Everyone will have their own solution dependent on their own habits and brain quirks. But, some things which worked for me which you might wish to try. I found some things are useful to have, but distracting in other contexts.
As an example, people often text me a tweet. I want to be able to read the tweet, or look up certain sources of information. So I don't want to block twitter. And being logged out prevents reading a thread. But I also don't want to scroll my feed. Solution --> stay logged in, but with my work account which has a dull feed.
Instagram is a waste of time on my phone. But I need to login occasionally to check messages and I like seeing the odd update. Solution --> use nextdns to block on my phone, check on computer in browser.
So on my phone I identified instagram, youtube and twitter as the things where I waste the most time. NextDNS blocks youtube and instagram entirely, and the for twitter I use the login solution above.
On my mac I'm most likely to waste time checking various websites. So I just put anything I want to check into Netnewswire. It gathers it all, it's quick to go through, and then when it's done there's nothing else to check.
I also catalogued "what do I actually want to do on my phone" down to the level of even reviewing the modqueue on reddit in the browser. Then I made homescreen shortcuts for any of it, so I have an easy thing to tap which lowers friction for doing something I want, rather than something aimless.
Also sounds funny but I made an effort to close all tabs and open loops on my mac before starting my day. Have always been the type to have too many tabs, and it sort of takes up mental RAM.
There's no single big solution, but by chipping away at the problem and checking "what do I find unsatisfying" and "what do I want to do, where?" I've made a system that actually works pretty well for me.
I've tried cold turkey before, and it works great, especially if it's only for a single service. But the thing is it's kind of inconvenient to totally block youtube or twitter or anything as they often have useful info. Corraling them has been more sustainable for me.
As an example, people often text me a tweet. I want to be able to read the tweet, or look up certain sources of information. So I don't want to block twitter. And being logged out prevents reading a thread. But I also don't want to scroll my feed. Solution --> stay logged in, but with my work account which has a dull feed.
Instagram is a waste of time on my phone. But I need to login occasionally to check messages and I like seeing the odd update. Solution --> use nextdns to block on my phone, check on computer in browser.
So on my phone I identified instagram, youtube and twitter as the things where I waste the most time. NextDNS blocks youtube and instagram entirely, and the for twitter I use the login solution above.
On my mac I'm most likely to waste time checking various websites. So I just put anything I want to check into Netnewswire. It gathers it all, it's quick to go through, and then when it's done there's nothing else to check.
I also catalogued "what do I actually want to do on my phone" down to the level of even reviewing the modqueue on reddit in the browser. Then I made homescreen shortcuts for any of it, so I have an easy thing to tap which lowers friction for doing something I want, rather than something aimless.
Also sounds funny but I made an effort to close all tabs and open loops on my mac before starting my day. Have always been the type to have too many tabs, and it sort of takes up mental RAM.
There's no single big solution, but by chipping away at the problem and checking "what do I find unsatisfying" and "what do I want to do, where?" I've made a system that actually works pretty well for me.
I've tried cold turkey before, and it works great, especially if it's only for a single service. But the thing is it's kind of inconvenient to totally block youtube or twitter or anything as they often have useful info. Corraling them has been more sustainable for me.