How digital drugs are preventing me from thinking straight and achieving my goals
Introduction
Today I want to publicly admit that I have a powerful digital addiction, at the level of drug addiction. Digital habits formed over the years have brought me to where I am today. I lost the ability to focus, study, and even consume quality content due to the lack of dopamine receptor stimulation.
My brain is so overloaded with unnecessary information, low-quality content and unnecessary interactions with people that I no longer understand where my thoughts are and whether I am capable of making quality decisions.
Below I will describe some symptoms. If you encounter something similar in your behavior, then this article is for you. I am writing these lines in the hope that a public analysis of the problem can help both me and you change something in your life and achieve results that you can be proud of.
Some will call the situation the usual word “procrastination,” but the problem is much deeper. It is associated with the culture of producing addictive digital products. Products that arouse trust, interest, love and comfort among users and are good for multiple annual growth of startups, but cause critical harm to the most economically active part of the population. I’m scared to even think about what they do to children who have not developed critical thinking skills. I sincerely believe that along with the development of artificial intelligence, which is already excellent at identifying our weaknesses and deep-seated needs, the development of technology in the next couple of decades will lead our civilization to ideocrty. It will be a strange world, society will be divided into two parts – digital addicts and people who deny advanced technologies. And I cannot say with certainty which of these groups I myself would like to be in. Perhaps this article is something of a manifesto.
Symptoms
If you don’t deceive yourself and don’t deny the existing problem, then the clinical picture is as follows:
The patient does not remember when he had breakfast, lunch or dinner without watching a TV series or YouTube. Conversations with loved ones are so slow and boring.
The patient brushes his teeth and takes a bath under YouTube.
While driving, the patient always watches YouTube, listens to a podcast, or at worst the radio. It doesn’t matter that, being distracted, you have to risk your life and the lives of passengers.
When a patient watches a TV series or a movie, he always has a phone in his hands. It doesn't matter what he does there. It's important to have a couple of content sources. The patient cannot remember the details of the film because… The plot is not the main thing for him. The main thing is to load your RAM to the maximum.
During solo walks, jogging or sports training, instead of music, reflection or enjoying nature, the patient's ears are always headphones with podcasts or YouTube in the background. It's so productive to do two things at the same time. Almost like Julius Caesar.
The patient finds it difficult to read books because the content comes in too slowly.
During working hours, after completing any task, even the smallest one, you need to be distracted. Look at chats on Telegram, go out onto the balcony with a cigarette, go have a drink, lie down on the sofa. It doesn’t matter what it is, the main thing is to get out of the flow state, because the task is completed, the box is ticked and the patient “deserves” rest. As a result, during a retrospective of the working day, the patient is surprised at how little he managed to do and how quickly the working hours fly by.
If the patient has productive days when a lot is done in a state of flow, then the next day will not be productive. After all, this is a “deserved” rest. I call it “living a wonderful day.” But in fact, this is not a “beautiful day”, this is degradation. It is almost impossible to achieve a series of productive days, the exception is the presence of critical threats, when motivation comes from a feeling of fear. I have lived too many “beautiful days”, which dramatically affects the effectiveness of implementing projects and achieving significant goals.
If a patient finds a computer game that can be captivating, a situation occurs that I call “diving.” At these moments, all life is relegated to the background, basic needs and play remain. The game controls the patient until the moment it makes him feel physically disgusting and sick.
The patient agrees to consume low-quality content. Watch passable TV series and movies, play boring computer games, watch videos on YouTube and listen to podcasts that don’t teach him anything or make him better.
The patient has a TV at home with something going on in the background. It doesn’t matter what, as long as you don’t feel lonely and aren’t left alone with your own thoughts. Yes, we are all cool and don’t watch TV like the older generation. But we look and sometimes something else and have forgotten how to say no to content in a sentence that is formed based on our interests and weaknesses.
The patient has paid for or downloaded many courses that he will never take. A couple of lessons at most, and then stop.
The patient pumps the character. It doesn’t matter in what game or in what form. The patient pumps the character.
I no longer pump up the characters, but you can already understand the picture that I eventually came to. In my case, the main problem is in Telegram and YouTube, but your habits may differ. Think about what addictions you have, and if you can honestly admit them to yourself, read on.
Background
I’m no longer a young man, I’m 40. Somewhere in the foggy 90s I got my first computer and an endless number of low-quality games in which I spent a significant part of my youth. There were masterpieces among them and it was very interesting. However, I am a gamer. I was lucky and at some point building systems and managing teams became more interesting to me than playing computer grand strategies. But this is purely an accident, perhaps growing up. Now it’s extremely difficult for me to become interested in the game, probably about once a year something comes out that I can’t afford to spend my precious time on. I miss the times when I could dive into any game and find the motivation to play it for a long time. I miss you, but I’m glad that I’m not there anymore. I began to notice that sometimes it’s easier for me to watch a let’s play of a new game than to play it myself and end there without installing it. About five years ago, I didn’t even understand why people watch let’s plays.
In 2010, a girl I really liked told me about Facebook. I wanted to communicate with her so much that I developed a vigorous activity there, increased the number of friends and in 15 years almost reached the figure of 5 thousand friends, learning to write texts along the way. It was classic life blogging, show-offs, photos of food and relaxation and other bullshit. I don’t know where this girl is now, but the amount of time spent on leveling up her profile terrifies me. Anya, if you happen to read this article, then know that in order to make an impression on you then, I spent about 15 years in total. I was very lucky and Instagram didn’t work for me. I don’t know why, but I was practically not there.
After well-known events and as a result of a strange product policy, my beloved Facebook turned into a trash heap. I practically stopped going there, except for the sake of communicating with friends scattered around the world. With this, the addiction to social networks was over.
At least, that’s what I was comfortable thinking until social networks struck again in the form of Telegram and YouTube. How cool it was to use WhatsApp, without any groups or content. And then, slowly but surely, I got used to consuming content inside Telegram, created an endless number of group chats and communities, and subscribed to incredibly interesting channels. I don’t understand anything about how I became addicted to YouTube. The quality of the content has simply increased and it has become a place for me to seek knowledge, and at the same time a universal source of entertainment. As I wrote above, on YouTube you can even play computer games without doing anything in the format of watching let’s plays.
At some point, TikTok and other vertical videos appeared, where I began to fall through, arriving in some kind of evil delight at what was happening. It became an ideal way to distract myself, and what happens inside with the perception of time is just some kind of magic. I deleted TikTok many times, then installed it again. But in the end I dealt with it and simply stopped logging in. The celebration did not last long and vertical videos appeared on YouTube and I failed again. I was saved from this virus unexpectedly when I installed the NoScroll application on my phone. This thing just throws you back if you go into a vertical video. There are significant problems with the rights and security granted to the application, but in my case it worked. I still believe that vertical videos are the most cognitively damaging digital product ever invented. Only MMO games can compete with them.
Telegram community chats are the icing on the cake. It’s so great to be in a circle of like-minded people, read their requests, joke, arrange meetings and joint activities. I now have a large chat of Burning Man fans, several “very useful” business clubs. It's very cozy there, a lot of friends. You just need to read the tape. Previously, I was actively involved in networking at every opportunity, but the contacts received need to be somehow processed, maintained and developed. Only then will networking be of any use. At some point I realized that I simply didn’t need more people in my life. My list of contacts actively maintained through personal CRM exceeded a couple of thousand people. I have many friends! – I said. “You have no friends and all your contacts are superficial,” those around me answered. Networking is good when it has specific goals. And these goals cannot be a banal increase in the number of contacts in the address book. Yes, being surrounded by people who know you is part of the concept of security and social confidence. But is it worth paying for superficial interactions with a huge amount of your time? This is a question that everyone must answer for themselves.
This is my story, I apologize for some confusion in the presentation, I just decided to write and publish this article at once without editing.
Types of digital drugs
Below, I will talk about the types of digital addictions known to me. I am sure that this list is not complete, you can add to it in the comments.
News
A terrible thing that is not needed at all. You will learn all the important news without reading news publications or watching news videos. You don't need to be in the know. What is said in the news is not information. This is an agenda that is loaded into your head for some purpose. I tried turning off the news completely and it worked. Nothing happened, the world did not collapse. But I became noticeably calmer.Wheel of sites
It could be anything. Any sites that you regularly view. But it is always a wheel and after completing the cycle you can always go to a new round because information has been updated. Now this has become less, but instead of websites there are now Telegram channels and other things. If you find that your habits include consistently visiting resources, this is bad, stop immediately.Vertical videos
One of the worst options for consuming content, I already wrote about them above. This simply should not happen in your life and the lives of your children. This is a product that turns you into a zombie. You probably think that you set up a feed, it’s useful and you can learn something there. But this is exactly the perception the authors of the algorithm expect from you. You are trapped and you pay for it with hours of your life.Videos on YouTube
You can really learn a lot from YouTube, but only if you watch the videos mindfully and take notes. For example, I do this at Obsidian, about which there is an article on my Telegram channel. Entertainment content is dangerous and must be carefully selected, added to playlists and watched strictly at the allotted time. Background viewing of YouTube is no different from TV, at the mention of which we all collectively roll our eyes.TV series and films
There are good TV series and films that are worth watching. But most of them are passable and will not give you anything. Watching a movie you've been waiting for a long time in the cinema is good. Watching three random movies at home in an evening is rock bottom. TV series are much more dangerous in terms of consuming your life, so you need to think carefully before you start watching something new. If you are doing something on your phone while watching, the content is bad and you should turn it off. Good content engages you so much that no additional stimulation is needed.Computer games
MMOs are the worst. Replayable games come second. It's great when you decide how much time you're going to spend in the game. It's not healthy when you run away from reality into it.Building complex systems and planning
This is my personal joke, I am a Notion and Obsidian enthusiast. I really like building systems in these applications, planning, improving. And this is also a form of procrastination, albeit a useful one. Poking around in such applications, time can be tracked like work. But this is not work.Correspondence in messengers
Answering everyone at once is bad. This is not socialization. This is not friendship. If you still have notifications turned on, I can only sympathize with you. Think about whether it’s worth answering the question “How are you?” from a person who is not close to you and what it will give you. Don't take on tasks that you don't need to achieve your goals. Messengers are a generator of such useless and time-consuming tasks.Social media
The most harmful thing is the tape. There is nothing there that you need, only information that other people publish in order to influence you and achieve some of their own goals. By reacting to these triggers, you become the effect instead of the cause, which leads to a gradual loss of control over your life.Life blogging
Who do you want to impress with a check-in at a restaurant or a photo from Dubai? Do you want to prove to others that you live a great life? Those who live truly interesting lives rarely feel a burning need to prove their worth to someone. The value of your activities to society is near zero. No one will thank you for a photo of a plate of food or another beach.Hunting for likes
You should definitely click on the notification and see who praised or disliked you! At the same time, get positive reinforcement or get angry. Watching likes is some kind of lowest level of content consumption. There’s not even content there, just an automated action aimed at making you believe that someone approves of you. Is this really the kind of approval you need?Networking without purpose or community
Not your agenda, not your goals, not a real relationship. Of course, you can get something useful there, but “sitting” and “living” in such places is pointless. Come with a request and everything will be fine. It's better to hang out with friends and loved ones. And building quality relationships with the “many” is a dubious idea. We need some kind of strategy, funnel, goals. Without this, you are deceiving yourself.
Ideal people
Somewhere there are people who log into messengers once a day. Somewhere there is Vladimir Putin, who does not use gadgets. Somewhere there are those who are not on social media. networks. And someone has a push-button telephone, let's laugh. And all these people are busy with business, or are completely marginal. There are such people among my friends, and they often achieve significant success in life. What a pity that I’m not like that, apparently I have too much free time. But why don’t I have time to do everything I should?
Conclusions
I am aware of the problem for myself and every day I wage war against digital temptations. With varying success, to be honest. Here, as with smoking cigarettes, you either cut it off or give up. People around me say that I am fine with willpower, initiative and motivation. But willpower alone won’t get you far, it’s finite. In this situation, only the formation of habits helps. Everything is clear with good habits, a lot has been written about this and I am able to implement them quite successfully. Over the past year, I have implemented as many as 18 of them. But with bad habits you are at war. At war with oneself, the inner animal, the child, the lazy person, the fool. And the main thing here is to understand who your enemy is. It seems to me that I am beginning to understand, and you?
What to do?
Track one day
Try to write down any of your actions during the day. The beginning of an action, the end of an action, the essence of an action. From the moment you wake up until you go to bed. The next day, look at it all with fresh eyes and you will see a number of terrifying patterns. The fact is that 70% of the time we live on autopilot and are not aware of our actions. Carry out an analysis and you will immediately understand where you should be wary. Yes, you also need to record your actions on your phone.Take a digital detox for problematic apps
Try to live for 2 days without these applications and write down your impressions somewhere. Has the world fallen? After this, you should introduce some rules for self-restraint and it won’t be so scary anymore.Make a plan for content consumption
If you find an interesting video on YouTube, add it to your “watch later” playlist and don’t watch it immediately. Look on YouTube for reviews like “the best TV series of September 2024” and “the best movies of September 2024.” Did something really catch your eye? Add it to your viewing plan and don't watch crap. Ideally, you should have time blocks in your calendar for this type of vacation. You need to watch educational content and take notes, otherwise you will have nothing left in your head. We are all overloaded with information and relying on our memory in such a world is naive. Limit the time you can watch YouTube. Your smartphone and browser have such capabilities.Set fixed time for instant messengers
It’s cool to log into them a couple of times a day for a fixed time. It's not cool to be online all the time. It is advisable to separate work chats and correspondence from personal ones. There are folders for this in Telegram. Dividing communication into two accounts is an extremely rational thing, but I haven’t done it yet. Notifications can be left turned on only for those closest to you. For all other contacts and chats, notifications should be turned off.Be in silence
Just give yourself time without any content at all. Walking, driving, eating. When you are not consuming content, your brain rests, generates ideas, analyzes, and reflects. This takes time. It's in your best interest.Read books
Books train focus and imagination. When reading books you think, imagine, focus. This is a type of mind training. A must for modern man. Gym for your brain. At the same time, it is not super important what exactly you read. I prefer to read one fiction book and one educational book at a time. While reading fiction, I rest, and while reading educational literature, I pause and take notes. And of course, I have a queue of books to read. I don’t know how to choose books myself and only read what my friends recommend.Only play games that have an ending
A good game is like a book. It is desirable that it is not replayable and one passage of the plot should be enough for you to confidently delete it forever. MMO games are strictly prohibited, my dear cyber-athletes. There shouldn't be any games on your phone in your life at all. it’s a creepy world in which the developer’s only job is to make you pay or watch an ad.Prevent yourself from viewing vertical videos
Just install the No Scroll app and never do this again. There's not even anything more to say. Don't be a junkie.Create rather than consume content
This is the smartest way to benefit from modern communication platforms and technologies. Create and you won't need to consume. Creating is always more interesting and it leads you somewhere. Creating content allows you to not feel disconnected and deprived of something in the ocean of social media.
Here is my action plan that I wanted to share with you. I am already doing some of this, and I plan to implement some of this. I really don’t know what’s best and I could be wrong about some things, but I continue to find my way to gain control over my life.
I’ve already spent 3 hours writing this 21k character post and I don’t want to edit it. Therefore, there may be some errors and repetitions in it, for which I ask you to forgive me. I just didn’t have a productive day today and I got pretty angry with myself, which resulted in this stream of consciousness. I’ll publish it today and re-read it tomorrow.
If you have thoughts and ideas on this matter, I will be glad to continue the dialogue in the comments. I invite you to subscribe to my telegram channel and follow this path together. Here is the link: https://t.me/caosfreebies
