Is Internet Addiction becoming a real problem?🔫

Learn about the signs of Addiction & how to beat it

Yesterday, I came across a question on Quora — How do I get rid of internet and laptop addiction? and facing with this issue myself, i wrote a post on how to embark on that journey and it felt nice to share what i’ve learned.

As mentioned in my quora post, Internet addiction is a real problem and as internet speeds keep on increasing, more and more people will be dependent on phones, laptops, screens, anything that is connected to the internet.

Just like smokers crave for a puff, Internet addicts crave for information.

This problem will be faced more by the developed nations (where internet speeds are fast). This article shares the top 10 nations addicted to the Internet.

How to check if you’re an Internet Addict?

My first realization was when i checked my phone usage for the day and i had spent 6 hours of my day just staring at my phone. Just browsing through the endless feeds of Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Tumblr, Instagram,…

So, after this i wanted to track my daily phone and laptop usage and i used RescueTime for Android and Chrome to make sense of my whole day for a week.

On average i would spend 12 hours starting at my phone and my laptop. I spent almost half my day consuming information from a screen.

People haven’t yet realized this problem. It’s not like alcohol or smoking addiction where you’re addicted to something tangible but it’s just as harmful as you are addicted to your phone. It’s affecting the brain through the constant artificial serge of dopamine and believe me, it affects the brain in ways the same way constant substance abuse does.

If you can relate to this, you need to know that you’re not alone. This problem needs to be managed in ways every other addiction is treated.

I’ve mentioned some ways you can beat this addiction in my quora post — You can read about it on Quora.

How to beat Internet Addiction

STEP 1 — Reduce the time you spent in front of a screen.

When you’re motivated to stop, it’s easier. At the start i reduced my phone usage from 6 hours to 4 hours as motivation kept me from giving up. On the second day, i gave up pretty early and my phone usage was 7 hours. I spent 2 hours in the morning as soon as i got up because i didn’t get my fix the previous day.

For the next 2 months, i tried to reduce my usage but i could see that it wasn’t getting any better. I needed help.

I started by putting my brain to work. So, I did my research and found that i wasn’t alone. People shared their stories on how the Internet was ruining their lives and i read everything i could find. Finally i was putting my time to good use.

So here’s a list of things, tools that played a role in reducing my phone usage -

Measure your screen-on time First analyze when you’re in front of a screen. Check which sites you spend most of your time on. Find the root cause of your internet addiction.

• I found out that i would spend a lot of time on Facebook and Reddit. The NewsFeed is designed in a way that you keep on scrolling because it’s endless. Because of this i spent countless hours.
• I found out that most of my usage on my phone was on social media sites. On my laptop, i didn’t waste my time as much. I realized i was more addicted to my phone than my laptop. So, the phone was the problem. Maybe because it was always on, easy to carry and much more user friendly.
• I also found out that most of my phone usage was in the mornings and late at night. As soon as i woke up i needed that dopamine rush and at nights, that rush wouldn’t let me sleep.
• As i was making these realizations, i was voluntarily trying to curb my usage of my phone. It was hard and i kept failing even after realizing that i was negatively affecting my brain.

Block the sites, Apps that were a problem. I researched all apps, chrome extensions that could be useful and downloaded and tested almost everyone of ’em and these are the one’s that were better than the rest.

• Laptop — StayFocusd is pretty useful. I just entered the entire list of sites that i need to block or set the duration for their usage.
• Mobile — AppBlock is pretty good. Whenever i would open facebook during the morning or late at night, it would block it and help me stop at that instant. Qualitytime is also helpful as i could choose the apps that i wanted during the day. I blocked Facebook, Instagram.

So, now that i had analyzed the problem and put the necessary measures to counter my addiction to my laptop and my phone. I had hatched the perfect plan and an excellent strategy.

So Did it work?

It started well for a week but then the cravings started to set in. I started missing my phone. It’s almost like cutting out sugar from your life. You are desperate for just a little screen on time.

The cravings were so unbearable that i found loopholes in my excellent plan. I disabled that chrome extension even tough it made me type a 20 worded sentence cause i was that desperate. Eventually, I deleted that extension.

I deleted all those apps that kept me from my beloved apps and now i was free to go about that endless feed of photos, videos, blogs.

My mind made me do away with those blockers because i came to the conclusion that a little bit won’t hurt. I was wrong.

Now, i was back to where i began. I felt like a loser and lost all hope and fell into this dark pit with almost no motivation to get out from this.

It was the hardest thing i had ever faced in my entire life.

I thought of going to rehab. But, is there a rehab for people addicted to their phones? The answer is no, because people don’t realize how big of a problem this is.

Enough said, i’ll continue with my story.

Now this cycle of blocking and then unblocking went multiple times. I would feel motivated a few weeks, then i would fail and i would be demotivated for a few weeks. I clearly realized that this was not the entire solution. There was some part 2 that i hadn’t yet discovered. So i did my research again and here’s what i found.

If say i reduced my usage from 6 hours to 4 hours, i had saved 2 hours everyday. Now, if i didn’t do anything productive with that time, i would naturally get drawn to my phone.

Finally it hit me —I had to do something that made me forget my phone. So, i download all the apps i could find that were for Healthy living. I was gonna replace all that wasted time with productive time. Even though i was failing everyday, i didn’t let that affect me in my pursuance of good habits.

STEP 2 — Take up good habits that heal the damage you’ve done

Mindfulness — I started with meditation. I downloaded the Calm app and started doing meditation after waking up and before going to sleep. That’s when my phone usage was at its peak.

At first, it was the hardest thing in the world. Sitting with straight back on floor with the eyes closed and focusing on breathing might sound easy but it’s not. The brain has been so high on dopamine that blocking my thoughts was next to impossible. But the app is designed in a way that really makes it doable. I failed multiple times missing many days between sessions but eventually i made it a habit.

Benefits of Meditation

Meditation releases dopamine naturally and was helping me be more mindful about things. Whenever i feel any craving of any sort, i just sit down, close my eyes and be mindful about it and i forget about using my phone.

Eventually you won’t need an app and you could just set a timer for 15 min. Whenever i open my eyes after a meditation practice, i feel energized and happy. :)

Exercise — I found that 7 min Exercises everyday was doable. I thought of joining a gym but i never really got down to it. So, i downloaded 7 min Workout app and exercised everyday in the morning.

The benefit was that i would break a sweat without feeling exhausted. It was just enough for me to be healthy and not too rigorous that i gave up. After each routine i would take a cold shower.

The simple fact is that if you work towards building your body, it helps build your mind. Some days i would miss the exercise but i would keep at it because meditation, exercise, cold showers really helped me stay motivated.

I was reducing my phone usage and was switching the usage of phone towards better habits :)

Yoga — I also embarked towards yoga. I enjoyed it because it was a cross between exercise and mindfulness. I downloaded the Daily Yoga app and would do their programs from time to time. The benefits were that it helped me relax.

Start a Journal — I also starting writing about my day. I would write about my day on the Journey App. The best practice is to write about your day the next morning.

It was the perfect time to reflect how you spent the previous day. It need not be an essay but mention the highlights. Doesn’t matter if it was a good day or a bad day, just write what comes to mind. I’ve made this a habit and have been writing about my day ever since 1 Jan, 2016. Documenting the highlights of your life is necessary towards beating this addiction.

So now that i had a few good habits in place, i needed to manage them.

Building a Ritual — I was progressing well but now i needed to optimize my day and make it more productive. I needed to be on top of my game. I did that with the Fabulous app and it really is the best app out there. period.

I was able to set my morning ritual, my work ritual and my evening ritual that would streamline my day and cut my phone usage. Also, the fabulous app is perfectly designed to make you more productive with your time. I wouldn’t be able to able to stay motivated without this app pushing me.

You will fail. You will crawl and life won’t be perfect but you have to endure. It’s not easy, it’s very very hard. Sometimes you would feel defeated but you have to talk yourself to do the right thing.

So best of luck, we all need it.

Here are a few additional HACKS:

Hack — This is my home screen. I removed all the apps from the home screen and replaced them with better apps.

I removed all apps like Chrome, Whatsapp, Facebook and replaced them with Elevate(If i want to play games, better help me be more brainy), Calm, Fabulous, Pocket(I like to read), TED (for motivational videos), RescueTime(To check my progress), Journey (To write about my day), Camera (Remember to take a lot of photos) and Daily Yoga. I deleted any apps that i didn’t need. Minimalism is key.

What this screenshot doesn’t show is that my screen is monochrome. Having a gray scale really rips the life out of the phone and i don’t use it as much as i used to. Here’s the reason for that — Change Your Screen to Grayscale to Combat Phone Addiction.

Hack — It’s not about stopping, it’s about moderation. By using app block, the counter keeps running everytime i open chrome, play store, facebook, etc. It helps me keep a check on my usage and blocks me when my usage limit is reached.

If you have any more hacks that you think can save the world from phone addiction, comment below. I’m also battling this problem and need all the help i can get.

I shared this with everyone so that you all can realize this problem and work towards the solution.

Thank you. Please share this with people who are addicted to their phones. By reading this, i’m sure they will relate to my experiences.