Comment by lxm | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lxm | Hacker News Reader

I recommended it in a similar discussion before, but Cal Newport's "Digital Minimalism" offers reasonable ways to introduce intermittent fasting patterns into your social media consumption vs quitting cold turkey.

Some sample strategies to adopt:

1) Mobile sites only, never apps. Always log out when done to increase the friction of subsequent logins. The most insidious pattern of mindless engagement is when you're bored at the checkout line, waiting in-between meetings with nothing to do, sitting on the toilet.

2) Even better: computer access only, never mobile. Your phone is always around, unlike your PC. Set a time slot (20 min or so) when you know you're around your computer. Social networks really excel at this pattern of usage. You'll get the most important stuff, fluff relegated to the bottom of the feed, which solves the FOMO and shield you from the rest. This can be daily first and then cut down to whatever pattern you feel like (Newport himself claims he catches up on social media once a week).

I am sure I am butchering some of his advice, so worth reading the book.

> The most insidious pattern of mindless engagement is when you're bored at the checkout line, waiting in-between meetings with nothing to do, sitting on the toilet.

Just curious, why is this considered the "most insidious"? Isn't that time wasted anyway? Before cellphones you would just stare off into space (you're not getting any deep thinking or deep work done waiting in line) or would just browse the gum or trash magazines.

> computer access only, never mobile

This one definitely makes sense. It was interesting time when Facebook was around but smartphones weren't fully ubiquitous. You would only see your feed on the laptop and had to text friends to stay in touch in real-time (even if async)

You could think and self-reflect. There is a reason why shower thoughts are a thing, in a society dominated by things that illicit emotional reactions it's hard to have time to just be.

Shower thoughts are great b/c you know nearly exactly how long a shower takes, you're relaxed, doing something basically automatic, and can take longer if you need to. You can also talk to yourself.

I guess what I'm saying is I find other moments in my day (shower, sipping my coffee in the morning, the few moments I take after I close my work laptop but before I start my evening, journaling, jogging or walking) to be much more effective and rewarding for thinking and self-reflection. Those times give insight and clarity. Not out in public with the cacophony of other people.

Obviously one can do both and more power to them/you.

I personally find the worst mind-scrolling is when I could be doing anything else (opportunity cost) not when I'm literally just waiting around.

When out and about, I think it’s less about finding some meaningful insight in that moment, and more about cultivating a habit of being present.

Mowing does it for me as well. It's why I carry a pocket notebook and a pen with me. I avoid apps because distractions can pull me, like an unread text message and I lose my flow of thought.

Occasionally I even write pseudo paper that I wrote in my head while doing something else.

I think you identified an important part, it's the habit of doing something, while your mind doesn't have to use a lot of horse power. I never thought about it from that perspective, but it rings true.

> Before cellphones you would just stare off into space (you're not getting any deep thinking or deep work done waiting in line) or would just browse the gum or trash magazines.

The key is that the "before cellphones" behavior often involved a greater connection to one's immediate surroundings, or being "present". The risk/concern with browsing a phone in these moments is that it promotes disconnection and feeds our brain's need for that next dopamine hit. Some hypothesize that this constant disconnection from "here/now" is part of society's broader problems and people increasingly look at the real world through the lens of social media, which we know to be a major distortion of reality.

Disclaimer: anecdote, sample size of one, etc...for me personally, I've been working hard not to fill those idle moments and instead focus on being present and stay in the moment. This could literally be as simple as noticing the variety of gum options in the checkout line. I already have dissociative tendencies due to PTSD, and one of the most effective ways for me to dissociate is to lose myself in the endless scroll. Conversely, staying present/connected to my surroundings helps my mental state immensely.

Don't know about anyone else, but I've gotten some good ideas and had some nice a-ha! moments during those "default mode network" times.

> Just curious, why is this considered the "most insidious"?

I think it's insidious not because it is inherently worse to check your phone than it is to stare into space at odd moments (that may be true, but I don't think that was the point). It's insidious because it's not a conscious decision you're making to do something because you want to, it's more like a tic, or a sign of addiction.

What would Cal have us do on the can, if not doom scroll Twitter?

I'm not Cal, but it seems like the real fix to that isn't finding another attention-consumer, but instead fixing whatever is causing excess can time.

That's why Readers Digest existed

memorise the ingredients list on the shampoo bottle, at least that's what I do when I forget to take my phone to the bathroom.

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