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Baby steps

Anything related to matters of the mind
D

Deleted106527

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Hello everyone,
I don't really know how to start this post, So I will just get right into the subject:
I just deleted the YouTube app from my phone, which was the last social media/entertainment app I kept.
While for most people, that might not sound like a big step, for me it is huge: About half a year ago, I was still addicted to social media and gaming to the point of (absolutely not lying, I can show screentime screenshots of this) spending literally 8-10h everyday combined on gaming, entertainment and social media apps like Reddit, Netflix & YouTube.
Month by month, I managed to reduce it: I stopped gaming, deleted more and more social media accounts and at last, hour by hour, reduced my YouTube "daily allowance". Today marks the day where that allowance becomes 0.
No more YouTube, no more binging stupid series or movies, no more gaming, no more brain fog and no more hours and hours of mindless scrolling.
I'm done with this pathetic form of escapism, It's time to confront the real world.
While the first few days might be hard (to me, YouTube honestly was mostly a "comfort" habit to revert back to whenever I was done with most of my work or just straight up bored, so I know finding other ways to relax/distract myself might be a challenge at first), I know the ROI is tremendously big.

Thanks for reading,
wish me luck.

P.
 
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MrE

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I'm done with this pathetic form of escapism, It's time to confront the real world.
Major props! The real world is so much more challenging, exciting, unpredictable, expanding, fun...aka reality!
Baby steps is right. I'm sure some of your choices regarding social media have been harder than others so I commend you and encourage you to keep going.
 

Sega Saph

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Hey man grats, I wish you good luck a lot! But let me put my 5 cents here.
Did.you found some interesting activity which you going to do inside of media and YouTube? What is it? I am asking because I know, a lot of ppl struggling with the same problem, me also in past, but I found a way. And if you found it, how your day looks like now? Thanks, cheers!
 
D

Deleted106527

Guest
Major props! The real world is so much more challenging, exciting, unpredictable, expanding, fun...aka reality!
Baby steps is right. I'm sure some of your choices regarding social media have been harder than others so I commend you and encourage you to keep going.
Thank you very much!
 
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D

Deleted106527

Guest
Hey man grats, I wish you good luck a lot! But let me put my 5 cents here.
Did.you found some interesting activity which you going to do inside of media and YouTube? What is it? I am asking because I know, a lot of ppl struggling with the same problem, me also in past, but I found a way. And if you found it, how your day looks like now? Thanks, cheers!
Thank you!
I agree that finding good replacements for things like YouTube is the hardest part, so I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about how to do it.
I came to the conclusion that the times I normally use YouTube (and their replacements) can be categorised (atleast for me) like this:

1. Using YouTube while doing something else (eating, toilet, cleaning, etc...) -> here it's quite easy, I don't need to replace YT, I just start to focus on the actual activity

2. Using YouTube to procrastinate -> again, quite easy, I'll just start to procrastinate less and get more productive work done

3. Using YouTube to relax / "wind down" (especially before sleeping) -> A bit harder, but I'll try to read more, go outside more (really nice weather here rn), play chess, play darts, think more, etc...

4. Using YouTube to fill in "awkward" amounts of time (for example after finishing 2h of coding and having 20min left before I have to go to work) -> also kinda hard, I think I'll try reading, just thinking, walking, whatever is easy to start and quit again.

So overall, I'll try a multitude of things, but the most important thing will probably just be being more productive. I'll also probably spend more time on here, though I have to be extra careful to not get addicted to posting/reading/scrolling here because I think it might easily become another way of action-faking for me.

I'm curious, how did you solve this problem for yourself?
 

kyedoescyber

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Hello everyone,
I don't really know how to start this post, So I will just get right into the subject:
I just deleted the YouTube app from my phone, which was the last social media/entertainment app I kept.
While for most people, that might not sound like a big step, for me it is huge: About half a year ago, I was still addicted to social media and gaming to the point of (absolutely not lying, I can show screentime screenshots of this) spending literally 8-10h everyday combined on gaming, entertainment and social media apps like Reddit, Netflix & YouTube.
Month by month, I managed to reduce it: I stopped gaming, deleted more and more social media accounts and at last, hour by hour, reduced my YouTube "daily allowance". Today marks the day where that allowance becomes 0.
No more YouTube, no more binging stupid series or movies, no more gaming, no more brain fog and no more hours and hours of mindless scrolling.
I'm done with this pathetic form of escapism, It's time to confront the real world.
While the first few days might be hard (to me, YouTube honestly was mostly a "comfort" habit to revert back to whenever I was done with most of my work or just straight up bored, so I know finding other ways to relax/distract myself might be a challenge at first), I know the ROI is tremendously big.

Thanks for reading,
wish me luck.

P.
I don't think you necessarily need to cut out things you enjoy completely. If it's detrimental, definitely limit it. But you mentioned watching 20 minutes of Youtube after working on coding for a couple of hours, that doesn't seem to bad in my opinion. I guess it depends on the goals you have set and if the opportunity cost of those 20 minutes really meant that much to you. Analyze your specific goals. 8-10 hours a day on escapism is definitely not the move, but it's definitely something to learn from as well. Perhaps there's a deeper problem at play. If the main thing is confronting the real world, whatever that means to you, figure out how you're going to do it and before you go to sleep I would ask myself "What mistakes did I make today with avoiding my escapist habits can I improve on for tomorrow?," to make incremental improvements to your goals and ultimately your life. Cheers.
 
D

Deleted106527

Guest
I don't think you necessarily need to cut out things you enjoy completely. If it's detrimental, definitely limit it. But you mentioned watching 20 minutes of Youtube after working on coding for a couple of hours, that doesn't seem to bad in my opinion. I guess it depends on the goals you have set and if the opportunity cost of those 20 minutes really meant that much to you. Analyze your specific goals. 8-10 hours a day on escapism is definitely not the move, but it's definitely something to learn from as well. Perhaps there's a deeper problem at play. If the main thing is confronting the real world, whatever that means to you, figure out how you're going to do it and before you go to sleep I would ask myself "What mistakes did I make today with avoiding my escapist habits can I improve on for tomorrow?," to make incremental improvements to your goals and ultimately your life. Cheers.
Thank you for the advice!
While I definitely understand the approach of limiting it & being a bit more analytical about it (I've tried it too, 1h of YouTube a day was what I was "allowed" before), I think that won't really work for me. The problem isn't just about the opportunity cost of the time spent on YouTube, it's more about what the option of having YouTube available does to my mind: It keeps me comfortable, but in the worst, lazy, way (You could almost say "docile").
The quick, easy dopamine/comfortability fix kinda keeps me from actually having my mind fully where I want it (You know, in the fastlane).
What I've noticed since I deleted it is the following:
When you ground a child and take away all their toys (an extreme example maybe), they might refuse to do the things they should (their homework, maybe, or clean their room) at first, but after a while, they will probably do it because of sheer boredom/lack of alternatives.
That's kinda how it's starting to feel for me. I'm starting to enjoy the productive things more, I have less and less brainfog, etc... It's a big mindset shift I can't fully put into words.
So, while I would probably like to spend atleast a little bit of time on YouTube still, at least right now that is not a viable option for me.
 
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Kalactose

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Thank you!
I agree that finding good replacements for things like YouTube is the hardest part, so I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about how to do it.
I came to the conclusion that the times I normally use YouTube (and their replacements) can be categorised (atleast for me) like this:

1. Using YouTube while doing something else (eating, toilet, cleaning, etc...) -> here it's quite easy, I don't need to replace YT, I just start to focus on the actual activity

2. Using YouTube to procrastinate -> again, quite easy, I'll just start to procrastinate less and get more productive work done

3. Using YouTube to relax / "wind down" (especially before sleeping) -> A bit harder, but I'll try to read more, go outside more (really nice weather here rn), play chess, play darts, think more, etc...

4. Using YouTube to fill in "awkward" amounts of time (for example after finishing 2h of coding and having 20min left before I have to go to work) -> also kinda hard, I think I'll try reading, just thinking, walking, whatever is easy to start and quit again.

So overall, I'll try a multitude of things, but the most important thing will probably just be being more productive. I'll also probably spend more time on here, though I have to be extra careful to not get addicted to posting/reading/scrolling here because I think it might easily become another way of action-faking for me.

I'm curious, how did you solve this problem for yourself?

Thank you!
I agree that finding good replacements for things like YouTube is the hardest part, so I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about how to do it.
I came to the conclusion that the times I normally use YouTube (and their replacements) can be categorised (atleast for me) like this:

1. Using YouTube while doing something else (eating, toilet, cleaning, etc...) -> here it's quite easy, I don't need to replace YT, I just start to focus on the actual activity

2. Using YouTube to procrastinate -> again, quite easy, I'll just start to procrastinate less and get more productive work done

3. Using YouTube to relax / "wind down" (especially before sleeping) -> A bit harder, but I'll try to read more, go outside more (really nice weather here rn), play chess, play darts, think more, etc...

4. Using YouTube to fill in "awkward" amounts of time (for example after finishing 2h of coding and having 20min left before I have to go to work) -> also kinda hard, I think I'll try reading, just thinking, walking, whatever is easy to start and quit again.

So overall, I'll try a multitude of things, but the most important thing will probably just be being more productive. I'll also probably spend more time on here, though I have to be extra careful to not get addicted to posting/reading/scrolling here because I think it might easily become another way of action-faking for me.

I'm curious, how did you solve this problem for yourself?
Screenshot_20220416-141814.png
Hi, I'm having the same problem. About half a year ago my screen time was about 8-10 hours. I'm trying to completely reduce it to not more than 30 minutes. I stopped scrolling in the recommended and home page which has helped me a lot but I'm struggling on how to cut off my subscriptions. Although, YouTube is only the social media I use and I don't play video games. Please I will like to hear your thoughts on how to curb this disease
 

Sega Saph

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I solved this problem by site locker ("Block site" app in chrome), and blocked YouTube on my desktop. Then I found what I can use books like YouTube for entertainment and started to read smoothly, do not be hurry in it. It will be enough for 30 minutes per day firstly and then you should understand why it is more lovely for you to do than watching YouTube. I do not think that my arguments can help you, it can mixed you up. I think you can find it, because you are on the right way.
And one more thing. Usually when I watched YouTube a lot it was a days when I missed my gym sessions. That means if you do not have enough activity for your body, your serotonin level is so low and you want to find how to fix it and get to trap of content consuming. When I got it, I started to exercise EVERY DAY, and it helped me a lot. And helps now.
Have a great day and cheers! Keep it up buddy!
 
D

Deleted106527

Guest
View attachment 43033
Hi, I'm having the same problem. About half a year ago my screen time was about 8-10 hours. I'm trying to completely reduce it to not more than 30 minutes. I stopped scrolling in the recommended and home page which has helped me a lot but I'm struggling on how to cut off my subscriptions. Although, YouTube is only the social media I use and I don't play video games. Please I will like to hear your thoughts on how to curb this disease
Hi,
honestly what did it for me was slow, but consistent reduction over a longer period of time. While I had some hiccups here and there, my approach was the following: Each week, I would reduce my allowed YouTube screentime (You can set limits to screentime of apps in iOs, which I think you have (?)) by a certain amount, the steps getting smaller and smaller: At first I reduced it by 1h (8 -> 7) per week, then 30min, etc... While it took a few months to reduce it down, I never failed to stay within the allowed screentime. The important thing is that you build a habit of not ignoring the "screentime used up" message.
Besides reducing the screentime, you obviously need to also focus on filling the freetime in a good way, which I talked about in an earlier comment.
Hope this helps!
 
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D

Deleted106527

Guest
I solved this problem by site locker ("Block site" app in chrome), and blocked YouTube on my desktop. Then I found what I can use books like YouTube for entertainment and started to read smoothly, do not be hurry in it. It will be enough for 30 minutes per day firstly and then you should understand why it is more lovely for you to do than watching YouTube. I do not think that my arguments can help you, it can mixed you up. I think you can find it, because you are on the right way.
And one more thing. Usually when I watched YouTube a lot it was a days when I missed my gym sessions. That means if you do not have enough activity for your body, your serotonin level is so low and you want to find how to fix it and get to trap of content consuming. When I got it, I started to exercise EVERY DAY, and it helped me a lot. And helps now.
Have a great day and cheers! Keep it up buddy!
Luckily, I don't really seem to have the need to block anything (I just deleted the app on my phone, I don't really watch YT on my desktop). Reading is definitely a good tip and I agree with taking it slow at first, since forcing myself to read isn't really fun either.
Honestly, I was considering doing exercise everyday and I did not know low serotonin will cause the need to consume media. In that case, I will definitely get exercise done everyday!
Thank you very much, have a great one too :)
 

Kalactose

Contributor
User Power
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119%
Jan 21, 2022
74
88
Hi,
honestly what did it for me was slow, but consistent reduction over a longer period of time. While I had some hiccups here and there, my approach was the following: Each week, I would reduce my allowed YouTube screentime (You can set limits to screentime of apps in iOs, which I think you have (?)) by a certain amount, the steps getting smaller and smaller: At first I reduced it by 1h (8 -> 7) per week, then 30min, etc... While it took a few months to reduce it down, I never failed to stay within the allowed screentime. The important thing is that you build a habit of not ignoring the "screentime used up" message.
Besides reducing the screentime, you obviously need to also focus on filling the freetime in a good way, which I talked about in an earlier comment.
Hope this helps!

Hi,
honestly what did it for me was slow, but consistent reduction over a longer period of time. While I had some hiccups here and there, my approach was the following: Each week, I would reduce my allowed YouTube screentime (You can set limits to screentime of apps in iOs, which I think you have (?)) by a certain amount, the steps getting smaller and smaller: At first I reduced it by 1h (8 -> 7) per week, then 30min, etc... While it took a few months to reduce it down, I never failed to stay within the allowed screentime. The important thing is that you build a habit of not ignoring the "screentime used up" message.
Besides reducing the screentime, you obviously need to also focus on filling the freetime in a good way, which I talked about in an earlier comment.
Hope this helps!
Thanks for the comment. Would definitely try setting screen time limits
 

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