How I limit social media

I don't use them. End of story. And no, LinkedIn doesn't count imho, because it serves exactly two purposes, to have an easily pointed to, searchable, public CV and a communication channel for recruiters to try and get me interested.

And that's it. No FB, no Insta, no Twitter, no Tiktok, not even large Whatsapp or similar chat app groups (the biggest is my family channel).

And lo and behold: I live, and happily so. And get news just as fast as everyone else, because RSS feeds are a thing, and probably a bit faster than people who rely on their "social" media feed to tell them what's up, because my RSS feed is controlled by exactly one algorithm, and that's a for loop iterating over my list of feed-addresses ;-)

1. Removed all social media apps from my phone.

2. Facebook is for keeping up with my far-flung friends. As others have side, set the bookmark to your friends feed.

3. Reddit is for my hobbies

4. The Marshall Forum and the Gear Page are for my most serious hobby - music

For Reddit, the Marshall Forum, and the Gear Page I typically rely on them sending me a digest email every 2-3 days.

For all, don't argue with strangers. It's okay to correct things that are objectively, factually wrong if you're so inclined - but opinions and ideological arguments are best to be had in person with friends and close acquaintances over a beer. People conduct themselves differently face-to-face and are more likely to reach a mutual understanding. Anonymous strangers are just trying to "win" an argument - which is a complete waste of time.

(1) Use https://serializer.io/ to read HN.

Serializer shows the HN top list in a serialized way that lets you mark all as read. No more doom-scrolling a randomly reordered list or constantly re-reading read threads. Syncs read state across all your browsers/devices, no user registration required. Shows a few other sites as well but you can turn those off. Simple and brilliant. I'm not affiliated with the app but I'm a huge fan.

(2) Add an iOS Automation Shortcut timer that starts when opening twitter or Instagram.

The automation system also puts up a toast popup telling me about the timer when I open the app. Free, built into iOS, and the popup alone helps me realize I'm wasting time, then the timer reminds me to close the app. For me, a 9 minute timer is a magic threshold as I've learned I have a pair of natural session lengths which are about 7 minutes or forever. Huge amounts of time recovered this way.

For Facebook, I made my bookmark shortcut lead directly to my own profile/feed. (I have to use it, it's a staple for my business in my country, unfortunately.) I don't watch other feeds, ever. Occasionally I answer messages from friends.

I never got into using twitter, perhaps for the best. I find it hard to invest in platforms that are huge conglomerates of people.

The only "doom-scrolly" thing I have left is reddit. So I've completely curated it with small subreddits highly focused on the skills and interests I want to develop, and things that cheer me up and I want to see. I never look out. It can still be a productivity drain, but it's nice.

People should be more adamant about making technology serve their needs, and customizing it so it does. This should be a mindset foundation.

There was a period of time in my life that I spent lots of time checking Imgur for meme and cute animal pics daily. I can just type "im" in browser address and press "enter" to consume whenever I want.

I "fixed" this addiction by removing Imgur from browser history so it would not auto-complete Imgur's URL. Since then, whenever I have urges to consume, this friction stop me from doing so. It has worked very well over the past few years.

I'm quite pleased with the results.

And no access between 9:30 PM and 7:30 AM.

Works very well for me and my wellbeing.