Background: A little bit about me and how we got to this position. When I was a kid I was obese and due to the bullying I had everyday I used gaming and long-form content specifically Youtube to escape reality. Nobody thought much of it at the time my family and friends just labelled me that indoors kid. At this time I would spend an average of 8-10 hours per day on Youtube or gaming on a old pc. Later I went to university and this habbit started to lower naturally because I would spend my time doing other stuff with friends, relationships etc I didnt even sit to think about how much better my life was at the time but looking back it was some of my best years even though it ended with the COVID pandemic. At this time I still saw Youtube for about 2-3 hours per day which is actually ok and didnt game at all. I then enlisted in the army did a year there and had almost no access to smartphones or gaming but I actually developed health problems while there due to bad nutrition we were fed and being overworked at the same time. Do keep in mind the only reason my body collasped where genetic predispositions and existing history. During this time I had made many friends although far from my home and we would hang out all the time.
Recent Years: After my service to the army concluded I went back to search for a job I found one in a couple of months back not a great job but its an entry position to my career. Now that I began work I started to address my health issues one of which was a cancer scare that ended up being a rare type of rapidly growing non cancerours but still harmful tissue that I had to surgically removed. Then I started my health journey to recovery now with pills I need to take for life some of which are not even covered by health insurance because I will techniqually not die from these but my life quality would decrease significantly. Anyways during this stresful time I was trying to drown my sorrows with Youtube and Instagram Reels which ofc led me to finally have a massive addiction to it. At this point 6 months after I started repairing my health I noticed I still had issues which are not clinically addressable (we are going to talk about this in a section below in detail) but I though its just my body adjusting which it wasnt. I was watching 10 hours of Youtube and 2 hours of Instagram Reels (yes I do work at the same time as watching at this time) per day at this point and feeling terrible the minute I stop. Eventually I realised that the real cancer was this digital bullshit.
Post Realising the Addiction: So I figured out its time to limit screen time so I put screen time limits for 0 minutes on all entertainment apps Netflix, Instagram, Youtube etc. In just 24-48 hours I had more energy, better mood and better productivity on and off work hours. In 1 week I started to realise just how much better sleep and more time I have in the day. MY life literally turned around since then. Its under a month in but I have to share the word I am sure other people will be in my shoes in this digital age shitshow.
What to Avoid: Any app that feed infinite content based on algorithms is problematic short or long form. Short form is more dangerous and long form is still bad just more tolerable:
- Long form: Youtube, Twitch, Kick.
- Short form: Twitter, Instagram Reels, Snapchat, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn.
- Threat mainly to older generations: News overconsumption, traditional TV. These also impact your life drastically negatively and we had family members with issues on these.
Tools for Enforcement: For anyone else struggling please use some of the following that finally stopped my life being drained away from digital cancer:
- Site blocking extensions on all browsers with passkey or at the router level for more technical people.
- Screen time limits and auto close automations if you decide to keep the apps and use them in a healthy way. According to studies it is recommended short form content to be limitated to 30 minutes per day and long form to 2 hours per day assuming for non work purposes if not cut entirely. This assumes you are not a content creator only a consumer.
- For TVs have dedicated hours you can use the TV or dont use it entirely. You can use plug timers which will physically cut power to the TV when not in the given time window.
- For News prefer text based articles instead of video/TV. Allocate limited time per day to this. Be careful with biased sources.
What even is the danger? From personal experiences and several studies I found and read when over consuming the above:
- For older generations especially: Brain atrophy, increased risks of alzheimers and dementia especially in predisposed individuals, higher rates of obesity and diabetes, higher rates of depression and loneliness.
- For everyone else: Long and short term memory loss, temporary decline in IQ, sleep disruption, depression, loneliness, higher rates of body dysmorphia, eating disorders, obesity, higher chances for autoimmune conditions, lack of self care, huge productivity loss in work and out of work hours, social isolation, difficulty communicating even at basic levels (bakery, supermarket etc.).
How do I know I am an Addict: From my personal experience ask these questions to find out if you are in this camp, as long as you answer honestly. If you say yes to some of the below you need help too:
- When my parents/friends/loved one calls me and I consuming digital entertainment I become irritated/angry suddenly.
- When in the same room as me someone genuinely asks for my help and I get angry at them all of a sudden.
- When in my mind I want to have a better career, start a business or have made life changing plans but I feel that I cant do that I am busy but I dont actually have pressing matters.
- When people you love ask you to hang out and you are immedietelly inclined to refuse.
- When you set personal goals for yourself but realise you are not achieving them and you are content with that saying I am too busy for all that anyways. You probably arent.
- You always have no time. You catch yourself tired especially during early day and lunch hours. You dont remember things at all.
- You cant focus on a single task for at least 20 minutes with no distractions. Example: just putting a lego set together in absolute silence alone no music not tv no youtube.
What to do with all this time? I chose a couple of things:
- I am planning to launch a personal business which I held back for a while.
- You can replace all this stuff with listening to music instead! Music doesnt actually cause any issues from my personal experience especially if listening to tracks without lyrics. Dont do this all day though either you are going to lose the benefits of an empty mind that allow you to think of larger decisions.
- I wanted to lose weight because since my addiction peaked I hit 25% body fat as a male which is Obese Class 1. In my prime university years I was 10% body fat year round but skinny, I would settle for 12-15% now but nothing less ideally with more muscle mass.
- Learn learn learn. You might think but thats why I had Youtube on! You are lying to yourself wake up. Use AI properly and learn new things, carpentry, knitting, blacksmithing, exotic pet handling whatever you want the world is your oyster just read using it and apply things in real life to properly absorb it. I am learning about starting a business, bodybuilding and biohacking on the side at the same time!
In conclusion if I were to give you an analogy to what I feel about digital entertainment that we discussed above is its like a life drain. You trade your life time for dopamine but once you start you cant stop. Much like any other addiction it will eventually harm your health and your life indirectly (work, friends, relationships, family). Dont be a cog in the machine, wake up even if its late in life its always the best decision to come off. Wish you all the best!