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Ask HN: How do you fight YouTube addiction and procrastination? I'm struggling

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Re: Ask HN: How do you fight YouTube addiction and procrastination? I'm struggling

#131

Post by Anonyneko »

boppo1 wrote: post #109
dvh wrote: post #41

I'm a programmer, a creative person, working on my projects, and regularly I need a short break, so on every break I usually lay in bed and checked the news and I often ended on YouTube watching more videos, wasting hours every day. What eventually helped me was use css to replace entire YouTube (and other doom scrolling websites) with a motivational picture that says: "One day, you'll realize that your dream died be…

What, did you edit your hosts file or something?

I assume it's a userscript in the Tampermonkey extension or the likes.

Re: Ask HN: How do you fight YouTube addiction and procrastination? I'm struggling

#133

Post by Rendello »

rsynnott wrote: post #129

I find YouTube kinda baffling; I never really had any use for it (I will occasionally use it to watch an old music video, but that's about it), but some people do seem to get really properly addicted to it. Are you using it to watch people you subscribe to, or things it suggests to you, or something else? If you're primarily going on its suggestions, you might want to try using an extension to block that; social medi…

For the first time in months, I'm occupied enough to not even think of Youtube, and when I look at it in the evening nothing appeals to me (the opposite). When I scroll on shorts, I just feel dissatisfied and close them.

But generally, I'm on there hours a day, enjoying none of it. Shorts, long videos, etc. I do the same with the front page of Reddit, even though 99% of the posts there bother me. If I block those, it's Hacker News, Facebook, or even LinkedIn. Ultimately, I think a lot of compulsions and addictions, technology or otherwise, come from a lack of purpose or joy in life.

Re: Ask HN: How do you fight YouTube addiction and procrastination? I'm struggling

#134

Post by xtiansimon »

I feel you. Personally, I just have too much going on. It’s making me feel tired mentally, and I just want to tune in and drop out. Come Monday, I regret having not done this or that, more productive, thing. I say go with the flow. When I’m ready, I’ll just not want to doom scroll Reddit. Haha.

Re: Ask HN: How do you fight YouTube addiction and procrastination? I'm struggling

#135

Post by thiago_fm »

I've had the same... and been doing therapy for years and feel like I'm 80% recovered.

It's all dopamine, it's probably messed up in your brain. It made you do a lot of things and achieve where you are, but it has too many CPU cycles in your brain for you to lead a (mental) healthy life.

I know the feeling. It isn't about Youtube per-se, but the fact you do this and regret later, so yes, it is an addiction and bad for you.

You likely have a lot of entangled thoughts about yourself, some which are indeed, yours and more of your nature, and also others that are not your own desires.

If you didn't regret it and as you lead a normal life, it's alright.

Why do you regret, is it because you ultimately would like to achieve something big or certain goal, or is it because you envy others sending rockets to space?

Only a professional, a psychologist can help you to find this out.

They can also help you to find ways of breaking apart those habits that take you in front of Youtube, and find new ideas or things you'd really like to do instead, even if they don't lead to immediate dopamine shots.

Re: Ask HN: How do you fight YouTube addiction and procrastination? I'm struggling

#136

Post by carlosjobim »

card_zero wrote: post #58

I eschew social conventions, treat my goals with skepticism, and consider "learning" bogus if it's scholastic and isn't any fun. Thus I can do what I actually like, and the problem is solved. I am cautious if anybody uses the word "healthy" outside of the context of actual diseases like pleurisy and conjunctivitis. I am aware of a below-the-radar societal battle over way of life, and proper conduct, and the battlegro…

> I am cautious if anybody uses the word "healthy" outside of the context of actual diseases like pleurisy and conjunctivitis.

Just a digression: The word "healthy" comes from the root "hel", meaning "whole". So you can substitute it for "wholesome", and then we're not only dealing with bacteria and viruses, but the entire human experience.

Re: Ask HN: How do you fight YouTube addiction and procrastination? I'm struggling

#137

Post by datameta »

nunez wrote: post #115
quaintdev wrote: post #12

YouTube is easy to block. Just clear all your history and disable history. This stops home screen recommendations and also disables YouTube shorts

It's also easy to stop smoking. Just avoid anything that looks or feels like smoking. Problem solved! /s Addiction is like a weed in the ground. Cutting off its head just makes it regrow faster and angrier, with deeper roots to boot. Addictions love nothing more than superficial attempts to stop them! The only way to _manage_ addictions is to get them at their roots.

And even if you pull out the issue with the whole root, you have to fill it with something worthwhile, nurturing, and sustainable to you. Otherwise the hole will get filled by the next best time-wasting activity.

Re: Ask HN: How do you fight YouTube addiction and procrastination? I'm struggling

#138

Post by softwaredoug »

I find when I'm doing this the work feels overwhelming. So I'm doing it to alternate between stressful / overwhelming task, and some relief. I do this because of an inner critic that's being too harsh about my work. I need a break from that critic, so I go do something meaningless / and easier.

I wouldn't shame yourself for doing this. Contrary to popular belief, I think a lot of people alternate between non-work and work for similar reasons.

In fact this kind of going back and forth is one of the only ways I've gotten anything done

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