but walk around the house to get the key gives me enough time for meditation to ask myself Am I hungry, or do I really want some chocolate.
Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?
#134Is there someone out there that you trust?
If so, I would consider setting yourself up a Family account and having them set limits for you using Apple's Screen Time.
You can setup hours that you can't use any apps except for emergency and pre-approved apps, you can also set time limits on applications or categories.
Have an agreement in place that you can request changes to the rules, but will always give 3-7 days notice.
As someone who would usually circumvent my own restrictions, I think thats the easiest option available to you today.
Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?
#135Any technical advice about how to block yourself is beating around the bush IMO. Not only is it easy to bypass most of that stuff, but you'll be way better off learning how to deal with this psychological issue directly instead of trying to avoid triggering it. Edit: They are not mutually exclusive by any means, I just mean that you will benefit in the long-run by addressing the psychological problem that leads to th…
I managed to get rid of multiple unhealthy online habits like excessive reddit browsing using very simple network blocks. They help a lot even though I am able to trivially circumvent them.
Is it possible to edit hosts file on iPhone?
Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?
#136This is what works for me to cut down on phone time when I get tired of it: turn off/mute ALL notifications that aren't absolutely critical, crank up your notification/ringtone volume, keep your phone somewhere out of the way but within earshot like next to your front door or in the bathroom, and find other things to play with. Buy an instrument, video games, books, movies, whatever. When you get bored, you need some…
> video games I'm curious why switching from scrolling Instagram/communicating with friends on WhatsApp should be "frowned upon" (this is what comes to my mind personally when I hear the words "phone addiction) if the alternative is to trade it with something even more hyper-stimulating, like a video game. If the post this week is "how can I be less addicted to my phone", and you replace your phone with video games,…
If one addiction is bad enough, using something less addicting to break the cycle can be effective. If, for example, an hour of video games a day breaks a dopamine chain that keeps an hour a day of phone time from turning into four hours a day, it's still a net positive.
That's assuming they find games hyper-stimulating. Personally I can count the number of hours I spent last month playing video games on one finger - even though I used to play 30+ hours of video games a week in school - because it doesn't reward the long term investment circuit anymore. HN on the other hand? That's "career development."
Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?
#137Quit some TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and fb for starters. They make are the “easy” drug dealers of the internet
Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?
#138Three hard steps:
1) Remove your twitter, facebook, etc. accounts.
2) Throw the iphone through the window and buy a bad phone that works with your bank (or better, change bank). Silence all alerts except the critical (persons that may need your help urgently and you care, and stuff like that).
With those two you'll end up scrolling through whatsapp profile pictures and stuff like that but that's not going to hook you for more than few minutes, believe me.
3) Find something appealing on the physical world. Something that does not need a mobile phone. It will be hard because, for example playing guitar doesn't have a team of engineers thinking how to make you practice forever, but at some point you'll start getting interested by life again. Program raspberries to turn lights on, or similar, if you definitely need some device.
Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?
#139I don't have problems with phones but I have problems with computers - I was usually ended up with HN and YouTube when I tried to learning/writing/programming for side projects. Then I recall I read from somewhere that Donald Knuth prefers pen and paper to computer. I tried it and it did work for me. I just turn off the computer and use pen and paper/book/printed stuff most of the time. When I have to use the compute…
I like your idea of offline paper-based programming for side projects and one-man-projects. However it becomes very difficult to do any of that in a group of people in the middle of a pendamic. But will give it a try. Thanks!
Re: Ask HN: Mobile phone addiction help?
#140My time to shine! I spent 2 - 3 years going back and forth between dumb phones and smartphones with various different measures for the same reasons. Here is my video with my final summations on the topic and how some techniques I’ve found may help you (iOS specific): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-TKgRxdA5o Feel free to follow me on Twitter too and chat about any questions you have. I’ve been playing around with t…
I feel like telling a phone addict to meet you on YouTube and Twitter to chat is like inviting an alcoholic to a bar to discuss their drinking problem.
I know, the irony is what makes it so naughty and exciting !