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I might need something that tells me how much time I spend browsing Netflix only to not watch anything. My Netflix habit consists of aspiring to actually watch

I might need something that tells me how much time I spend browsing Netflix only to not watch anything. My Netflix habit consists of aspiring to actually watch something as a way to relax before bed, opening the app, scrolling through a bunch of lists, deciding “that looks really good, I should probably save that to watch with my dad”, “this looks good but too heavy for me tonight”, “this looks good but only one season that ended 2 years ago, so probably cancelled”, “this looks like a candidate but I’ll keep looking just in case”… 45 minutes later, I’m tired, and either close the app or watch 5 minutes of something only to decide I’m too tired to follow it and that’s that. I don’t have this problem with short YouTube videos or music. Even books I can eventually power through and make a choice. But movies and video games I have severe analysis paralysis that leads to a lot of browsing and no actual watching or playing. It’s frustrating.

djitz 4y ago
If you haven’t already, disable the preview auto play garbage by going to your profile settings on the website. The option is ONLY available on the website, but applies to all devices that auto play. You’ll never look back.
cmeacham98 4y ago
If you actually seriously want this: I believe both Android and iOS have some method of tracking time spent in apps (assuming that's what you mean when you say "Netflix App").
- kiawe_fire 4y ago
  I was being partially serious - now that you mention it, between this project's ability to show my time spent watching something, and my phone's app usage, I could probably figure the difference to be the time spent browsing vs watching, which might actually be an interesting metric to track.
TedDoesntTalk 4y ago
Same problem. I’ve solved it by not watching Netflix unless a friend with similar tastes recommends something to me directly. I end up not watching much Netflix, which I’ve found is healthier for me anyway. A lot of the “browsing “ or watching in bed was escapism.
yreg 4y ago
>But movies and video games I have severe analysis paralysis that leads to a lot of browsing and no actual watching or playing. I suffered of this problem as well and I believe I managed to solve it. ## Netflix - I only open Netflix when I know what I'm going to watch. - When I don't know what to watch it means I'm not in the mood for anything I'm currently planning to watch. So I don't open Netflix, I go to YouTube instead. - When I know what I want to watch (these days I'm binging Mr. Robot) I favourite things that catch my interest while using the app. This is the only time for new content discovery within Netflix. ## Steam It might sound ridiculous but I've found that to power through I need to approach games like work. I have to dedicate time for it - a weekend, or even take a vacation (I found that the time around the end of the year works best for me). Since it is something I plan, I discuss what to play with my friends and make a decision beforehand. When the vacation comes, I make myself play at least 8 hours a day on the same regime as if I was working. After a few days I get into it and then I can continue the game in some normal occasional schedule as well. I've been able to enjoy the Mass Effect games in this way the last winter and Witcher 3 the year before that. I don't think I've managed to enjoy a single player storytelling game to such extent in the decade before that. I try to avoid opening my 500+ game 80% unplayed Steam library. When I don't know what to play, I don't open Steam, I open YouTube and watch some let's play instead.
- pph 4y ago
  > I only open Netflix when I know what I'm going to watch. Only to realize that it's not in their library (anymore).
  - yreg 4y ago
    I'm in EU and this didn't happen to me yet (although I've watched Friends while I could). It sometimes feels like I'm the only netizen who is happy with the Netflix catalogue, but to be honest I think they have a giant pile of great shows; many more than I have time or mood to watch. I believe the issue is that they produce an even bigger pile of shows that are utterly shit, so if you just play something at random there is a high chance of it being low quality. To me that doesn't matter much as long as there is enough of the good stuff.
game-of-throws 4y ago
I have a list of movies/TV shows in a txt file. New entries go at the end. I watch them in the order I added them. Zero decision fatigue!
themodelplumber 4y ago
This might seem weird but here's how I leverage this: - 99% of the time it confirms tiredness. However it's also an intriguing moment of interest, built into this time of waning energy. And interests are important to seize on, and work with, as they develop. - I want to get the most entertaining result, for the time being. The symbol processing part of the mind is back-and-forthing with the physical circumstances of exhaustion, so I have an opportunity to get the needed result via symbolic means. - I focus only on cover imagery and sort by favorite cover images. I let myself decide not to focus on selecting a movie to watch for the time being. I'm just browsing covers. This is not a time to test the focusing attributes of your mind. Instead, the mind is ready to take you for a ride. - The images start to bring out imaginings or scenarios in the mind's eye, which build on and depart from what's strictly in the cover image. This is good. You can consider it a lucid, pre-dreaming state as well. - I frontdoor those moments and inner images [1] for rest, interest-pursuit, and analysis purposes if desired. Since I started doing that and got good results, I wrote a cron script to randomly select sets of book covers from my Google Play Books and Kindle libraries, and I use those the same way. Another result is that this connection "browse thumbnails" -> "watch or read that thing" is less strict or even necessary. The covers often don't match the contents anyway, and were not typically created by the director or author. So the reading/viewing often hits like a disappointment. This isn't to say that reading is bad though, and you can do the cover-sorting activity above with textual passages from books, or clips from movies. 1. https://www.friendlyskies.net/maybe/frontdooring-a-new-form-of-quiet-visual-subjective-intuitive-meditation https://www.friendlyskies.net/maybe/frontdooring-a-new-form-...
- kiawe_fire 4y ago
  Interesting ideas - if I understand, essentially the "browsing" phase is a distinct activity from the "watching/reading/playing" phase, and the browsing phase can become its own form of "unwinding" as a sort of meditative activity? The comment and link are appreciated!
  - themodelplumber 4y ago
    Thanks, and yep you are right on, plus ideally it's an activity that becomes more justifiably standalone over time, as you play with it and discover how and when it can benefit you. With practice it may even become both a tool in the cognitive toolbox and an enjoyable activity to look forward to. I'm glad if it's helpful.
Xeoncross 4y ago
> 45 minutes later, I’m tired I think you're tired to start with, just go to sleep. I realized this with myself and others. Some kind of marketing that "unwind and relax" means you have to watch some TV when sleep will actually bring you more enjoyment. You can always trade those 45 minutes when you wake up for a movie if you actually want to watch one - and you'll enjoy it more.
- kiawe_fire 4y ago
  I've considered myself "not a morning person" for a while now, but maybe just making sleep the priority at night and attempting to trade that time for a movie or TV show in the morning might be worth a try.

djitz 4y ago

If you haven’t already, disable the preview auto play garbage by going to your profile settings on the website. The option is ONLY available on the website, but applies to all devices that auto play. You’ll never look back.

cmeacham98 4y ago

If you actually seriously want this: I believe both Android and iOS have some method of tracking time spent in apps (assuming that's what you mean when you say "Netflix App").

kiawe_fire 4y ago
I was being partially serious - now that you mention it, between this project's ability to show my time spent watching something, and my phone's app usage, I could probably figure the difference to be the time spent browsing vs watching, which might actually be an interesting metric to track.

TedDoesntTalk 4y ago

Same problem. I’ve solved it by not watching Netflix unless a friend with similar tastes recommends something to me directly. I end up not watching much Netflix, which I’ve found is healthier for me anyway. A lot of the “browsing “ or watching in bed was escapism.

yreg 4y ago

>But movies and video games I have severe analysis paralysis that leads to a lot of browsing and no actual watching or playing. I suffered of this problem as well and I believe I managed to solve it. ## Netflix - I only open Netflix when I know what I'm going to watch. - When I don't know what to watch it means I'm not in the mood for anything I'm currently planning to watch. So I don't open Netflix, I go to YouTube instead. - When I know what I want to watch (these days I'm binging Mr. Robot) I favourite things that catch my interest while using the app. This is the only time for new content discovery within Netflix. ## Steam It might sound ridiculous but I've found that to power through I need to approach games like work. I have to dedicate time for it - a weekend, or even take a vacation (I found that the time around the end of the year works best for me). Since it is something I plan, I discuss what to play with my friends and make a decision beforehand. When the vacation comes, I make myself play at least 8 hours a day on the same regime as if I was working. After a few days I get into it and then I can continue the game in some normal occasional schedule as well. I've been able to enjoy the Mass Effect games in this way the last winter and Witcher 3 the year before that. I don't think I've managed to enjoy a single player storytelling game to such extent in the decade before that. I try to avoid opening my 500+ game 80% unplayed Steam library. When I don't know what to play, I don't open Steam, I open YouTube and watch some let's play instead.

pph 4y ago
> I only open Netflix when I know what I'm going to watch. Only to realize that it's not in their library (anymore).
- yreg 4y ago
  I'm in EU and this didn't happen to me yet (although I've watched Friends while I could). It sometimes feels like I'm the only netizen who is happy with the Netflix catalogue, but to be honest I think they have a giant pile of great shows; many more than I have time or mood to watch. I believe the issue is that they produce an even bigger pile of shows that are utterly shit, so if you just play something at random there is a high chance of it being low quality. To me that doesn't matter much as long as there is enough of the good stuff.

game-of-throws 4y ago

I have a list of movies/TV shows in a txt file. New entries go at the end. I watch them in the order I added them. Zero decision fatigue!

themodelplumber 4y ago

This might seem weird but here's how I leverage this: - 99% of the time it confirms tiredness. However it's also an intriguing moment of interest, built into this time of waning energy. And interests are important to seize on, and work with, as they develop. - I want to get the most entertaining result, for the time being. The symbol processing part of the mind is back-and-forthing with the physical circumstances of exhaustion, so I have an opportunity to get the needed result via symbolic means. - I focus only on cover imagery and sort by favorite cover images. I let myself decide not to focus on selecting a movie to watch for the time being. I'm just browsing covers. This is not a time to test the focusing attributes of your mind. Instead, the mind is ready to take you for a ride. - The images start to bring out imaginings or scenarios in the mind's eye, which build on and depart from what's strictly in the cover image. This is good. You can consider it a lucid, pre-dreaming state as well. - I frontdoor those moments and inner images [1] for rest, interest-pursuit, and analysis purposes if desired. Since I started doing that and got good results, I wrote a cron script to randomly select sets of book covers from my Google Play Books and Kindle libraries, and I use those the same way. Another result is that this connection "browse thumbnails" -> "watch or read that thing" is less strict or even necessary. The covers often don't match the contents anyway, and were not typically created by the director or author. So the reading/viewing often hits like a disappointment. This isn't to say that reading is bad though, and you can do the cover-sorting activity above with textual passages from books, or clips from movies. 1. https://www.friendlyskies.net/maybe/frontdooring-a-new-form-of-quiet-visual-subjective-intuitive-meditation https://www.friendlyskies.net/maybe/frontdooring-a-new-form-...

kiawe_fire 4y ago
Interesting ideas - if I understand, essentially the "browsing" phase is a distinct activity from the "watching/reading/playing" phase, and the browsing phase can become its own form of "unwinding" as a sort of meditative activity? The comment and link are appreciated!
- themodelplumber 4y ago
  Thanks, and yep you are right on, plus ideally it's an activity that becomes more justifiably standalone over time, as you play with it and discover how and when it can benefit you. With practice it may even become both a tool in the cognitive toolbox and an enjoyable activity to look forward to. I'm glad if it's helpful.

Xeoncross 4y ago

> 45 minutes later, I’m tired I think you're tired to start with, just go to sleep. I realized this with myself and others. Some kind of marketing that "unwind and relax" means you have to watch some TV when sleep will actually bring you more enjoyment. You can always trade those 45 minutes when you wake up for a movie if you actually want to watch one - and you'll enjoy it more.

kiawe_fire 4y ago
I've considered myself "not a morning person" for a while now, but maybe just making sleep the priority at night and attempting to trade that time for a movie or TV show in the morning might be worth a try.