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My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

allthatjazz.me

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Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#231

Post by dailykoder »

fbfactchecker wrote: post #129
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...

Yes, that's kinda obvious, but actually doing that and not go back to your old habits is hard. For some more, for some less

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#232

Post by skeeter2020 »

brushfoot wrote: post #123

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 la…

I agree with this. No computer or screens in the bedroom, read a paper book; no phone - "but my alarm!" you cry - buy a sony dream machine at the goodwill for < $10. Go for a short trip outside the house without your phone, walk a few blocks, drive somewhere without your phone or GPS, buy a paper map - whatever; it's scary and so liberating! You will feel amazing self-sufficiency.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#233

Post by coffeecantcode »

yuppiepuppie wrote: post #44
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.

Yeah, unless not stated in this article, this is not doom scrolling. This seems more like an addiction issue, which is great that it’s being addressed. But it wouldn’t fit the definition of doom scrolling, which is an obsessive compulsion for searching of negative news.

Personally, this seems like an out of touch definition akin to Gen Z’s version of “dirty laundry”. When I first began to see doomscrolling appear in the digital vernacular it was almost exclusively in reference to scrolling with no end in sight, mindless scrolling, wasting inordinate amounts of time scrolling, etc. with no reference to the tone or themes of content consumed other than that it was short-form and ultimately unfulfilling.

But that is exactly how I expect a dictionary definition of a relatively new and tonally ambiguous term to present itself.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#234

Post by skeeter2020 »

yapyap wrote: post #201
yagyu wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Second this. I ended up building a nice charging station right near the entrance. It has storage for keys, wallet, and other things to grab when heading out. It has an abundance of wired and wireless chargers for all devices. Then I got a dumb (but nice) alarm clock for the bedroom. Then I noticed that a common reason to pick up the phone is to check the calendar. I ended up hanging a monitor on the wall, displaying…

Replacing that monitor with an e-ink device could be interesting

or buy a day planner for $3. or print a weekly TODO list and mark it up with pen/pencil

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#235

Post by cubefox »

Lutzb wrote: post #59

We need an app that starts a user defined timer when I open a doom scrolling app. Unless the timer reaches 0, I cannot use the app. So for example, in order to browse reddit, I need to wait a minute. Delayed gratification.

Other people here have recommended such browser extensions. E.g. "one sec" and LeechBlock.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#236

Post by juggernaut420 »

Here's my current status:

* Facebook

  1. Step one was to delete the app, though there was a bit more friction, I still found myself opening Facebook in (ios) Safari
  2. Announce to friends and family I was deleting my account (yup I'm that person).
  3. Delete account
  4. Success!
* Twitter

  1. Delete account, Elon did me a favor here by blocking access without an account.
  2. Delete second account,
  3. Links into twitter are still a problem, but I spend possible 2 minutes on the site per week tops.
  4. NEXT STEP: Block www.twitter.com, www.x.com, etc. from all devices personal and work via /etc/hosts, pihole, custom dns, etc.
* Reddit

  1. FAILURE
* Instagram

  1. Delete app,
  2. NEXT STEP: block instagram.com from all devices
News

  1. Block news.google.com from all devices,
  2. NEXT STEP (WIP): Block all news sites from all devices
Hacker News:

  1. UGH

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#237

Post by rthrfrd »

yurimo wrote: post #200

iPhone has this nice accessibility feature where you can greyscale the screen, this along with putting the phone away in a distance that I would have to get up and walk to it made a huge difference in frequency of usage.

Yes I found the grayscale surprisingly effective. An additional tip is to bind it to the triple-click side button accessibility shortcut, so you can quickly enable/disable it if you need colour for something momentarily.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#238

Post by hbn »

hammock wrote: post #204
yagyu wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Second this. I ended up building a nice charging station right near the entrance. It has storage for keys, wallet, and other things to grab when heading out. It has an abundance of wired and wireless chargers for all devices. Then I got a dumb (but nice) alarm clock for the bedroom. Then I noticed that a common reason to pick up the phone is to check the calendar. I ended up hanging a monitor on the wall, displaying…

What alarm clock did you get? Curious And great insight about the calendar. That's the #1 reason why I keep my phone near me (thereby facilitating all the unwanted behaviors)

Not the GP but I use a simple wake up light alarm that was a game-changer for me in winters when a blaring alarm yanking me awake to a pitch-black room was not a great way to start the day, especially before going out into the -40° cold to scrape my car off.

A half hour before the alarm goes off, it slowly gets brighter which I find simulates the sun rising enough to be a more pleasant waking experience. Plus I set the alarm sound itself to bird chirps, starting with 1 or 2 birds and growing into a whole chorus (I'm usually up before then)

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#239

Post by cleandreams »

My current solution is the freedom app. I have all social media blocked during work hours and after 10:30 at night. I am mostly susceptible to reddit, twitter, instagram reels. I track some issues on reddit & twitter that I am genuinely interested in and impacted by. Freedom will block on the phone and laptop.

Last time this didn't work because I kept turning off the freedom app. (Sigh.) This time I seem to be holding the line though. I'm getting more done and feel better.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#240

Post by [deleted] »

brushfoot wrote: post #123

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 la…

[deleted]
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