Ask HN: How to overcome Addiction?

4 points by Anand_S 10 years ago | 5 comments

I sometimes find myself obsessively reading articles on Internet. I also see a lot of people who are addicted to Internet, binge watching Videos, Gaming, social networks, etc.

What can one do to overcome such addictions?

chipsy 10 years ago |

Plan and structure more of your day. Put better things to do on your calendar, things you like such as hobbies or social events as well as "productive" tasks. Give yourself a generous amount of time to do things in, more than you expect to use. If it doesn't become a habit and you just waste all the time, figure out why. You aren't a robot and you have to make a life that works well with your natural feelings, so don't expect to become someone else just because you constructed a schedule that says so.

Edit: and don't make decisions "when you feel like it", then you fall off schedule. Plan a lot in advance and then try to stick to how you planned the day.

vectorEQ 10 years ago |

Ask yourself questions about it. Write them down + answers. what do you get from it? etc.

Read books instead of internet articles. Try to get an outdoor activity you like. Set a time schedule in which you allow yourself to use internet.

TaiFood 10 years ago |

You get some sort of reinforcement from this activity.

Do you eat only sugar? Why not?

What you read might be constructive.

Enroll in a school.

Keep a journal of your suspect activity.

brudgers 10 years ago |

If it is, clinically speaking, an addiction, schedule an appointment with an experienced psychotherapist.

hoodoof 10 years ago |

Go watch TV. Or play a computer game.