I think I might be in my midlife crisis or something, but I really want to change my lifestyle.
No, I'm not going to buy a motorcycle and I'm not going to grow a mustache, but I do want some major changes...
The thing is that I have adopted some habits in recent years that I don't like. The main thing is that I have the problem I quite easily get a kind addicted to things that generate dopamine. And those things mostly are quite stupid and useless. And yes, it's OK to do useless, stupid things every now and then to relax, but I somehow cannot seem to keep them under control so they take a lot of precious time. And I really want to spend that precious time doing more useful things that give me the same feeling of happiness that dopamine does, but then combined with satisfaction.

All images in this post are from Pixabay.

The culprit

You might have guessed already. The main culprit that allows me to do useless things (besides myself) is my phone. I know I'm not the only one and I'm also not the onlyone who acknowledges he has a problem.
I've been spending way too much time on my smartphone in the past years. The amount of hours varies from time to time, but it has always been at least 2-3 hours a day and sometimes even more.

Playing games

In the past years I've spent a lot of time playing games. I've played Candy Crush, Angry Birds, Pokemon Go, Clash Royale, Hay Day and quite a few more.
And although it's fine to play a game every now and then, but these games are built to get you addicted and as I already mentioned; I'm quite an easy target for that.
I don't even want to think about the hours that I've spend playing these games. And the games also took control of my schedule. I've been playing until late at night which cost me a lot hours of sleep. And I always felt the need to check up on the game multiple times a day.
When I was young I also played a lot of games, but with a phone that is around you most of the day it's more difficult to resist for me.

And that is why I made the decision to remove all games from my phone.
This really helped a lot. Although I sometimes reïnstalled some games again I often removed them quite quickly again.
I also tried to install the games on our tablet. This helped a bit, but in the evening my phone usage dropped, but the tablet use increased.
I do think I have this one under control a bit now.

Apps and websites

As I mentioned I think I have my game addiction under control quite well. But there are many other additive apps available for your smartphone.
Although I'm not really active on Social Media, I do check a lot of apps. It has becoming a habit to grab my phone and check out the different apps. At home, in the train, in the toilet, when cycling. Again; I know I'm not the only one, but I hate it that I'm doing this. Just to see if I have been missing something and sometimes just to procrastinate.

I've already tried a couple of things to reduce the amount of time. I've removed notifications for the most apps; Whatsapp, E-mail client, News apps. That really reduced the number of times I grab my phone significantly. I always felt the urge to grab it everytime I heard or felt a notification. And it doesn't stay with reading one notification. It mostly ends up in a round along a couple of other apps too.

I've also tried keeping my phone further away from me, but I do need to use it quite some times for work and other things.
I've tried to install apps to control your time and app usage, but I never found one that really worked for me.

One of the new 'addictions' I found myself doing lately is checking Youtube shorts. I'm interested in quite a few things and check out Youtube for video's on different subjects. I don't watch a lot of television or on demand series, so Youtube is my entertainment channel. But since they introduced Youtube Shorts I often get lured into a brainless doomscrolling session on my phone. This is something I really hate to see my kids doing!
I don't want to turn into a smombie! Having spent a couple of evenings scrolling through studpid videos was a signs for me I really had to do something with this. I have to take back control!

Why now?

I read a nice quote the other day; The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is today!
And that is just what it is... I want to spend my time in a more useful way and what better moment to start doing that as right away.
I just have a couple of days until I go on a 3-week holiday. A perfect time for a non-digital reset. It will be quite challenging since I'll have quite some leisure time during travelling and on my destination. I think it will even be even more difficult to stay off my phone then when I'm at home where I have more things to do.
When I can achieve my goals during my holiday, I can also achieve them at home. Besides, it takes 20 days to teach yourself a new habit, so I'm cured when I'm back home, no?

Why a blog about it?

I've also been telling myself for a long time my behaviour needs to change. And I did change some things for the better already. But there is still much to gain. I also sometimes have a fallback into bad habits.
This is the first time I'm formally writing about my addictions and my plan to solve them. I hope and think I have a bigger chance in achieving it by share it on Hive.
I might even get some support or useful tips. Maybe there are other addicts on here that want to join or who people who have have succeeded in getting rid of theur dopamine addiction.

What and how?

I want to be in control again and not being controlled by my phone and other distractions. I've actually started my digital detox already. I removed quite a lot of my apps earlier this week and am taking it to the next level now. I've removed all distracting apps. This includes Youtube, my news app, LinkedIn, Discord and also PeakD...
I want my phone to be a useful tool that saves me time again instead of a device that absorbs my time and energy. I want to be in control again!
I can check out all these apps on my laptop too. I don't have access to the laptop all day, so that gives me a bit more resistance. There still is a risk of procrastinating by doomscrolling or checking out other useless things, but that will be a matter of discipline.
I think it's good to evaluate the things I've have done in the evening. Have I done useful things and did they give me energy...
I think it's going to be quite tough, but I'm determined to take back the control of my time.

What am I going to do with all this extra time?

If this works out the way I planned, I will have quite some extra time. That is great, but what am I going to do with all this time.
I do need to deserve myself for this new and healthier lifestyle, so I also

To begin with I'm going to bed earlier. I've always preached I don't need a lot of sleep. And I can perform quite well with just 6 hours of sleep. But I do feel more energetic when I have had 7 or more hours of sleep. So, instead of staying up late I will just go to bed earlier.

I also want to have more time for offline social contacts. More time with the family and friends. It's not that I don't spend time with them now, but I do get a lot of energy from family and friends, so why not spend more time with them?

Things that I like. I have quite a few hobbies like cycling, gardening and photographing. It's not that I neglect my hobbies at the moment, but I often go for the easy entertainment on the couch instead of going outside to go for a ride or shooting some photo's.
And since I've removed PeakD from my phone as well I have more time to write blogs and engage on Hive in the evening as well.

Another thing that I started doing recently and gives me quite some energy is volunteering work. I've subscribed tot a non-profit organisation That connects people with a low budget and who don't have a network with people that want to do chores.
I've already done a couple of chores and it feels good to do something meaningful and it gets highly appreciated. I can take on some more chores and help out people in need.

And if there is time left I will also try to do nothing sometimes. It's good to do nothing. Being bored stimulates creativity and it gives your brain some rest it needs sometimes. We're receiving so much information on a daily basis.
I've also started reading a book about meditation. Reading books is also something I would like to do more. I would have never thought that I would read a book about meditation, but this book is quite down to earth and explains meditation as a form of letting your brain not think about anything. I like this approach because I'm not into the spiritual meditation with incense and singing bowls.
I'll just give it a try and see if it helps.

So... I don't think I've written a blog this long before. If you made it to the end; thanks for reading.
If anyone has some tips, tricks, comments or own experiences they want to share, feel free to comment on this blog! But don't expect an answer immediately 😋

I might share an update on the process in a few weeks.
Again; thanks for reading!

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FriendlyMoose

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