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How do you separate social media from the news (hacker news, research, bloomberg, wikipedia) How do you separate staring out the window with staring at tiktok,

How do you separate social media from the news (hacker news, research, bloomberg, wikipedia) How do you separate staring out the window with staring at tiktok, youtube. What’s wrong with media consumption outside the 4-5 hrs of focus ? Not that I am disagreeing with you. I aim for 1-2 hrs of deep focus. I have recently tried to do more, but I don’t think I can. Maybe 3-4 hrs of moderate focus, and maybe total of 8 hrs of minimal focus (including about deep and moderate focus).

rg111 4y ago
Anything that has an element of "New! Fun!" is "social media". This is a personal nomenclature, and loose. Even arXiv is social media. I have 45 minutes set for using HN and everythinh that comes out of it. YouTube and TikTok have algorithms that have the goal to grab my attention. The garden/road outside my home does not have an algorithm. It is safe to look that way. Outside of the focus hours, I stay away from social media, but I do read books, play Factorio, discover new music, watch documentaries, and rarely movies/series. So there is nothing wrong with media consumption. But social media makes our brain secrete stuff and that gives our brain a false sense of achievement. That false sense of achievement, too much scrolling, getting distracted, and the anticipation of the unknown fun for long times- these are what I fear. Does social media rewire our brain in some way? (Take the word "rewire" lightly, not technically) I was never known to be weak-minded person. I never had any kind of addiction although I drink alcohol and never had an eating disorder although I love to eat and so on. So, nothing is wrong with me. Maybe the problem does lie with them? Social media addiction made me feel weak. I hate that. I only started doing this after I read Cal Newport's Deep Work [0]. I don't pull up my phone even when waiting for a friend or commutibg in subway. I do not know why, but this has been extremely effective for my peace of mind and productivity while working. I aim for 1/2 hours of deep focus (like learning new math for the first time), and 3/4 hours of moderate focus (working on a challenging problem). [0]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0349411905/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0349411905/

rg111 4y ago

Anything that has an element of "New! Fun!" is "social media". This is a personal nomenclature, and loose. Even arXiv is social media. I have 45 minutes set for using HN and everythinh that comes out of it. YouTube and TikTok have algorithms that have the goal to grab my attention. The garden/road outside my home does not have an algorithm. It is safe to look that way. Outside of the focus hours, I stay away from social media, but I do read books, play Factorio, discover new music, watch documentaries, and rarely movies/series. So there is nothing wrong with media consumption. But social media makes our brain secrete stuff and that gives our brain a false sense of achievement. That false sense of achievement, too much scrolling, getting distracted, and the anticipation of the unknown fun for long times- these are what I fear. Does social media rewire our brain in some way? (Take the word "rewire" lightly, not technically) I was never known to be weak-minded person. I never had any kind of addiction although I drink alcohol and never had an eating disorder although I love to eat and so on. So, nothing is wrong with me. Maybe the problem does lie with them? Social media addiction made me feel weak. I hate that. I only started doing this after I read Cal Newport's Deep Work [0]. I don't pull up my phone even when waiting for a friend or commutibg in subway. I do not know why, but this has been extremely effective for my peace of mind and productivity while working. I aim for 1/2 hours of deep focus (like learning new math for the first time), and 3/4 hours of moderate focus (working on a challenging problem). [0]: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0349411905/ https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0349411905/