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My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

allthatjazz.me

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Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#281

Post by dutchbookmaker »

darkhorse222 wrote: post #188
shubhamjain wrote: post #43

None of those ways are sustainable. Not only because there are good reasons to use those apps, but also because there are times when forcing yourself to work isn't going to work. I mean, if I am sick, tired, and just not feeling like working, I would go out of my way to beat the system I installed. What has worked for me is: one-sec extension [1]. The extension asks you take a deep breath and confirms if I still want…

I think any app that tries to minimize your usage needs to have mays to moderately allow that usage. Black and white thinking, particularly at the beginning, seems likely to fail.

I think you have to just treat this like any other addiction.

I feel like I compulsively play chess online. I had not slipped up from 1/1 until last night. Then I really fell off the wagon tonight and played about 10 games.

It sounds ridiculous but I just have to put that behind me and get back to not playing online chess. I can play in person for fun but not the mindless waste of time chess has become for me online.

For me at least, it is always much harder to moderate than to go cold turkey with basically anything.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#282

Post by forgotmypw17 »

fleekonpoint wrote: post #172
forgotmypw17 wrote: post #155

My strategy is to do a lot of "Not interested" curation about any negative content, like ragebait, thirstbait, politics, etc. This leaves mostly meditation and health advice, spiritual and religious uplifting content, cute animals videos, sweet things to share with friends, etc.

I used to do this with Reddit but lately more than half of my feed is their recommended posts which include a lot of negative or ragebait content. Maybe a plugin can help with this

With Reddit, I unsubscribed from all the defaults and only subscribe to small, specific subs, which I browse via the Home page and via /new. If I see anything undesirable, I unsubscribe right away. It is a pretty good experience as of today.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#283

Post by SamuelAdams »

YinglingHeavy wrote: post #278
guiambros wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Apps to fight apps has never worked for me. When I'm bored/tired enough, it becomes a game to disable my own restrictions. OneSec [1] is the only one that worked for me. It's quick enough that I'm not tempted to disable it, yet annoying enough that makes me think twice if I really want to open app X for the third time today. Also it's just a polite nudge, rather than a full block, or condescending messages saying "…

It's as if no one realizes their phone as a monochrome mode, which can be set as an 'accessibility' shortcut via simple button press. Black and white kills the dopamine cycle and brings color back to your real life.

I do this a lot when I am around my 6 month old daughter. We can already see a very clear difference in her engagement and curiosity when she sees a colored phone versus a monochrome phone. She grabs for the phone less and quickly returns to previous activity if she notices a monochrome phone.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#284

Post by Sander3Utile »

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 op but I just got a home-pod mini and just ask Siri “Hey Siri - set an alarm for …” or “Hey Siri - what time is it”. Added benefit of not having a glowing LED light in my room at night

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#285

Post by coffeecantcode »

yuppiepuppie wrote: post #271
coffeecantcode wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 ultim…

Out of touch? How so? And according to you what would be a more proper definition? The difference I see with the example you give is that “Dirty laundry” is a metaphor, not a definition of a phenomenon.

The definition listed online in dictionaries reads as though it was defined by someone who did not really know what “doom scrolling” was - they understood what “doom” and “scrolling” were independently, so they made the claim that the “doom” in doom scrolling had to do with the themes and tone of the content, where in my experience online the “doom” in doom scrolling actually represents then endless and mindless consumption of vapid content. Existing in a state of mindless repetitive dopamine scrolls equivalent with being “doomed”, the stagnation of other pursuits for the nothingness of scrolling, I could go on. This is all my opinion of course.

I think the proper definition for doom scrolling has been mentioned multiple times by others in this thread and it would be something like:

Rapid consumption of mobile short form content for extended periods of time, often with no end goal in mind.

Others have done better than me, but that’s my two cents.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#286

Post by Sander3Utile »

grumblingdev wrote: post #255

There is a big opportunity for someone to make a all encompassing blocker. I am yet to find one. I think everyone is struggling with this in some way. Anytime I get setup with a blocker it helps heaps. But I always slip back in. Every source of useful information (Reddit, YouTube) comes with toxic clickbait that you cannot disable. I realized that my addiction is to the point that I cannot reason my way out of it. Th…

Physical barrier could simply be getting a timed K-safe lock box an sticking your smartphone inside it for a configured amount of time

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#287

Post by Sander3Utile »

benterix wrote: post #2

Recently my coworker asked me if I could recommend any physical alarm clocks. He said that phone alarm causes him to pick up the phone the first thing in the morning and he wants to break away from this habit. I guess at some point the society as a whole will start fighting back.

Siri home-pod mini “Hey Siri- set alarm for…” or “Hey Siri- what is the time”. Added benefit of now glowing LED in your bedroom and you can play relaxing sleep sounds if needed.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#288

Post by gkrimer »

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.

Damn that's spot on. Thank you for sharing! Glad to know I'm not the only one struggling with this at a mature age.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#289

Post by samatman »

exitb wrote: post #121
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.

It's great actually. Nothing else like it.

Re: My Struggle with Doom Scrolling

#290

Post by j_bum »

phatfish wrote: post #270
malfist wrote: post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hear you about amygdala-bait. Back when reddit had third party clients, I used RIF and it let you block subreddits from showing up in /r/all, and so I blocked hundreds of subreddits. Anything that seemed focused on ragebait got blocked. Made reddit's /r/all mostly about interesting new things or funny memes. When reddit banned third party clients, I logged out and have never logged back in. I don't really miss it,…

I also unhooked from Reddit when the API changes killed the 3rd party apps. Was a helpful motivator. Only use it now when it comes up while searching.

Agreed. RIP Apollo. But I’m the better for it. HN is my only active social media account.
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