[Outdated, please look at pinned post] Casual Conversation

I feel the same. There's a music video of the song Pursuit of Happiness (the megaforce version) where the guy keeps trying to get off the couch but somehow always finds himself back on it. That resonated hard with me.

I think it's because now we have 1,000 things competing for our time and attention. It's nowhere near as easy to not get distracted anymore, yet all people do is criticize (lazy, unmotivated, etc). It's real.

It's a pickle for sure, and how can we tell when YouTube is pulling us to watch more vs. when we genuinely just want to relax and watch some vids. And if you're doing something else SOLELY because you don't want to watch YT, well, it's still YT that's deciding what you're doing, not you.

I don't want to write a novel here, but this is something I've been thinking about on and off for a while.

It was better before screens. Trust me. MUCH better.

Idk I'm old and I stared at books for most of my life pre Internet. I still read 7-10 books a week.

It's an addiction .... and the first step to dealing with an addiction is admitting that you have a problem.

Good for you

I have some idea how my life would be different. I'd go out and spend more money doing stuff or buying random things to occupy myself when not looking at a screen. If no screen time then probably I'd still use a landline and talk with people for hours.

Thanks, I needed that post. I'm in a similar boat. I get addicted to this stuff (YT, lemmy, reddit etc.) easily, and I've found that a moderate use is just not possible for me in the long run. It can't really coexist in my life with leisure activities that require me to sustain my attention for longer, like reading, practicing an instrument, or even just sitting down and listening to a good album intently.

What helps me a bit is putting all kinds of hindrances in place:

• storing my phone in a drawer and only taking it out when I want to do something specific
• not having my router always running, but only turning it on when I want to use the wifi for something specific
• browser extensions to block certain sites
• using screen time limits in the Android settings
• rooting my phone and blocking addictive sites in my hosts file (unfortunately I only found out afterwards that subdomains (*) like m.youtube.com aren't blocked by blocking the main sites like youtube.com and now I can't add them to the blacklist without much effort)
• (similar solutions for my laptop)

But none of that has worked as much as I'd like. It's a constant struggle and I'm still looking for a better solution.

Doing interesting stuff has somehow in my mind turned into work.

That's the worst part. Scroll too much and that state becomes your new baseline. Now anything that is less captivating and effortless than that feels difficult.

(*) I'm not sure if subdomain is the correct term here. If anyone knows, please correct me.

I noticed you said you never go to your making space. Is there a space you could set up in your house, ideally next to where you watch YouTube? I know for me especially when I want to relax, my brain picks the path of least resistance. So I keep my sketch pad and current knitting next to my favorite seat.

I also have a dedicated art area in my basement but go there far less often - and usually when I do go there it’s because I started sketching while watching TV and got inspired enough for that momentum to move me downstairs.

I found using a screen time app on my phone helped me become more aware of my screen time and habits. I would lock reddit/lemmy out after 1 hour of browsing throughout the day. I think there a similar apps available for the computer too thay block certain websites between certain hours or after a browsing time is exceeded.

I often fall in the same trap. The algorithm is set to keep you on you appetite. Serve you tons of meh content to keep you scrolling, with little nuggets of good content. Remember, to get angry at YouTube for keeping you unsatisfied like a dog trainer would to keep its pack attentive. I manage to get out of it by doing the simplest things whether I enjoy them or not. Sharpen ONE knife, or take appart and cleaned the door lock. Once I am done with that one task, I often find a little satisfaction off it and look for another one. My pitfall is sitting in front of the computer without a clear intention, I'll fall in YouTube grip very easily. Like chips in the cupboard, I don't like them but there there .. Suggestion, share some of your past work here. It might get your attention back to doing instead of watching.

I'm in the same boat as you (currently reading Lemmy/Kbin to avoid having to get out of bed), but occasionally I get bored of YouTube and similar instant gratifications too, and then I make a more concerted effort to do something more productive. This isn't easy and often doesn't last very long, but — as you correctly pointed out — it's starting the hard part. Once you've started something you know you'll enjoy, you can sink time into it.

I'm in the same boat as you. No idea just how many hours I've spent on YouTube over the last couple of weeks. There's this maker community in my town and while it was always fun whenever I'd go there, most of the time I just can't make myself get up. Well, weed might be part of the equation, but even without that I somehow always prefer the "instant gratification" of opening up YouTube from the comfort of my sofa.

Go down the noise music rabbit hole.

Youtube is a noisy aggressive sensory overload now and it's freed up a lot of time to decompress. I honestly think the contrast is part of the experience, silence sounds so much better now.

What’s stopping you to do something interesting?

What I wanna know is how y'all find so much content you're interested in. Me I feel like I've already watched everything I'd like. And now I'd be either waiting for new uploads or rewatching.

I grew up in a time and place with only a handful of TV channels and no internet, and I would still sit and spend my weekends watching absolute shit rather than doing anything. I remember this particular time on Sunday when every week the best thing on was horse racing, so I’d sit and watch it for 5 minutes before checking the other channels, just to come back to horse racing.

My parents grew up before TV and I asked my Mum what they did instead. She said they were mostly just bored.

Despite all the problems the internet does make hobbies way more accessible. Nowadays if you want to learn something you can just Google it or watch a YouTube video. Before the internet you’d have to go out and buy a fucking book. Working on computers in the 90s, I used to spend days or weeks trying to fix problems that I would solve in a few minutes now.

You would get bored far more often. You'd probably replace YouTube with watching TV.

If you didn't watch TV then you'd try new things more often to fix your boredom. You'd probably read more. You may even exercise more simply to quell boredom.

I read an article a while back that suggested people are experiencing less "profound boredom" which while uncomfortable unlocks creativity.

*Speaking as a millennial who didn't have the internet in their first 16yrs of life. Now unemployed and spend 16hrs per day on Lemmy/Reddit/Discord.

Tomorrow try to set limits by putting your phone down and going for a walk, if you are able. Wean yourself off slowly.

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

Casey Neistat studio tour

Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.