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Media Detox


Megaman

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Hello,

yesterday, I started my media detox.

I already quitted computer games. But my impression is that the media detox is in some aspects more challenging. The main point is, that on a certain level Internet, Youtube, etc. can be quite useful, for example when it is related with self improvement. Because of this my media detox programm is a little bit more compilcated than the video games detox, which consists of "just" don't play video games. I my opinion there is no reason for playing video games at all.

So here is my detox programm. I will just consume once per week for 2 hours media. Media is everything like Internet, TV, Radio, Newspapers, etc.

Not included: Things I will put in practice directly. For example practice Yoga on Youtube or looking for a recipe, which I will prepare. And of course I need Internet for working.

Duration: 30 days. After this I will make a decision, if and how I will continue.

Goals: Be more productive, be more conscious, be more in the present, increasnig my energy level by sports, energy work and meditation.

So lets get it on!

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Day 1 - October 27: I had light nausea. Strange! Maybe it is because some drugs, produced by the own body because of stimulations, were not produced any more.

Day 2 and 3: The weekend I spend time with my wife and we had to run some errands. For this reason it was quite easy.

Day 4: Today I had to control myself not to surf to internetpages about football. It is a strange feeling. I have the sensation that there is a big hole in my life, which was before filled mith media consumption. Right now, I like the detox very much. It seems that it is a key element to improve my life.

 

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I am also on a sort of media detox, and I agree with you, it's almost more challenging than quitting video games, since media is such a core part of the lifestyle we live today. Interesting how you describe the hole, as I've come to same conclusion. Media consumtion doesn't actually fix anything, it just temporarily fills the hole for you.

Good luck with this :) 

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@Simon E: Thank you very much. Yes, now that I do not even listen to radio, I am learning that music is a stimulation too. It is also something that it is filling me inside.

Day 5 - October 31: I checked a football web page for 2 minutes: So it is quite few and I do not consider it as a relapse. But it shows me that I have to control all the time my impulses. The stimulation is just on click away.

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@zeke365: Thank you very much. I could already make progress with my book.

Day 6 - November 1: This was was the day for the 2h media for this week. For this reason it was easy. I watched some Youtube videos and I could feel how addictive it is. My idea is to watch them in one block and not for example 4 x 30min. Because they are really triggering and YouTube makes really very good suggestions for the next videos. So I watched them 2 hours in one shot, got some information and stopped immediately.

By the way, I tried media detox in the past, maybe 5 times. My longest was 10 days and then I relapsed.

 

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Day 7 and 8: On day 8 I was reading for 15 minutes a news magazine web page. OK, it is not a big deal, but I have to be careful. It happened to me like this the last times, when I tried to have a media detox.. One day 2 minutes, the next day 15 minues, then 30 minutes and so on... And finally nothing was left of the detox programm.

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Honestly I think it be best to cut out the YouTube and whatever else is discriminating you from your work, it gradual detox you cant do it all at once, heck when I started my gaming detox I did not just get everything at once it was gradual process until I realized I was wasting 30mins and decided to try a weekend detox. Don't let it discourage you cause the first week is the hardest and gets easier from their. 

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@zeke365: Right now Youtube is very useful for me, respective information about self development, spiritual stuff, detoxing the body and raw vegan life style. So I made the compromise to watch 2 hours per week in one block. Of course I could try a complete detox, but after this I will watch YouTube again. So my goal is to have the level of media, which I want, right now and which I can keep after the detox. With gaming it was similar. I wanted to stop completely, because it was not useful, so I detoxed completely.

I detoxed gaming 17 years ago. Sometimes I relapsed, played between one and 6 months again and then stayed away for some years and so on and so on. Fortunately right now, I do not play. While I was gaming, I could do all my stuff, like university, career, etc. but I played 3 hours per day, which was always going on my nerves. Especially, very often during the day I was looking forward to the 3 hours.

Don't let it discourage you cause the first week is the hardest and gets easier from their. 

Sometimes for me it is the opposite. In the first week, I am more motivated because it is a new challenge. In the second week the motivation is lower and thoughts are appearing, like gaming is not so bad, why not one hour, etc.

Day 9 to 11 (November 4 to 6): Unbelievable, everyday I was reading for 10 minutes in the internet about football. Fortunately I could stop and did not stay longer. I still have problems to control my impulses. Maybe after this challenge, I should quit football. Do not get me wrong. Football playing outside with friends is OK, but I mean this virtual stuff, like browsing the internet and checking statistics, news, forums or even watching football on TV. Football in the entertaining, passive way is really high addictive.

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To follow sports and even news can be quite enjoyable but quite addictive too. I am not a football fan but I am always wondering if people who are are aware about the time it takes from their life. I don't think it something inherently bad and especially if you share this passion with other people it can be a great social experience to watch games and talk about it but it can also end in a useless news consumption which doesn't benefit your life at all. I am sometimes wondering what behaviors I have which are similar in effect but I can't see the real cost of them.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Ok, my detox did not work so well. In the beginning I just checked 10 minutes football (and that was already too much). But in the end I arrived at 30minutes and one day over one hour. That is too much for my challenge. So I will start again.

For this, I made a decision: I will quit football. It was a part of my whole life. But now I came to the conclusion that it does not serve me anymore and did not serve me for many years.

My new entertainment detox starts today with a duration of 90 days. No Youtube, Internet, TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, etc.

Not included are things I need for my work, I put in pratice in real life immediately, I watch with other people like family or friends. In addition I still want to use media to connect with other people, sharing (useful things) and helping. Besides my work I have some hobbies and projects, for which it is difficult to find people in real life.

When I read all this, I come to the conclusion that media detox is the wrong expression. From now on I will call it entertainment detox. The problem clearly is not internet and the related media. It is getting dopamine by entertaining. Football is a good example. It does not matter if my club is winning or losing, if someone in a forum is writing something good or bad my club. In both cases I get a kind of stimulation. And I am addicted to it. This is the bitter truth. Of course it is not so strong a the dopamine release during gaming but strong enough that entertainment like footbal, movies, etc. are stealing many hours, maybe 20 per week.

I still allow the exception of 2 hours per week (not in one block anymore) for interesting documentaries, self development, spiritual stuff and yes also a little bit entertaining. I do not want to remove it completely but clearly, I have to control it. If I do not spend more than 1 or 2 hours per week for entertainment for the rest of my life, I can life with it.

Edited by Megaman
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Day 1 to Day 2 (November 27 to 28): On Monday I had to start again, because in the weekend I checked football for 30 minutes. The first two days I could substain from it (and I hope in the next 88 days also).

I got an idea. I am checking football in internet, because it is stimulating me. I think stimulation is not bad. It is maybe showing the way to my vocation. The problem with football (and computer games in the past even more) is, that I spend a lot of time and it is completely useless. Maybe harmful, when I sit a long time in front of the computer, do not move and do not eat proper food. So I have to try to find something which is stimulating me and makes sense. Fun and Purpose. This sounds like a great combination.

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On 11/7/2017 at 3:39 PM, Megaman said:

Sometimes for me it is the opposite. In the first week, I am more motivated because it is a new challenge. In the second week the motivation is lower and thoughts are appearing, like gaming is not so bad, why not one hour, etc.

Dude for me the same. First weeks were no problemo eazy peazy. Only lately in literally the last 10-20 days of the detox have there been any signs of cravings lol.

I have a proposal for you. If you're serious about the media detox thing, how about throwing out the WiFi at home? It means you can't mindlessly go online at home without consuming limited mobile broadband, and you certainly can't watch videos or movies. I have no wifi at home in my apartment and it works great. I handle all the online stuff I need to do at Uni wifi or in an internet cafe, but it creates a nice barrier

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