Ask HN: How to Stop Reddit Addiction?
r/reddit could not help me.
22 comments
First of all: there is no silver bullet when it comes to addiction. No one tool, method, book, blog post, forum reply etc will make it all go away. (so try to stop looking for "the one perfect thing". It doesn't exist)
I can only list things that have helped me:
Making sure my sleep, exercise and nutrition was good. I found this helped reduce the intensity of negative emotions that would loop into social media.
I use supplements for Vitamin D and Fish oil. These seem to improve my concentration, though it could well be a placebo.
Using a timer for work. I set a timer and work 15 minutes and then take a 3 minute break. In my breaks I stand up, walk around, go into the other room. I try to avoid checking reddit etc in the same place as where I work. If I'm on a break with the timer then I will check it in the next room. I want to build an association of place and activity.
I use blocking tools, but they are just to remind you when you forget. Blocking tools are not a replacement for willpower. The seatbelt doesn't drive the car.
Keep a notebook and write in it before and after work. Try to predict things that will cause you distraction and avoid them or deal with them before it's a problem. At the end of the day, reflect on whether your strategies worked. If they did, keep doing them, if they didn't, try something else. When you start to understand your patterns of addiction you can work out better and more personal ways to deal with it.
Plan for the relapse. It will happen. That's ok, but what are you going to do after?
I hope some of this can help you.
I can only list things that have helped me:
Making sure my sleep, exercise and nutrition was good. I found this helped reduce the intensity of negative emotions that would loop into social media.
I use supplements for Vitamin D and Fish oil. These seem to improve my concentration, though it could well be a placebo.
Using a timer for work. I set a timer and work 15 minutes and then take a 3 minute break. In my breaks I stand up, walk around, go into the other room. I try to avoid checking reddit etc in the same place as where I work. If I'm on a break with the timer then I will check it in the next room. I want to build an association of place and activity.
I use blocking tools, but they are just to remind you when you forget. Blocking tools are not a replacement for willpower. The seatbelt doesn't drive the car.
Keep a notebook and write in it before and after work. Try to predict things that will cause you distraction and avoid them or deal with them before it's a problem. At the end of the day, reflect on whether your strategies worked. If they did, keep doing them, if they didn't, try something else. When you start to understand your patterns of addiction you can work out better and more personal ways to deal with it.
Plan for the relapse. It will happen. That's ok, but what are you going to do after?
I hope some of this can help you.
There is no cure. The best solution is to feed the addiction. Buy as many monitors as you can then display as many subreddits on the screen as you can. Then develop your ability to read multiple reddits simultaneously. At night make sure you have text-to-voice software to read reddits for you while you sleep.
When neuralink comes out, make sure you implant it into your brain. It will make you multi-threaded, enabling you to double the number of monitors you can simultaneously keep track of
Using a bookmarking service such as Firefox Pocket (alternatives include Pinboard) helped me reduce my Internet time. I just bookmark all the pages I find interesting. This is, of course, entirely useless since I'm never actually going to read the thousands of bookmarks, but I get all the gratification of internet browsing from bookmarking without having actually spend time on reading (or RAM on keeping tabs open).
On a related note, I once read a very powerful post about the illusion of knowledge which Reddit gives you, but I cannot find it. If this rings a bell with anyone ...
Maybe a tool such as Self Control (Mac) can help you. It blocks websites for a certain amount of time without a possibility to unblock.
On a related note, I once read a very powerful post about the illusion of knowledge which Reddit gives you, but I cannot find it. If this rings a bell with anyone ...
Maybe a tool such as Self Control (Mac) can help you. It blocks websites for a certain amount of time without a possibility to unblock.
Please consider the possibility that you might be "escaping" using reddit or using it to fulfill some unmet need. If you are unable to figure it out by yourself a good therapist might be able to help you channel it towards something healthier or just bring balance to how you use reddit.
EDIT: The idea behind this being that perhaps the addiction is a symptom of some other problem and trying to get to the root of the matter might help make it easier to find a way around it.
EDIT: The idea behind this being that perhaps the addiction is a symptom of some other problem and trying to get to the root of the matter might help make it easier to find a way around it.
Check out /r/nosurf.
Uninstall Reddit clients on all but a single, non-mobile device.
When you stray off the path, don't beat yourself up, and immediately get back onto the path.
Uninstall Reddit clients on all but a single, non-mobile device.
When you stray off the path, don't beat yourself up, and immediately get back onto the path.
After i have enabled the "Digital welfare" app in android phone and set a limit to the reddit application, I spend how much time I chose in Reddit.
It really improve my quality of life.
It's seems stupid, but helps.
See also the top answer to "Ask HN: How To Overcome Information Addiction?"
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25870702
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25870702
My friend had a reddit addiction, he cured it by getting addicted to V-Tubers instead.
Probably not the healthy move you're looking for, but maybe you can find something healthier that works for you to get addicted to instead.
Probably not the healthy move you're looking for, but maybe you can find something healthier that works for you to get addicted to instead.
/r/nosurf might be of interest. Would be interesting if anyone has come across a methadone of social media.
If you can, update your hosts file to point reddit.com to 127.0. 0.1
Firefox seems to ignore /etc/hosts on Linux, since I have Hacker News set to localhost and I'm browsing it right now.
I tried the LeechBlock extension (I think it works even on Mobile), but I always end up disabling it :(. Also for some reason it eats a lot of system resources.
I tried the LeechBlock extension (I think it works even on Mobile), but I always end up disabling it :(. Also for some reason it eats a lot of system resources.
What about Mobile phones?
Android will allow one to edit the host file via debug mode, but I don't think it can be done on apple without a jailbreak.
If this is a home network, your router might allow one to set DNS records for your local network
It seems reasonable that there could also be firewall apps that you could run to block outbound traffic to reddit but I have no experience with them.
If this is a home network, your router might allow one to set DNS records for your local network
It seems reasonable that there could also be firewall apps that you could run to block outbound traffic to reddit but I have no experience with them.
Install a hackers news app!
www.reddit.com 127.0.0.1
Just delete your account and block it on the network. It takes a month and then you forget it even exists.
Block reddit in your router. Time sink and opportunity cost