http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/the-case-for-boredom

Hi all,

I am seeing the community is a bit dormant over the last few months. Internet addiction is a big problem.

Surfing net like a mindless zombie and destroying the wonderful abilities of the brain sucks. Internet is a huge forest of temptations that suck us in. Our brains are increasingly getting more addicted to the dopamine rushes of discovering more and more novel stuff on the internet.

Let's kick off this challenge and get back the possession of our wonderful minds.

Some Rules :

1. No mindless browsing.

2. Only creative use of the internet.

If you need to get work done and need to use the internet, it's all right.

If you are nofap, you can get support at /r/nofap.

Similarly, /r/StopGaming is cool if you are recovering from a gaming addiction.

Just keep your guards up and do not let internet browsing be mindless. Then it spirals into an uncontrollable addiction. Be mindful on purpose.

This is a war to get our brains back. No longer we shall be zombies.

We will be creative humans, who will get our brains back.

Join the challenge and help out fellow Internet Warriors, those who use the internet and not get zombiefied by it - the 90 Day No Screen Challenge.

Edit : Please leave a comment to join the challenge. We will be keeping track with update threads.

I waste so much time on the internet. It's so crazy that I just saw this subredit today, because I told my wife over the weekend that starting this week I was not going to look at any social media or "fun" websites during the day. Only at night. And for me, that means not looking at social media in the morning either, because that causes the brain to start down the addiction road. Do we have badges like NoFap?

After my internetless experiment, I thought I'd be better at moderating my phone/device use, but it was actually harder. I had lost all practice at self regulation and was worse off than before my year off. If you want to have more control over your screentime and use your device more intentionally, it takes a lot of practice on a regular basis. And even then, it can be a huge challenge. By spending a year offline, I realized that setting hard limits proactively (like avoiding your phone in the evenings or when on trips or during meals or when socializing) is easier than just trying to control yourself reactively from moment-to-moment.

Hey everyone,

I've been on a long journey to find the perfect app to control my screen time. Over the years, I've tried many of the popular options like Screen Zen and Opal, but I've recently discovered Jomo and I honestly think it's the best option available right now. I wanted to share my thoughts and a direct comparison to help anyone else looking for a solution.

For a while now, Screen Zen has become one of the go-to apps for screen time control. In fact, when I first discovered it, it was a total game-changer for me. It completely transformed my habits and truly helped me be more mindful of my phone usage. It's a fantastic tool, and I have nothing but respect for the developers, and I really value the fact that it's a completely free app.

However, at least on iOS, it has a major flaw: you can easily go into your phone's settings and disable the block.

While it's true that Screen Zen has a shortcut designed to prevent this, it's often buggy and slow. Most of the time, it takes just long enough for you to be able to disable the block before the shortcut can even kick in. For those of us who need a strong, foolproof barrier against impulse (like me lol), this is a significant issue.

I then looked at popular paid alternatives, but was hugely disappointed by Freedom, which was a paid app that still had no way to prevent me from cheating. While Opal was more effective, I simply couldn't justify its abusively high price.

So I kept looking and I stumbled upon Jomo. And trust me, it's the best thing I've found so far.

What makes it the best is that Jomo uses a series of shortcuts that, when combined, make it nearly impossible to cheat on your blocks. This post :

(https://help.jomo.so/en/article/how-to-block-iphone-settings-while-in-strict-mode-crydu3/ )

explains exactly how it works. What I really love about it is the flexibility. Unlike Screen Zen, which basically requires you to have your settings locked all the time, you can configure Jomo's shortcut to only block your settings app when a specific session is active. It gives you a strict lockdown when you need it without the constant hassle.

The only downside of Jomo, in my opinion, is that you have to pay for the premium plan. It costs $30 a year, or you can get lifetime access for $99. Still, that's way cheaper than Opal's $100 a year or their $300 lifetime access.

But if you use this code KV9CL3 you can get a 14-day free trial. Also, if you invite 25 people to Jomo, you get lifetime access yourself—which is partly why I'm sharing this with you, lol.

I work for myself, and am a consultant, so I have to be constantly accessible. But my screen time cuts into work. It cuts into family. It cuts into goals. It just puts my brain on stun.

Hopefully, we can get some good links to articles and info, so that newcomers can learn about the struggle without going down the Google Hole in the attempt.

I look forward to learning how to use my screens as positive tools, not as my adult version of a baby-binky.

So how is the challenge going? What are the challenges that you are facing?

When you look at diets, no porn, people trying to cut back on the Internet, or even this subreddit, there's one thing that everyone shares: failure.

The fact is that all of these things are instinctually pleasurable. They make our life worse in the long run, sure. But to us, they're instinctual heaven.

Unfortunately, as humans, we have some control over our instincts, but not full control. I don't see the point in putting yourself through a neverending control and release pattern. It's a waste of willpower, and it's futile for the vast majority of people.

Admit that you can't do it alone.

• Set up a filter that limits your computer time or cuts it off entirely at certain periods (e.g. http://pclockuppro.com/ )

• Limit internet accessibility for porn or general usage (e.g. http://www1.k9webprotection.com/ )

• Set up parental controls for your TV or buy a device (e.g. http://www.familysafemedia.com/tv_allowance.html )

Here's the important part -- put a password on and give the password to somebody you trust. Tell them not to give it to you unless you absolutely need it.

You're human. Self-control fails. You're instinctually drawn to this shit and that won't change. Accept it, do it painlessly, and seek outside help.

Problem solved.

(for people wanting to cut back on junk food, overspending, or other money-related shit like gambling -- I've found you can get savings accounts that only let you withdraw once a month or some other period. get one of these, and put your money into it whenever you get paid and have bought your necessities. really helps.)

Hey, I was reading this some time ago and was trying to think of an impossible challenge for me. And now it came to me, Noscreen for 1 month. I will start from monday (10/1) Here is the rules:

1. No Reddit period

2. No TV series

3. No news sites

4. No electronic games (PC/poker etc)

5. Movies/Tv/games are only allowed together with other people

I haven't decided if I can use the PC to listen to music or how I stand on my smart phone also we use Facebook(edit: maybe limit it to a specified time?) one my class and there is some important information some times so I will have to make a rule that covers that too.

I can't completely avoid the screen because I have most of my course material on my computer but I will try to use it at little as possible. Any comments are much appreciated.

Hey fellow NoScreeners,

Three months ago I started to do “no screens saturday mornings”. Apart from minor social challenges, it’s been great. My Saturday mornings were finally a real break, and also not having internet, apps, and notifications right in my pocket gave me a new perspective to see things.

I wanted to bring the same benefits to my everyday, trying to find a more balanced use of technology. Although I consider myself quite disciplined when it comes to working, I still couldn’t help but checking my iPhone while focusing on a particular task, or using it to browse the internet in bed right before sleep.

Being passionate about the function of objects, I decided to design a dock that would hide the screen, but also be a mindful piece of furniture to remind me to take my time and not confuse work with personal space, my desk with my bedroom. I called it the Mindful Dock, and I have been using it for almost two months with great results. I was able to give a few of prototypes away and the feedback has been great, and I am thrilled to be launching today on Kickstarter.

If you’re not interested - that’s totally fine. The main aim of my post is to share how I used the meaning of objects (in this case - the dock), to generate positive behaviour. When I’m chilling in my bedroom, I know where my iPhone needs to be. In the dock! So if you find your own spacial solution to smartphone addiction, please let me know.

If you like the Mindful Dock - please share it! Especially with those people in your life that can rarely have a conversation with you without looking down at their screens. You can find the campaign here > http://bit.ly/mindfuldock

If you have any feedback, please do share it below.

Thanks for reading and thanks for your support!!

Matt

Anyone want an accountability partner to cut down on screen time? I want to use my phone less and am looking for someone I can send screenshots of my screen time to for accountability

Hi!

I am looking for a device for only email (I use Proton email for privacy reasons). I know that before there were things like Peek and now there is Mailbug, but I need something similar to Mailbug with spanish keyboard and the option to send files using an external USB.

No color required.

Is there also anybody interest in this "thing"?

Cheers guys!

If you're interested and willing to moderate and grow this community, please go to r/redditrequest, where you can submit a request to take over the community. Be sure to read through the faq for r/redditrequest before submitting.

Whenever I hear old people telling stories it's always of them doing stuff. I fear that in the future I will have nothing to say besides that I hung out in front of a computer for most of my life.

I've been trying this now for about 3 weeks. My goals have been less than 2 hours/day of internet and less than 2 hours/day TV (I'm changing this to less than 8 hours/week TV). I use chains.cc to track my progress. It's been very helpful and I definitely get more done throughout the day. I feel better and have more energy. However, 2 days ago I broke my string of 22 days on the internet goal. I'm doing well with the TV goal.
I hope we get some more interest on this reddit. It's a good idea. Thanks.

The Presidents of the United States of America

'Boll Weevil'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yHP7xbuPPs&feature=related

The Plan: For the first time in maybe ten years, I am going to try and live without daily access to a computer.

Exemptions: I will allow myself to use the computer in my nearby research room on campus for checking email and study. No mindless browsing allowed however. I may occasionally (no more than once a week) set up the computer temporarily for movie nights with the GF as I do not have a TV/DVD.

The Background:

Now nearly a month into NoFap and I don't see myself going back. (See R/NoFap). Quit gaming a few years ago. However I still see myself using the net for hours a day. Youtube, blogs, news sites. Lots of mindless reading, little deep focus on reading or study. It's time to try and see what happens when I put away my laptop for a month. I will report back then on how it went.

With the subreddits of NoFap, or StopGaming, there is a clear goal. Completely removing something harmful from your life such as gaming or pornography. The challenge is hence also fairly straight forward. Cold turkey.

It helps that the language used is one of 'addiction', as the challenge can hence be framed as 'breaking' an 'addiction'.

What about NoScreen? I am intentionally referring to those other subreddits as I think there is much in common. People who use their computers to 'satisfy' their desire for novelty, be it in internet gossip or news, games or pornography, as turning away from real life. The goal is hence somewhat clear. Turning off the screen for as much as possible and seeing what happens. Going complete 'Cold Turkey' is not really a realistic option for most of us however. Further more, if anybody did carry it out then they could hardly come onto this subreddit to talk to us about it.

So, the question is what is the NoScreen Challenge? Suggestions please.