YouTube addiction, one month sober
sophiajt.com
YouTube addiction, one month sober
1–10 of 234 posts
Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober
#2yea, this is pretty extreme, but 8-10 hours a day is a lot. I did a version of this with facebook and reddit for a while, I noticed I was wasting a lot of time on them so I uninstalled the apps off my phone and blocked the websites with the 1blocker, for facebook it was easy bec they made the desktop site so unusable I tried to use a few times and now basically never go there. reddit was harder but once the api thing happened, that gave me the motivation to just stop scrolling endlessly, I still have it accessible on my pc bec it'll sometimes pop up in search results, but I no longer spend hours scrolling, reading comments and getting in stupid slap fights with strangers.
Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober
#3Not to downplay the levels of addiction and how challenging it can really be for many. But one thing I've done recently is use `AdGuard` on my iPhone to begin blocking specific domains that distract me too much, and it was amazing how in a few of those cases, the problem just went away immediately.
I was expecting it to be a fools' errand to be my own gatekeeper. But just getting a "page won't load" error a few times, and suddenly I'm not scrolling Reddit etc. for an hour at bedtime. I also find myself gravitating towards more productive things to do. I'm equally as bored, but the quick jolt of brain drugs I get from Reddit now has to come from working on my purely-in-software microwave or whatnot.
Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober
#4YouTube, like the entire Internet, is such a mixed bag. There is some really first rate content but most of it is total junk. Like Little Richard says "It ain't what you do, it's the way how you do it."
Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober
#5I used to watch between 45 minutes and two hours a day of YouTube when bored at work. At my last place of employment, this skyrocketed though; I was very bored that that job.
In January of 2022 I decided to take a YouTube "fast", kicking YouTube for a while. I couldn't bring myself to commit to more.
It was waaaaaay hard to stop. I got on Nebula as a sort of Nicorette for a while, a month or two. I can recommend Nebula as a sort of sieve for really high quality content btw. I stopped my subscription, but it was great to only be able to watch videos that didn't feel like they were trying to hook me, all while getting some really good stuff out of it. I particularly liked Half as Interesting, RealLifeLore, and Johnny Harris, all of which were on Nebula. These videos didn't contribute to the "hooked" feeling, giving me something to use to wean myself off YouTube.
After my fast was over, it was so hard to stop that I didn't start again.
I will still watch the occasional YouTube, but it's usually either shared by friends or specifically searched for by me.
I have gotten looser in the last few days, but I have regretted it. I started swearing in my head less when I stopped watching YouTube. I had fewer intrusive thoughts. I had a clearer head, and I want to keep that.
My Psychiatrist has told me no screens two hours before bed. I started living by that too, and have found much more rest when I do. I discovered by doing this that I have a screen "budget", that I can't go over that without restless leg, twitching, and pain at the end of the day. Now that I know this, I am less inclined to use that budget on YouTube.
I miss a lot of creators on there, but I went back to watch some of them recently and was disappointed. Other mediums simply provide better content. Blog posts seem to be the best for this.
There are still some creators that are amazing, and I am truly missing out! I miss watching Primitive Technology videos for example. I still allow myself to specifically search for these, by I try to limit myself to one or two videos a day or less. I find that to be the sweet spot for keeping off of being hooked.
Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober
#6Not to downplay the levels of addiction and how challenging it can really be for many. But one thing I've done recently is use `AdGuard` on my iPhone to begin blocking specific domains that distract me too much, and it was amazing how in a few of those cases, the problem just went away immediately. I was expecting it to be a fools' errand to be my own gatekeeper. But just getting a "page won't load" error a few times…
I made the habitbreaker chrome extension on this principle. It just blocks user selected websites for 30 seconds before loading. https://chromewebstore.google.com/detail/habitbreaker/kgioba...
The idea is just to defuse instant gratification. Works pretty well for me.
Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober
#7Not to downplay the levels of addiction and how challenging it can really be for many. But one thing I've done recently is use `AdGuard` on my iPhone to begin blocking specific domains that distract me too much, and it was amazing how in a few of those cases, the problem just went away immediately. I was expecting it to be a fools' errand to be my own gatekeeper. But just getting a "page won't load" error a few times…
I did this my first year of college, blocked all distracting websites with an extension on Chrome. I still had it so I could watch on phone or if I Incognito windowed but putting that extra amount of effort kept me from mindlessly browsing the moment I got bored with homework. I finished all my homework in record time and was well prepared for my classes, I think I stopped doing this because I ended up becoming very bored.
Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober
#8I haven't needed to be so drastic, but removed the YT app from my phone. There is a fair amount of good content that I find very worth consuming from YT (mainly educational videos) and would not like to miss. But, the mobile app makes a very strong effort to push you to shorts, which is the real danger. Shorts are proficiently engineered to just suck my brain into a doom scrolling comma. I tried removing shorts from the app, but it keeps pushing them in your face, so I ended up deleting it and watching via browser, logged out. I've heard several acquaintances having the same experience / solution.
It's a pity the YT PMs insist on designing the app like a Vegas casino, I'd really like to use the YT app for healthy usage, but well.
Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober
#9I guess this is an adhd "superpower" of mine. I leave youtube on 24/7 and pay almost no attention to it.
A big reason why I can ignore it though, when it's on 24/7.. mine plays the exact same documentaries, almost always WW2 or US Revolutionary War stuff over and over and over again. I watch a LOT of history documentaries but I have absolutely no interest in either of these time periods and have probably never searched for or liked any American history video. I'm a swords and shields guy.
The last month straight it's been on a revolutionary war kick with some 3-5 hour long George Washington documentary in between another one about how Goebbels ran off to argentina and his wife wouldn't join him so he married his dead brothers widow. I know everything about the guys now.
My theory is it plays the same stuff over again because it's already cached and saves them bw, them assuming you're not actually watching anyway but they can still pump viewership numbers for advertising.
RE: Thread.. I'm awful at getting off the computer after work. I'll move on to personal projects and everything else and just sit here for the whole day. My adhd + being able to instantaneously get dopamine has me chained, I like to go camping to detox.
Been forcing myself to go for a walk at 5pm now that it's not pitch black out then anymore.
Re: YouTube addiction, one month sober
#10Not to downplay the levels of addiction and how challenging it can really be for many. But one thing I've done recently is use `AdGuard` on my iPhone to begin blocking specific domains that distract me too much, and it was amazing how in a few of those cases, the problem just went away immediately. I was expecting it to be a fools' errand to be my own gatekeeper. But just getting a "page won't load" error a few times…
[deleted]