I don't spend time on social media apps but I spend insane amounts either googling things to understand them at a surface level, reading HN, or listening to audiobooks / podcasts. I also spend more time than I should on chat apps.
My brain seeks constant stimulation. I just can't stop. I can't even take a walk or do the dishes without listening to something. Even worse, I can't get stimulated enough by just interacting with my young child.
I would rather be acquiring knowledge at a deep level by reading challenging books like textbooks or by creating something. Or connecting deeply with other humans and nature.
To make things worse I'm an iOS developer. And while at work I don't browse because I'm stimulated enough. Outside work though… I just can't stop. I even fall asleep listening to audiobooks. I tried to stop but I can't. Phones became too necessary. What can I do? I despise myself because I know I'm wasting my life. I'm literately missing out on a fulfilling life with depth by living like this.
My take is that it is not abnormal to be easily bored. Almost everyone gets bored easily and that's why school is often boring but watching a movie is not. That's why work is work because it is not stimulating but boring. If work was stimulating then no one would play video games for fun and we would instead just work all the time for fun.
Not a medical expert but the basic explanation is that our minds crave novelty and when it does find novelty it releases dopamine which feels good and helps us focus.
Most people just employ tactics to get into the zone to be able to do work. Some tactics that I use and which might also work for you are: Listening to pop music (but on low volume so not to be overwhelming); Doing Mindfulness meditation (taking 10 to 20 minutes to focus on a neutral object but I like my neutral object to be something that I hold in my hand and makes a sound); Reading a book or a comic book (less stimulating than a video); Watching video but it is muted (so as to be less stimulating); Taking handwritten notes or using a whiteboard like in https://sketch.diagrams.net/.
You need to jam the flow. And jam it frequently, bc most likely if you take a 5 minute break you will gravitate back towards an LCD screen again.
Look up the prerequisites of a flow state- a task that is at the sweet spot of difficulty and novelty. Another way to think about it is a flow is a very high bandwidth (in an information theoretic sense) experience. Tells you what you need to do: live via non-digital, high-bandwidth experiences!
Challenge yourself! Do something semi structured yet semi scary- dance classes? Public speaking? Something where to do it right, you need to be processing more life ‘data’ than sitting in front of the screen
Also watch the movie Ikiru - it is a classic, extremely moving, and very intelligent movie from the 1950s. The main character is a man who realizes one day that he has not been really living - but then, he really manages to change his life quickly, and he manages to live. May be some real and recognizable inspiration and beauty in it for you :)
I had a bad habit of checking all kinds of unimportant stuff in bed just before going to sleep but then I got rid of the smartphone and bought a dumb phone. I don't really long for that habit anymore because it's simply not possible to engage in. The withdrawal feels harsh at first but you can just soldier through it and eventually it gets easier.
Besides that, addiction is always the symptom, not the cause.
You’ll never get sustainable results addressing the symptoms, without curing the deeper reasons. Just saying.