I often feel addicted to YouTube, TV shows, browsing HackerNews, or social media. When I do, I’m tempted to just keep scrolling or watching, and I can waste hours on the internet. Afterward, and even during, I may feel an inclination to stop, but I continue consuming content anyway. It feels unhealthy, and I generally regret when I spend my time this way. For some reason, I do it anyway though, and so I think of this habit like an addiction.
If you’re like me and fall into these unhealthy attention-consuming rabbit holes, here is a list of things we can do instead of continuing the addictive behavior.
- Nothing; doing nothing is a perfectly valid option.
- Say hi to a friend.
- Call home.
- Write.
- Go for a walk.
- Read a book.
- Monologue.
- Think.
- Make plans for the future.
- Evaluate HALT (hungry? angry? lonely? tired?)
- Evaluate pyd-swyt; cf-bh-din
I’m toying with the idea of getting Bieber Bot to notice when I’m exhibiting addictive behavior. If I can get that working, I’d love for Bieber Bot to notice when I’m addicted to YouTube, Hacker News, or Twitter and suggest one of the above activities for me to perform instead.