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Significantly reducing browser usage?? (hexbear.net)
submitted 1 day ago by cyber_godqueen@hexbear.net to c/self_improvement@hexbear.net
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I really don't want to be on the mainstream internet as it exists today anymore. God it's such a time sink especially for someone with unmedicated ADHD, i lose entire days to webnovels/reddit(ugh)/youtube everytime i open one of them. even this post took me an entire day to write because I kept getting distracted. even hexbear sometimes can be bad for this but there's not as much content

how to i reduce browser usage? especially on phone, and maybe phone usage - i'm considering deleting my browser entirely but i'm concerned about whether i need to retain it for signing into things. But maybe this wouldn't be a problem if I delete as many apps as humanly possible and only use my phone for texts and calls

Reddit is also a very tricky one because of just how much information is on it these days (sidenote I actually fucking hate this, destroy reddit and bring back niche forums). I'm wondering if there's a way to handle this with ublock filters s.t. I can view posts individually but not subreddit feeds or the main page.

a more general question is - how do you throw off the shackles of the Algorithm

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[-] mattie@hexbear.net 3 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

This is something I've been experimenting with myself, frankly I feel since moving away from mainstream social media I feel no where near as obligated to my phone, but there's still definitely some aaaaa I have shackled to it. Here are some of my things that I feel have helped?

For desktop browsers (I use firefox):

For mobile stuff (I use android, will somewhat only apply for that):

  • All the previously mentioned extensions are available on Firefox for Android
  • If you can, perhaps transition to a smaller phone. The smaller the screen, the less incentive there is to use it. I picked up a Pixel 2 for dirt cheap recently, popped LineageOS on it and it feels a lot less... loud?
  • Disable as many notifications as possible, except crucial ones. The less incentive/need to look at your phone and get distracted, the better
  • Something like a minimal launcher may help? https://f-droid.org/en/packages/eu.ottop.yamlauncher/
  • Find devices other than your phone to use for things. Get a cheapo watch with a timer, a cheapo MP3 player, a gameboy if you have it lying around or something, physical books from your local library? Again, the less you have to actually open your phone, the better.
this post was submitted on 29 Jan 2025
26 points (96.4% liked)

Self Improvement

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