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Comment by acwan93 | Hacker News Reader

One way to combat this (if you’re physically capable): long distance running without headphones.

It forces you to focus on one thing alone: finish your route. I’ve found that my mind wanders, but the pain exerted by running for an hour or so inevitably brings you back.

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Bicycle and motorcycle travel works too. You can think about things, but you're mostly focused on staying in movement.

Came on here to say it's exactly what I use cycling for. 5 hours on the bike means 5 hours not looking at my phone or laptop. Just turn the legs over and let your mind wander or stare into the landscape (or deal with traffic, which sucks).

I spend a lot of every year bike touring, and on popular routes I have met other tourers and talked about this very issue, or observed their behavior. Apparently, a lot of cyclists still feel a compulsion to stop every X minutes so that they can take out their phones and look at their social media.

Everyone travels their own way

Hi Pascalo, I have exactly the same feeling when going on a bike tour. We just did a 5-day, 250km bike ride along the Danube river here in south-Germany and it was one of the most incredible experiences I've had. On the saddle I feel free and my mind is resting. High-five!!

I've done the same route, with the same results! When you get to your stop, you're usually too tired to check your social media.

Now how awesome is that, a fellow human riding the ”donauradweg” here on Hacker News. Love it.

isnt the pain of running long distance a distraction too though?

Man, I am reading this book Awakening Intelligence by Jiddu Krishnamurthy. It says same thing. Everything we do is trying to distract us from our true selves.

Sure, but on a scale from 0 to 10 - it’s a 2. You can also walk or hike and then the only distraction is the scenery.

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