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My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

allthatjazz.me

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Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#121

Post by exitb »

DanielleMolloy wrote: post #58

Deleting apps doesn't work for me because there are topics I actually want to follow on places like X (e.g. ML / AI news). As soon as I reinstall, it will easily suck you in again with some distracting emotionalised / partisan current event. There is an app called ScreenZen that was immediately effective in breaking my habit. It made me use social media much more consciously. My go-to "social media" page has been Goo…

Try to find the news for things you’re interested in on other platforms. A good subreddit will usually have all you need, but it’s not endless and it’s not actively trying to „upsell your visit” feeding you other topics (at least in the old interface).

It’s reasonable to want to keep up to date with some things. X is just not the best platform for that.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#122

Post by ndileas »

nthingtohide wrote: post #102
iNic wrote: post #4

I wonder if there's a "minimum viable connectivity threshold" in modern life - you literally cannot function below a certain baseline of digital access. You could model the failure of "delete everything" strategies as hitting against this hard constraint: banking, authentication, and basic services simply assume browser availability. Maybe the key insight here is the pivot from prohibition to differential friction. B…

> I wonder if there's a "minimum viable connectivity threshold" in modern life - you literally cannot function below a certain baseline of digital access. Homeless people can't get access to govt. services if they don't have phone or callbacks in case they next in line to receive benefits. The following guy documents such problems that seem so obvious in retrospect. https://www.youtube.com/@InvisiblePeople/videos

Thankfully there are already gap fillers here, like (US) govt programs and private charities that give out cell phones with prepaid plans. They're not perfect by any means, but there are people and programs trying to solve these problems.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#123

Post by brushfoot »

Apps to fight apps has never worked for me. When I'm bored/tired enough, it becomes a game to disable my own restrictions.

What works for me is removing the antecedent completely by charging my phone in another room at night.

Now the battle is easier: Decide once a day to put it there, and track how many days you succeed.

For me that's a lot easier than having it in my pocket, where the Internet is always a couple lazy taps away. Now I at least have to walk to it if I want it, and that often "breaks the spell."

I finish work and chores hours earlier when my phone is charging in another room, without consciously doing anything else differently.

It really makes me want a 1980s-style cellphone with no screen and big physical buttons.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#124

Post by meiraleal »

james-bcn wrote: post #114
renegade-otter wrote: post #11

The struggle is real. I wrote about this a while back: https://renegadeotter.com/2023/08/24/getting-your-focus-back... What you are doing is "self-limiting" which is not very effective. The devil on your shoulder will always fight this - "don't tell me what to do!" The wanting to not doom-scroll should be intrinsic. I know that right now, for obvious reasons, it's easier said than done.

I think the secret is: a) Make your feeds more worthy and less attention grabbing by blocking anything that isn't one of your specific interests. b) If you make good use of your time, you'll find doing stuff more interesting than scrolling. I've written about this too: https://thisisjam.es/reflecting/on-information-diets/

This obviously doesn't work long-term because when it works, they change the algorithms, the UX, everything to hook you again.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#125

Post by vitaflo »

cubefox wrote: post #110

Under "later modifications" he mentions an app for web site access limits and a "new browser", but doesn't say which. I guess this is not meant to help others?

You don't need to do all of this, just install a pihole on your network and block all social media sites. Then literally every device on your network will block them all. No need to faff around with other apps, etc.

If you want go to even further, use a hosts file to send all these sites to localhost and set up an ad blocker to block the html tag on all these sites as well. Now you've blocked the sites 3 different ways.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#126

Post by dspillett »

chikenf00t wrote: post #115
dspillett wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I use a Garmin watch for alarms. I've tried that, but found them to be too easy to sleep through unless my watch wrist is very close to my head (without a pillow between it and my ear). The sound isn't particularly loud and the vibration is similarly shallow. Useful for reminder alarms when I'm awake though. My current success is using the Amazon branded wiretap for alarms. Interacting with the dumb cloth-eared irr…

Can you explain what the "Amazon branded wiretap for alarms" is? I did some searches with those terms but can't really understand what you're referring to.

I refer to the Echo Dots that can control my lights and a few other things (so I don't have to move the cats when I need to switch something, but have left the phone that otherwise has control out of reach), and occasionally read audiobooks, as my “Amazon branded wiretaps”.

To use them for alarms I just have to say “Computer, set an alarm for 8 in the morning” repeatedly until the damned things understand (I swear they understand a snarky tone far better than when I speak more neutrally (except when Lt Cmdr Data is on TV, they listen to him first time every time!)).

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#127

Post by vitaflo »

Pihole is a simple effective solution for blocking right at the source, your incoming network connection. No need to faff around with different apps on different computers, etc. It will block on your entire network.

If you want to double (or triple) up on it, add the sites to your hosts file and send them to localhost and add them to your ad blocker and block the html tag. Now you've blocked all the sites in question 3 different ways.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#129

Post by fbfactchecker »

dailykoder wrote: post #38

I am so f-in glad I deleted facebook like 10 years ago and never hoped onto anything else. I only hate that I visit HN every few minutes, when I get bored at cagie. But apart from that, just don't use social media. It's really as simple as it sounds. The only hard thing is to find something to fill the free'd up time with.

> The only hard thing is to find something to fill the free'd up time with.

Like going outside, doing trips, enjoying nature? Oh boy...

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#130

Post by Dilettante_ »

koliber wrote: post #71
jy14898 wrote: post #30

Does everyone really mean doom scrolling when they talk about these issues? For me personally, it's definitely about dopamine and not about negative emotions, yet everyone uses the phrase doom scrolling - am I the odd one out? For example, if I'm feeling stressed/anxious, I'll scroll/browse/distract myself to avoid the negative feelings. I'm not seeking them like doom scrolling says.

I understand the "doom" in doom scrolling differently. You're right that in general it's about getting those random dopamine hits when something nice appears in the news feed. However, after some time, you got a lot of the nice stuff and no exciting stuff appears anymore. At that point, you're still scrolling, hoping for a dopamine hit. It does not come because you are satiated, desensitized and the algorithm no long…

"I have no content and I must scroll"
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