Shutting down my Internet Addiction

I need to do the same I also waste to many hours on media platforms.

 

All of you must read the book digital minimalism by cal newport. Only you can unplug yourself from the matrix of your screens and aggressively explore high quality activities beyond your bias.

 

I'll add it to the list however is it bad if I read it on a kindle?

 

Recently I subscribed to actual print form newspaper. I have been trying to make a habit out of reading its editorial section right after my morning coffee. About 80% of the news in any news outlet are just triggers for you to investigate more and look into it deeper. The long-form discussions that come in Editorials are said explicitly like they are supposed to be said, i.e. as an opinion on a given situation and nothing more, they present an analysis of the problem and what the subject matter expert usually believes is a good solution of the said problem. I feel like I am getting more out of the news now then I ever did, I just read the headlines of everything else, and only if something is really concerning do I look into it otherwise I completely ignore it. It's still better than sitting in front of the TV for 1 hour to catch the gist of 10 maybe 15 important events that occurred that day. After Editorials and national headlines, I just read whatever regional column has and just call it. Takes roughly 30-45 minutes. I don't know if it will work for everyone or not, but its nice so far. I have been getting e-paper (digital version of the print, not entire sites dedicated to news that you have to browse through like blog posts) for quite some time as well, you can have that delivered to your inbox, and it's really handy as well. In any case, these are only means to an end, and depending on what you really want out of the news, you can switch these around. I have grown extremely disenchanted of Reddit and all the other micro-blogging platforms because it's so hard to be selective about what you take in and no matter what you do, some form of brazen self-advertisement gets thrown in your face anyways.

 

No of-course not? Why would it be bad to read books in digital format? In my own opinion, the digital book revolution was an event of almost Guttenbergic proportions if not greater. At the present moment, the prices of digital copies of books are roughly 75% of their paperback price and in less developed countries, it can be as low as 40%. Statistically speaking, it was never easier to learn anything new ever in history. The idea of Digital Minimalism only applies to sources or outlets that can give you a seam of unbroken data that has no end. Like your cell-phone or your pc, the amount of data that you can get out of those devices is practically limitless and it's easy to get lost in the course of a rapidly flowing river. If its Kindle, however, you just buy the book, disconnect and move on. It can't force anything more on you. Plus most Kindles only have experimental browsing anyways, you can't use the internet to do something crazy on that device unless you are really motivated to do so. I myself like Hardcover and paperbacks over digital copies of books but sometimes, digital books are the economically wiser choices anyways. Plus its a lot harder to move around with 7 books that you are reading at the same time in hardcopy format.

I would apply the same logic to podcasts too, they are not long uninterrupted seams of unbroken unrelated data-based stimuli. I am literally quoting Cal Newport, "The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time." (by the way, Bernard Russel said the same thing as well). If you want to read a book, you can start by watching some podcasts the writer did to get a better idea of general principles he is going to mention in his work, especially a self-help type book like Deep Work, Digital Minimalism and the likes. If it's a 2-hour long podcast, just break it into sets of 30 minutes long units and listen to them while working out or driving/walking, etc. It's way more effective to absorb what he is saying that way, instead of just reading the book once and being done with it. Also, you can just use your kindle to highlight the important stuff and then import it into a document, take a print of it and staple it to your journal or something, or maybe post it on your wall. It's all about how you are using it to get what you need.

 

I wish you all the very best. Internet addiction is deceptively real. It creeps up on you, and you don't realize it wasting years of valuable time. (So many regrets!)

 

Thank you, I was unsure of guidelines to follow or adhere to for certain things for digital minimalism. I am sorry if I asked foolishly I was just genuinely curious. I wish to give it a go, limiting my pc use and phone use to only crucial things. I would like to participate in forums on NF still, but I would like to not aimlessly move about at the same time.

 

What sometimes helps me is a day where I don't plan to do something productive. For example I tell myself NO studying today - of course it's quite easy to not study, but it makes me realize what other things I can do in life. Then I spontaneously went to another city and left my phone at home - amazing day!

If I don't do that I tend to tell myself "no you shouldn't do smth like that, you should study. But then I can't bring myself to study so I say, one quick video, and then the day is wasted...

 

Now shut down that desktop and put your fuckin Phone away. Go do something productive.
Bye.

 

Stopped playing video games since last friday, I´m through with it. Spending alot time with friends now and myself. Deleted also whatsapp from my phone until I´ve reconsidered the value of this service. A great time for transformation has come and here we go!

 

I don't want to advertise anything but the Nokia 800 tough or the Nokia Bananaphone still have whatapp, google maps etc but don't make you glued to the phone all day.

 

Ya perfect. They’re strong too!
If they fall, they’ll damage the floor but stay STRONG themselves.
@Ghost in the Shell You should consider having one for a few days.

 

Plus when push comes to shove you can use the nokia as either a shield or a bludgeoning weapon.

 

What do you mean by wasting time? If it's like scrolling social media, news, tweets, etc why limit it? I would completely quit it. As I've done now. It's even easier! I mean, I did limit reading news to after 8 p.m. for several months. It wasn't bad, But every day I was waiting till 8 and dive in political debates in twitter (just reading, had left writing long before).
But someday I decided to completely leave them. It was surprisingly easier that limiting it...

However, for me, It depends on my mood, If I am depressed, perhaps I would violate it.

 

I suggest the Cat b30 anyway. a lot of old phones are locked and you cannot put your actually sim