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Simple solution for me was to do a dopamine detox. This requires getting rid of things you enjoy, but that's somewhat the point. Instead of doing things you wan

Simple solution for me was to do a dopamine detox. This requires getting rid of things you enjoy, but that's somewhat the point. Instead of doing things you want, you are wasting time on things you don't. After giving up video games, programming was fun. Reading nonfiction was insanely fun. So much so, it became a new addiction. Maybe giving up things you enjoy is easier said than done.

vitabenes 5y ago
Yeah, that's one way to do it. My co-founder is currently doing an extended dopamine detox to focus on writing better. Our last 2 blog posts were about that - see here: https://www.deprocrastination.co/blog/topic/distraction https://www.deprocrastination.co/blog/topic/distraction
eralps 5y ago
Interesting, considering gaming, do you completely give up gaming? Or reduce it to moderate levels?
- deregulateMed 5y ago
  I have an addictive personality so I gave it up completely. It only sucked on a Friday evening for like 1 hour. weird because I would game every night.
tangue 5y ago
It's not about getting rid of what you like : It's getting rid of things designed to be addictive. Modern gaming is incredibly addictive and I found myself addicted to dumb games in recent years. I deleted everything and play only old school games once in a while (rtype etc ).
vitro 5y ago
With gaming, I've started to allow myself play only during Friday evenings and Saturdays. It's like a reward after whole week. Also I play only on the computer, got rid of mobile games completely because of ads and in app purchases and a bad habit of playing in the bed. And interestingly, for a month I haven't played at all, although I could.
turbinerneiter 5y ago
It's also weird, because I believed that a good live is filled with doing things you enjoy. But then they used psychology to make us addicted to scrolling feeds.
- steve_adams_86 5y ago
  The thing about those addictive behaviours is (for me), like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied. Scrolling through feeds or watching videos actually causes me to become pretty sad, but sometimes I find myself feeling quite a compulsion to do it. It's usually when I'm stressed out or anxious, and the behaviour aligns perfectly with escapism. So there's very little enjoying involved. I think it's important to consider what enjoyable means, and how we frame it. Instant gratification is only a small sliver of what could be considered enjoyable, in the scheme of things.
  - schoen 5y ago
    > like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied There's a whole bunch of research and writing lately about "wanting versus liking", describing these two emotions related to experiences and behaviors as distinct. When people encounter that distinction, most of us can think of things that we like much more than we want, or that we want much more than we like.
    - steve_adams_86 5y ago
      I listened to an interesting podcast the other day by Andrew Huberman in which he talks about dopamine being a motivating chemical (motivates you to do whatever triggered it again) rather than a pleasure chemical, which it’s often thought to be. It’s apparently very much a want over a like situation, which seems to explain the potential lack of enjoyment. I’m not a neuroscientist so I’ll butcher this if I say more, but in terms of want vs like I found it really fascinating.
FractalHQ 5y ago
This was my experience as well. No social media or gaming for 4 years now. I’m so much happier now.

vitabenes 5y ago

Yeah, that's one way to do it. My co-founder is currently doing an extended dopamine detox to focus on writing better. Our last 2 blog posts were about that - see here: https://www.deprocrastination.co/blog/topic/distraction https://www.deprocrastination.co/blog/topic/distraction

eralps 5y ago

Interesting, considering gaming, do you completely give up gaming? Or reduce it to moderate levels?

deregulateMed 5y ago
I have an addictive personality so I gave it up completely. It only sucked on a Friday evening for like 1 hour. weird because I would game every night.

tangue 5y ago

It's not about getting rid of what you like : It's getting rid of things designed to be addictive. Modern gaming is incredibly addictive and I found myself addicted to dumb games in recent years. I deleted everything and play only old school games once in a while (rtype etc ).

vitro 5y ago

With gaming, I've started to allow myself play only during Friday evenings and Saturdays. It's like a reward after whole week. Also I play only on the computer, got rid of mobile games completely because of ads and in app purchases and a bad habit of playing in the bed. And interestingly, for a month I haven't played at all, although I could.

turbinerneiter 5y ago

It's also weird, because I believed that a good live is filled with doing things you enjoy. But then they used psychology to make us addicted to scrolling feeds.

steve_adams_86 5y ago
The thing about those addictive behaviours is (for me), like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied. Scrolling through feeds or watching videos actually causes me to become pretty sad, but sometimes I find myself feeling quite a compulsion to do it. It's usually when I'm stressed out or anxious, and the behaviour aligns perfectly with escapism. So there's very little enjoying involved. I think it's important to consider what enjoyable means, and how we frame it. Instant gratification is only a small sliver of what could be considered enjoyable, in the scheme of things.
- schoen 5y ago
  > like most addictions, you have a tenuous association with enjoyment and the behaviour but mostly it leaves you very dissatisfied There's a whole bunch of research and writing lately about "wanting versus liking", describing these two emotions related to experiences and behaviors as distinct. When people encounter that distinction, most of us can think of things that we like much more than we want, or that we want much more than we like.
  - steve_adams_86 5y ago
    I listened to an interesting podcast the other day by Andrew Huberman in which he talks about dopamine being a motivating chemical (motivates you to do whatever triggered it again) rather than a pleasure chemical, which it’s often thought to be. It’s apparently very much a want over a like situation, which seems to explain the potential lack of enjoyment. I’m not a neuroscientist so I’ll butcher this if I say more, but in terms of want vs like I found it really fascinating.

FractalHQ 5y ago

This was my experience as well. No social media or gaming for 4 years now. I’m so much happier now.