If you've got an iPhone/Mac I recommend Apple's free Apple Configurator tool to lock down your phone to only the set of apps you whitelist and/or route all traffic through a VPN/Proxy that whitelists only certain IPs. You can only change the whitelist when you're physically back at your Mac so prevents me impulsively relaxing the restrictions in any moments of boredom.
Making the Internet Boring
11–20 of 78 posts
Re: Making the Internet Boring
#12I uninstalled some of my additive apps and enabled gray scale after reading this... Hope it helps
- from a phone addict
Re: Making the Internet Boring
#13Blocking recommendations is the one thing I'd add to this list. You can easily do so with uBlock Origin, and it's made the biggest difference for me.
Water still finds cracks, but it's about reducing the likelihood and increasing the time between binges (so that they mentally register as necessarily intentional and abnormal)
Re: Making the Internet Boring
#14Putting in blockers and the like helps, but what I've found worked best was to consider this quote by Anthony DeMello: "When you fight something, you're tied to it forever. As long as you're fighting it, you’re giving it power." When I learned to stop feeling bad/guilty/thinking this was a problem to solve and just let my mind drift, I found that my mind naturally learned when it was disciplined work time vs. browse…
It’s like those diet commercials from the 90s:
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You’re gonna eat more: Milkshakes, pasta, French fries!
You’re gonna lose more weight.
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Re: Making the Internet Boring
#15If you've got an iPhone/Mac I recommend Apple's free Apple Configurator tool to lock down your phone to only the set of apps you whitelist and/or route all traffic through a VPN/Proxy that whitelists only certain IPs. You can only change the whitelist when you're physically back at your Mac so prevents me impulsively relaxing the restrictions in any moments of boredom.
[deleted]
Re: Making the Internet Boring
#16YouTube's only goal is to make more money. Most YouTubers' only goal is to get more views. Sure it can be useful but that's a perfect excuse to live on forever. People were fine before YouTube, and you can learn anything from words an images.
I recommend taking a page out of the FSF's book and just straight up not using it, because it doesn't respect its users.
Re: Making the Internet Boring
#17You might want to try coding in monochrome as well occasionally. Syntax highlighting can be useful, but it has hidden mental costs.
Re: Making the Internet Boring
#18I also need a solution for my addiction. I was thinking of blocking all addictive apps in my main (phone) account and set up a kids account for myself where all the drugs are installed. Then I need to ask myself for screen time. I hope this is annoying enough to not switch accounts constantly. If that doesn't work, I need to give another person the control over the screen time.
Re: Making the Internet Boring
#19I also need a solution for my addiction. I was thinking of blocking all addictive apps in my main (phone) account and set up a kids account for myself where all the drugs are installed. Then I need to ask myself for screen time. I hope this is annoying enough to not switch accounts constantly. If that doesn't work, I need to give another person the control over the screen time.
ask a relative that you visit from time to time what's their favourite book on their shelf and why. This way, you at least make sure that they would not toss the book in a whim.
ask them to write the parental control PIN on one or two pieces of paper and then type it on the phone screen to lock it.
ask them to store the piece/s of paper in their favourite book/s.
bow to never bother them about the piece/s of paper unlesls you are stranded in the middle of the ocean and need to use the phone. When you visit them, you might unlock the phone and repeat the process
Re: Making the Internet Boring
#20Some more good advice: Turn off your YouTube watch history. This disables video suggestions when you open the website or the app.
Or only use the subscriptions page, and never visit the home page. Getting only the stuff you've curated is way better than the algorithm.
I'm one of those that instinctively types the letter "y", presses the down arrow, then enter, and goes straight to the subscriptions page.
Unfortunately, I now have to scroll through the "most relevant" section, then through shorts, and only then do I reach the videos in the chronological order. What I also hate is how when a channel I usually engage with uploads a video I have no interest in, then it's stuck on top of my subscription page in that "most relevant" section for like a week.