5 ms·

I think of TV/gaming/internet/Facebook addiction as a generalized addiction to screens. You probably can't kick it cold turkey if your job involves looking at a

I think of TV/gaming/internet/Facebook addiction as a generalized addiction to screens. You probably can't kick it cold turkey if your job involves looking at a screen. But you can do the next best thing: avoid all screens except your work screen. No smartphones, tablets, consoles, TVs... (A dumb phone is allowed.)

ashark 9y ago
TV with no antenna and putting part of what used to be your Internet+services money to a dvd or two a month, and maybe a game every couple months on some older console, probably wouldn’t be too bad. Or just using the library for movies. The Internet and its never-ending content are the main problem, IMO.
- kokol998 9y ago
  Main problem, how? Wouldn't doing what you say feel incredibly limiting since you know you could be enjoying so much more? Do you do what you describe?
  - ashark 9y ago
    > Main problem, how? Wouldn't doing what you say feel incredibly limiting since you know you could be enjoying so much more? More limiting in the sense that I would have fewer options for wasting time, yes. More limiting in that I'd be forced to engage with media I had on-hand, yes. More limiting in the sense that I'd somehow be worse off after, say, a year of that? I very much doubt it, and expect the opposite would be the case. Little of my use of the Internet is productive, what is productive is rarely more so than, say, reading, and mostly it serves to take time from activities that would at least not be any more a waste of time, and may well be more improving (including simply sleep). > Do you do what you describe? No. I'd cancel our home Internet today if it wouldn't be incredibly inconvenient for my wife. She's a teacher, and she does and is expected to do way more work stuff online in the evenings and on weekends than I am as a developer, unfortunately.
wutbrodo 9y ago
Fwiw, this doesn't align with the experience of myself and my friends. If anything, the correlation runs the other way: the people that I know who spend the most time on screens are the least active on social media, and include a couple of people who don't have any social media accounts at all.

ashark 9y ago

TV with no antenna and putting part of what used to be your Internet+services money to a dvd or two a month, and maybe a game every couple months on some older console, probably wouldn’t be too bad. Or just using the library for movies. The Internet and its never-ending content are the main problem, IMO.

kokol998 9y ago
Main problem, how? Wouldn't doing what you say feel incredibly limiting since you know you could be enjoying so much more? Do you do what you describe?
- ashark 9y ago
  > Main problem, how? Wouldn't doing what you say feel incredibly limiting since you know you could be enjoying so much more? More limiting in the sense that I would have fewer options for wasting time, yes. More limiting in that I'd be forced to engage with media I had on-hand, yes. More limiting in the sense that I'd somehow be worse off after, say, a year of that? I very much doubt it, and expect the opposite would be the case. Little of my use of the Internet is productive, what is productive is rarely more so than, say, reading, and mostly it serves to take time from activities that would at least not be any more a waste of time, and may well be more improving (including simply sleep). > Do you do what you describe? No. I'd cancel our home Internet today if it wouldn't be incredibly inconvenient for my wife. She's a teacher, and she does and is expected to do way more work stuff online in the evenings and on weekends than I am as a developer, unfortunately.

wutbrodo 9y ago

Fwiw, this doesn't align with the experience of myself and my friends. If anything, the correlation runs the other way: the people that I know who spend the most time on screens are the least active on social media, and include a couple of people who don't have any social media accounts at all.