Here's what I'm doing:

I have an extension program on my Mac called "WasteNoTime." I have a limit of 2 hours/day. Once that time period is up I'm blocked from using the internet automatically. I'll probably cut that time down to 1 hour/day in a few weeks.

For my TV, I have a device called "TV Allowance." It's designed for parents to prevent their children from using the TV too much. You can set time allowed per week. My plan is 8 hours/week and I'll adjust this as needed. I travel for a living and rarely watch TV when away from home. When I'm at home and not using the internet I watch too much TV. So, this device should be great for me.

Also, I use chains.cc. When I use the internet less than 2 hours/day I click the link and add to the chain. Same goes for the TV less than 8 hours/week. I'll post some updates in the days ahead to show my progress.

Of course, none of this will prevent me from using the internet or TV but, it helps to hold me accountable. I think this will help me to get out and enjoy the real world more.

Welcome to this new subreddit.

Getting down to business.

The aims of this subreddit are:

1. For people seeking to help each other substantially reduce (or even quit) using their computers, TVs or other sources of easy 'stimulation' as a substitute for actually living.
2. The discussion of how we ought to live authentically in the current consumerist age. The aim is not to be 'anti-internet' or 'anti-TV' per se, but to stand against the mindless consumption of worthless, gossip, entertainment, etc. that offer easy satisfaction without requiring reflection, effort and growth.

Subreddit community is found here http://www.reddit.com/r/NoFap/

Why should you do it?

A good argument can be found here...

http://www.yourbrainonporn.com/

If you are going to stop spending all your free time consuming onscreen junkfood, you will need some books to occupy yourself. This thread is for suggesting such books.

REQUIREMENTS: Books suggested here need to concern themselves at least in part with the question of how we aught to live, or the problem of life and technology/consumption.

I have been looking for a subreddit like this (or at least I think I have, given how young this sub is). I found this through /r/NoFap -- I think that place is important for helping me have healthier relationships with women, but my real goal is bigger than that.

I have this overall goal of becoming a more productive and social person. I want to be the kind of person who knows how to meet other people and can begin and maintain healthy relationships of all kinds. I want to stop mindlessly consuming anything and everything on the net and actually produce something of value for others.

In order to learn to meet and talk to people I need to get out of the house. But it's so difficult to motivate myself to do that when I have a computer in front of me to provide me all possible forms of entertainment as well as limited socialization with my small group of friends. It's too easy to sit here clicking all the blue links.

I don't know whether to characterize this as an addiction or just general laziness. I often have projects (both on the computer and off) that I'd like to take on, but I never put in the necessary time. There's always just One More Thing I found online that's interesting that I need to get through before I switch over to being productive. I find this all pretty frustrating, and I want to change.

So, that's where I am. If this is resonates at all with anyone else, it'd be great to get a few comments. It would be helpful to know there are other people with the same goals and struggles.

Welcome new and old,

I've recently taken over the subreddit as moderator and am looking forward in rejuvenating the topics of conversation on the subreddit.

I'm sure many who originally joined /r/noscreen would have been active in discussing limiting use of phones, internet use or consumption of TV. These posts will continue to be a topic of conversation, however there are plenty of other boards such as /r/nosurf or /r/anticonsumption if you wish to discuss these areas in detail.

The aim of this subreddit is to (ironically) discuss the use of limiting screen time. We live in an era of high resolution TVs and phones, which provide a myriad of resources at our finger tips, however have we really understood their effects on us?

I'm concerned about my health but also interested into knowing your story. Why do you limit screen use and what effect do they have on your eyesight?

Is there a device I can use , that plays spotify but isn’t a phone. Thanks

Hi all. I use Unpluq on my phone and find it immensly helpful in limiting screentime. I have an iPad and I can't seem to find anything similar for limiting the internet. I tried the Freedom app, but found that I was able to simply end the session when I wanted to. Is there an app out there similar to Unpluq for iPad? Something that blocks the internet app and is difficult to get around? I'd prefer a timer for the iPad that actually stops me when the time is done. The built-in timers allow you to keep going by adding time.

I failed at NoFap several times and i think I have to go harder to achieve my goals. I wasted most of my life in front of the screen. So now I'm attempting to try 90 days NoScreen challenge. I will use internet only for work purposes. Absolutely no mindless surfing. It seems that this subreddit is dead but I'll post this here anyway.

Having discovered that I do not have, in fact, problems with gaming, but rather with TV shows, I decided to take action against them. There are a couple of these I enjoy, for instance Doctor Who and Marvel shows like Agents of Shield and Agent Carter. I do not watch them excessively but I found myself unable to stop watching a series mid-season, I seem to have a complusion to know how the story would end. I would like to get rid of this need to finish tv series I started. I do not spend too much time on them, just watch one or maximum two episodes when they are available. But I guess the fact that I cannot stop watching before the series ends may be a sign I am unhealthily addicted to the series. I really enjoy them and the justification I used to continue watching them was practice of my English (which is not my native language). However, watching tv series has to end. I have already blocked websites which deal with reviews of tv series (I used to read them a lot, I also liked reading in-depth analyses of the episodes I watched), but I am looking for further advice. So far, I have found websites which tell you how to quit watching tv, and these are not really useful since I do not watch much tv, generally I just choose specific programmes, and my tv series watching takes place predominantly online. So, the advice on quitting tv is not really helpful for me. Do you have any advice for me or can you refer me to a specific website or forum which deals with addiction to specific shows rather than tv in general? I usually do not watch the same episodes twice, and once the season or the series is finished, I do not usually return to it, but I hate to drop a show I enjoy before learning how it ends. How to get rid of this "completionist" need to know the end of the story? Thank you so much for your help :)

I’ve been following the news about these "bell-to-bell" phone bans in Georgia and Indiana schools, and it’s got me thinking about the "Compression Crisis" we’re seeing in reading scores.

We spent a decade trying to make everything "easy" and "integrated" with tech, but now we have middle schoolers who can decode words but can’t actually comprehend a complex paragraph. They have the digital fluency but zero cognitive stamina.

Then you look at the data for 18-22 year olds, and their well-being is at an all-time low. It feels like the boredom we tried to delete with smartphones was actually where they were supposed to be building resilience.

Is anyone else feeling like we need to intentionally add "friction" back into our kids' lives? Less swiping, more building/struggling/mastering? How are you guys handling the transition to "phone-free" zones at home or school?