Ask HN: How to avoid excessive use of laptop/mobile/PC/Internet/Social Media? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How to avoid excessive use of laptop/mobile/PC/Internet/Social Media?

4 pointsbuzzwr6 comments

Hello Guys,

From the past few weeks, I am feeling slightly headache after work because of the excessive use of all smart devices. I usually spend my 11-13 hours per day either on laptop or mobile. I am using so much internet and Social Media Sites. I am a software engineer by profession so I need to work at least 7 hours on a laptop. I want to change my habit and don't want to use any smart devices, internet, Social Media Sites more than 8 hours per day. Sometimes I get a headache because of all these.

Do you guys feel the same pain? How do you guys manage? How to slightly detach my self from all the Social Media Sites?

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Digital detox - just quitting tech - comes from good intentions, but is misguided. Don't cut out sites and devices entirely - that honestly makes life more painful than it needs to be, and plays right into the hands of platforms competing for your attention, as it makes it seem like the only two options are the extremes of "24/7 FOMO avoidance" and "basically Amish."

Rather than falling into those extremes, try to cut out the bad parts of your tech experience.

Don't nuke your phone, instead remove the apps you waste time on - so you can still see a map or make an important cal when you need to.

Don't nuke all social media, instead, nuke the addictive timelines - so you can still check in with a friend when you want to.

Set timers before you open a specific site that you know to be a time sink - so that you don't get sucked in opening more and more tabs.

Finally, come up with a hobby you can take part in without a computer, and one you do purely for personal enjoyment. It's a lot harder to stop wasting time on a device if your alternative is to stare at a blank wall.

How about getting some non computer based hobbies to throw yourself into??

Take up sailing, flying, hiking, tennis, golf, fishing, painting, poetry, archery...I mean seriously there is SOOO much more to do in the world than there is to do on Social Media! My motto is to “be a doer not a voyeur”.

I think this has become a herd problem. You have to replace your phone time with doing something else, preferably with other people. But if they are also occasionally on their phones then that opportunity is lost. It s kind of a vortex

Find a good book. There is something very satisfying to me about reading a very interesting book.

Look at a program called Cold Turkey or something similar to block sites between certain times

Start to think about what matters to you and what deeply interests you.

Maybe the answer is something offline.

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