Ask HN: How do you manage Facebook/Whats App/Twitter/Email/Etc addiction?

Honestly, the easiest way for me is to just use a "dumb" phone. I switched to an old Nokia and love it. I also use the SMS search engine Text Engine (http://www.textengine.info/) if I ever need to look up an address or directions. I definitely feel more productive, and most importantly present in my daily life.

Curious to hear if others have had success with other methods or if anyone else has tried going back to a non-smartphone.

Great question.

I have a daily schedule/ritual to keep productive, after a week it just became the norm https://books.google.ca/books/about/Daily_Rituals.html?id=-t...

I uninstalled Facebook app from my phone. Don't miss it at all. I have muted all the Whats App group conversations, as it is mostly recycled jokes. I still get notifications from individual friends trying to contact me.

I had the same issue on my phone. Unable to switch to a dumb phone because of job requirements. Along with using some sort of ritual, I use an app on my phone called "forest" (iphone). Does a pretty good job of locking me out of distracting apps for chunks of time.

I like this question. I'll see what other better answers come out out of it.

Every now and then I just delete the phone apps I think I'm using too much. If it's a stock app you could just put it on the kiddie block list instead, that's probably enough hassle to undo to make you think twice before impulsively falling into the email hole or whatever.

Come to think of it maybe I should delete Tweetbot from my phone for a while. It feels about time.

Coming at it from the other end, I find that the "Pomodoro Technique" [1] of timeboxing works pretty well to keep me on task, when I go through the whole ceremony of picking up the cute ladybug-shaped kitchen timer I've modified by painting out anything beyond 25min, giving it a twist, and having that kinesthetic memory plus the soft ticking reminding me that I have A Thing I Have Promised Myself I Will Work On For This Block Of Time.

I haven't been doing that much lately either. I should start doing it again.

1: http://pomodorotechnique.com

Having a Pomodoro [1] app on your desktop/laptop helps. It sounded lame to me initially (do work in 25 min chunks), but it seems to work for me.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique

Switch off all notifications to start with. That's an easy first step.

Just turn notifications off from non-important apps. Or, put a "non disturb" mode for a few hours when you want to be focussed.

This article has an interesting approach -- the author cut FB cold turkey for 2 weeks, but was able to return and be a more responsible, casual user:

http://time.com/3093332/5-things-i-learned-when-i-quit-faceb...

Of the items listed, I only use email. Call me a Luddite but all of those other things are just unnecessary distractions. I find that my life is much more focused when I control the funnel of noise. I have an RSS reader for news and email or a phone for communication. All these other potential streams of data are like road signs or commercials: I know they're there but I've made such an effort to ignore them that they just don't register.

Try this:

$ cat /etc/hosts|grep face 127.0.0.1 facebook.com 127.0.0.1 www.facebook.com

Power on/off

Just don't use them. Really. The addiction will go away or at least decrease after a couple days or so.

I'm really only addicted to HN these days, but I solve it by not going to HN at all when I need to be in Get Shit Done mode. After a day or two I don't find myself thinking about it that much.

I assume the discussion around how to manage HN addiction will be conducted elsewhere?

Deleted my Facebook about a year ago or so now. I've never been happier. It's funny how unsocial social networks really are.

For Android, I started using QualityTime. It tracks your usage. Annoyingly, it also counts background apps as "running". But it really helps to give me a snapshot of my day. I can see what time I woke up and started redditing on the can :P

I'm embarking on a Slow Information Diet modeled after Tim Ferris' Slow Carb Diet. Six days a week, no Twitter, no Facebook, etc. On cheat day (for me, my slow carb diet cheat day and slow information diet cheat days are the same, Friday) I get to read and consume and binge all I want. Because Slow Carb really resonates we me, this concept does to and has worked out well. YMMV of course.

Have kids. Addition will automatically go away.

Basic rules that have helped me over the years:

1 - No social media apps on my phone[1] that might be tempting to check during the work day

2 - No social media logins on my work laptop of a distinctly personal nature[2]

3 - Only checking social media when getting home and after a few minutes it's just tiring to wade through stuff and it makes it a lot easier to close it up and not be conditioned to think those outlets are worth the consistent attention

[1] This doesn't count Periscope which I use for promotional purposes or might come in handy in a pinch for sharing (but I don't open during work or watch many other streams)

[2] Social media doesn't include some forums, I'm strictly speaking FB/Twitter/etc. Forums are a different beast. Thankfully I tend to get tired of some which enable me to avoid them, or if I return, I've deleted my account and just read.

I use Focus[1] in hardcore mode, scheduled from 22:00-12:55 and 13:00-19:00.

I really suggest reading Deep Work by Cal Newport.

For my phone - I deleted all of my social apps (apart from Instagram, Swarm etc) and keep it in another room or in my bag as much as possible.

[1] http://heyfocus.com

Simple. I don't have an account on Facebook/Twitter/whatever. While others might find it necessary I find them utterly boring and irrelevant. I think that not owning a smartphone helps a lot in that aspect. I have a dumbphone with a battery that lasts for weeks and I'm happy with my choice. As for e-mail, I have two accounts, one for work, one for everyone else. I don't check the latter while at work, ever.

Quit using [insert service] for a period of time.

When you no longer feel a need to use it, then it is safe to use it. This has been the best cure for addictions for me in the past, but YMMV.

I predicted there'd be a lot of sanctimonious "I just don't have an account, they're a waste of time" responses, and it seems like I was right. That's great for you, but that's really not helpful to someone who already has an account and is struggling to quit. And it can be a real struggle. The dopamine hits on likes and favs and the fear of missing out on a conversation can be really hard to break.

Like the OP, I'm using StayFocusd and I've used RescueTime in the past, and it's actually been very helpful for me. Right now I've given up Facebook and I'm tackling Reddit next. I don't have a solution for my phone, but it hasn't been a problem for me because I leave it charging across the room when I'm working. It's still difficult for me during evenings, but I'll probably try something similar for that soon.

Deactivated my FB since 2012. Happier more productive ever since. These days I only do Instagram.

I use this "Block site" plugin [0] to redirect facebook.com -> openlistings.com because I still want FB pixels, etc to work for web development.

Keeps me addicted to the right things :).

[0]: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/block-site/eiimnmi...

I like to keep my computer 'clean' so that when a colleague comes over and asks me to look at some problem the browser auto-complete/suggest does not suggest any non-work things, whether they be news sites, social network sites or anything else that I read in my own time. The most embarrassing things my auto-complete suggests are things like the man page for 'strpos' (I should know whether the needle comes before the haystack by now).

If I really feel the urge to read non-work stuff then I have my phone, which costs money, has a useless keyboard and a diminutive screen. If I am making a cup of tea then there is plenty of time there to see if anyone has sent me email etc.

Regarding work email, I do not read a lot of it and I expect my colleagues to know that I don't read emails. I do read important ones but social events and other work emails that are non-critical I just move to the 'almost read' folder. Generally my email is just used for test purposes, lots of systems cc me in on things so real emails are hard to find amongst the reports etc.

I do have problems with 'slack' at the moment, some people are a little evangelical about it and I just find it to be lots of noise. I wish 'slack' would go and that I could return to the lame 'Skype' as that did work well for my needs.