Comment by notjoemama | Hacker News Reader

Comment by notjoemama | Hacker News Reader

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Whenever I've felt impacted by those things I simply eliminate them. I had TikTok installed for a while. One weekend I realized I had been scrolling for 5 hours but to me it felt like maybe 90 minutes? That's when I uninstalled it. I felt like my ability to listen or pay acute attention for long length of time was diminished. Eliminating the app let me get back to the level of performance I had before. Self reflecting, there's maybe a certain kind of power in not-knowing, or knowing there is a lot of information I simply don't have to be aware of. Political news, well, news in general strikes me as a similar case. I know going into it "if it bleeds it leads". If I consume that, am I really getting a true picture of reality? Probably not. So is there really as much value in making sure I keep up with the latest points? I don't feel like it matters.

I've been on a similar trajectory. I realized I was using Reddit 40 hours a week and quit. A little while later, I got on Twitter and used it too much as well. I'm working to not do the same on HN and took a long "no social media" break before even coming to the site. As a result I was able to clear out a lot of the noise in my head and that has helped me gain focus. I cut news out as well and only rarely check what's going on in the world. I also converted to Catholicism and that has helped me gain a lot of peace that I didn't have before. I really don't feel the need to stress about something I know is in God's hands anyway -- it isn't up to me to change the world if that's not my purpose.

This doesn't work for me unfortunately. I am on my phone maybe an hour a day tops anymore. In fact I find tech and gadgets somewhat repulsive these days. I visibly cringe whenever someone wants to show me a video or something on their phone.

The problem is my job. I'm a software developer which means I'm flooded with disorganization and distractions for many hours a day, five days a week. There's no escape from that other than leaving the field entirely and that's no longer a practical option at this point in life.

I remember in college playing Counter Strike religiously, until one time during a game I got a call from my furious theatre director asking where I was and why I wasn't at rehearsal. I had completely lost track of time, and was so ashamed that I uninstalled the game that night, and even now years later I haven't reinstalled it since. Obviously I never missed another rehearsal, and it helped my grades too.

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