Ask HN: How do you use internet to enrich your life while avoiding the pitfalls?

The key question to me is can you take a step back and reorient to your priorities and values? Or are you doing something out of a compulsion?

I like the 10-10-10 rule "How will I feel about this decision (use of time) 10 hrs from now, 10 months, 10 years."[1] I like to add "10 seconds" because something might feel good in 10 seconds, but screw my sleep or work up tomorrow.

I'm not sure this is really about "The Internet" FWIW. The "Internet" is so broad, it now encompasses almost every life activity. Video call with long lost friend isn't the same as frittering away hours on dumb Youtube videos. Also learning a new hobby on Youtube isn't the same as frittering away hours on social media. Or doing too much work online might be "productive" but toxic to your mental health.

1 - https://medium.com/the-authentic-man/how-to-make-better-deci...

This has worked quite well for me:

I stopped using Twitter. I have uninstalled Facebook/Messenger/Instagram from my phone. I don’t use Snapchat/Tiktok.

I subscribe to two newspapers (online), and try to read articles in full instead of just skimming.

I use Facebooks mainly for interest groups. E.g. network stuff, local history groups, train stuff, food/recipes etc. I try to avoid becoming upset in discussions, even when I vehemently disagree with people.

I never scroll around aimlessly on Reddit, I use it only for searching for specific info and asking questions.

I also read magazines (The Economist) and books, so that not all my reading is in front of a screen.

Lately I've come to the realization that I browse certain sites (hn, reddit, yt, etc.) when I'm bored. There is this fascination of finding something cool, educational or entertaining where part of my brain thinks 'just one more click' will satisfy and somehow I've tricked myself into thinking I'm learning or bettering myself when I'm not in any way. When not much is going on and I scan sites in the evening it is sad how many articles/posts/whatever I've already looked at during the day.

I don't have a magical answer to your question but one thing I started doing when focusing on programming is a music playlist for programming - chill, electronic, music. I lose track of time.

I think the other thing I need to do with hobbies is actually do the hobby instead of reading/watching videos about the hobby. Need to let my activity dictate what I want to enrich that hobby with later. My example is woodworking - I sub to quite a few channels and there is always something new posted. The ones that walk thru a project are neat but if I'm not doing the project then its the same as watching any random TV show at that point.

I find for myself that internet addiction, in all its many forms, is more of a symptom than a cause in itself. When my life gets busy or when I make an effort to be busy with stuff irl, I don't even remember to do my usual round of internet time wasting.

I try to remember to use it as a tool. If I am browsing the internet outside of work, I try to make sure I am researching something that will drive an action in real life - somewhere to go, something to build, what to buy, learning something new, etc.

I also will stream videos for entertainment, but I try to make that a deliberate choice, not just a habit to do whenever nothing is going on in the evenings.

My biggest pitfalls were reddit and yt. I couldn’t outright ban them since they’re also a source of enrichment. The simple solution that finally worked for me was using extensions to hide everything I didn’t go there for. By that I mean, all yt recommendations and the reddit main page.

Limit your use of it. Using it aimlessly or without intentional purpose is the biggest of all pitfalls.

Everything in life has pitfalls, live your life the way you want to and stop worrying so much. If you enjoy spending hours on Reddit, do it. Ones pitfall is another's entertainment...