HACKER Q&A
📣 DitheringIdiot

How do you avoid online distractions and tech addiction?


Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, and video game companies like King (makers of candy crush) make their money by getting us to spend as much time as possible on their products.

They spend millions working out how best to pull you into their products, and to keep you scrolling and crushing candies once you’re in.

I believe the addictive nature of these apps is causing an existential crisis. People are no longer achieving goals aligned with their values — and, since this technology allows no time for introspection — may even not know their values.

This was certainly true for me.

So I’d love to hear what acts of resistance (or productivity hacks) you’ve engaged in to help yourself avoid these apps.

  👤 jstx1 Accepted Answer ✓
If we're talking about distraction while working/learning/whatever-else-focused-something, then just basic things like blocking time off, turning off notifications, putting phone away, etc. Then it's down to noticing when you're distracted. Time tracking helps some people with this - if you start a timer in Toggl labeled "coding" or "reading library docs", that can help you focus and notice any time when you get distracted and you aren't doing the thing you said you would be doing; it can be a way to set a context for what you're doing. It doesn't work for everyone but you can try it out.

If we're talking about the general "the internet and your phone are rotting your brain" rhetoric, I'm not on board at all. I think the problems are exaggerated, the word addiction is overused and the science isn't solid at all (dopamine fasting is pseudoscience crap).

Both your phone and the internet are great (even social media might be great); just make sure that they don't get in your way.

👤 u2077
I use rss feeds, this saves me time and cuts out all the extra distractions from reading. I also set up rss feeds for specific terms on HN using hnrss.org. This has helped me significantly and I cannot recommend it enough.

I let my phone run out of battery and then put it in a completely different room. Obviously this isn’t always an option, but it works for me.

Turn off/limit app notifications. If on iOS use notification summary.

Make your to-do list on paper (!), then set a timer and see how many tasks you can accomplish. A sheet of paper is easier to use than any to-do app I’ve tried. (There was a good story on HN recently about using a single text file, I also recommend that if you aren’t always in the same spot)

👤 legrande
I divide up my computing into different buckets, so I am less tempted to scroll mindlessly during a coding session (I turn my phone off during coding). I set aside 1-2 hours each night to scroll social media, and have blue light blocking glasses and turn the screen brightness down so I get better sleep. I also have a blue light blocking screen filter. I also train my feeds to be high signal, and block/mute any accounts which I deem are bad for my mental health (and doing that is okay).