How to Remove Your Addicting Distractions

I was 23 and I was still addicted. My productivity was at an all-time low. My social life was failing. My physique too. I felt like enough is enough. It was time for a change.

The thing with me is that I wasn’t addicted to cigarettes or drugs, I had an addiction to something even more “lethal”. Gaming and social media. Both of them are sneaking addictions, so I didn’t pay a lot of attention to them.

My entertainment became my addiction/distraction. Now I’ve managed to make it my entertainment again.

I was perceiving my problem in the wrong way all along. The numbers didn’t hit me the way they should, so I broke them down.

I was gaming 70 hours/2 weeks as per Steam, and that in my normal days! That’s exactly 5 hours per day, of just gaming! What a number, right? But back then, time flew so easily. “One more game”,” Oh my besties are online, let’s play one last round then!”.

The most underhanded addiction though, made me waste another 4–5 hours per day and I didn’t even saw it coming. Yes. Social media is a menace — if not tamed. I woke up in the morning and I laid there, scrolling on Instagram and I couldn’t even tell that one hour went through.

So, what we have here are 9 wasted hours — most people work for 8 hours, making money. But not me, sadly. Below are two steps I used to reduce them into 3 hours of relaxation and entertainment.

Step one: Identifying the means

To fight your addictions/distractions, first, you have to look out for the means you use. For me, that was my controller and my smartphone. I had to revolve around them.

Write down the means you use for your addiction. This way you’ll know what you are dealing with in the most optimal way.

And yes, sounds simple, but in reality, it isn’t. You are fighting something here, tact your way as you would tact an attack in a war. You are in a war with your addictions.

Step two: Taking actions

#1. Is It used for your solely for your addiction?

For me, it was a PS4 controller — and I didn’t even have a PS4, to begin with. I threw it.

Trash it. Poof. It’s gone.

From 5 hours of gaming, I went to 0 for half a month. I utilized this free time I had to start writing more. And here we are, me writing and you reading. Isn’t this awesome?

#2. Is it not used for your addiction?

This one is more tricky indeed. For me, it’s a smartphone. I can’t just throw it into the trash now, can I?

Upfront, begin with the most important part of the day. The morning. Before you sleep, turn off the WiFi and put your phone on the other side of the room. This way you’ll ensure you’ll have to stand right after the alarm goes off. Go on with your day, wash your face, eat your breakfast, and enjoy a distract-free morning. You won’t miss anything important, I can assure you.

Less energy brings us back to our distractions, so start your morning with as much energy as possible.

Okay, we removed 1 hour. 4 left to go. Now what?

Assuming you have a 9-to-5, your smartphone will be off anyway so go on with that.

For me though, and probably many of us who are either writers, freelancers, or work from home in general, we are bound to get distracted by our smartphones.

You’ve probably seen it in many guides — I sure have, countless times, but yes. You have to leave your smartphone on the other side of the room. You won’t look at it every minute like this, will you? Furthermore, you’ll improve your productivity.

One more hour removed — if we add up all the minutes you’ll spend looking at it. 3 to go. Actually, I wanted to leave a couple of hours for myself, as I love talking with my friends via my smartphone so, 1 to go.

Remember when I told you about turning off WiFi and leaving your phone away from your bed? Well, when I did that, I saw that my bed would win the battle with my smartphone. I didn’t have the urge of standing up to get it back and check my messages. Thus easily avoiding one hour of smartphone usage and gaining one hour of sleep.

In the end, I managed to bring gaming back, as I wanted that sort of entertainment for me, but only for 1 hour this time.

I did it. 8 hours of gaming & social media turned into 3 hours of entertainment, in the afternoon when I’m done with my daily tasks.

Distractions that cost money

But there is one more problem that needs solving.

Distractions that cost money and are addictive.

For a short period, I used to bet — football, basketball, tennis, you name it. Unfortunately, I don’t have a steady job, no income whatsoever and this addiction was much more hurtful than expected, in a short period of time.

I knew I had to take action, but I had to make it fast and effective, I told myself. The only way that helped me easily (frankly, I stopped gambling in one damn day) was by following the quote below:

Spend all the money you would spend on your addiction to something else. Time is a healer, and little by little you’ll forget your addiction to it in the first place.

I had no money to spend on betting, so…I stopped betting.

Conclusion

Think of how much you are hurting yourself. If I could make 1 euro by doing something else instead of gaming — and there are tons of ways you can make JUST one euro per hour, I would have more than 8k in 4 years. Now I have to work for this 8k, thus wasting time. A negative loop got me here. Now that I look up to it, I’m ashamed. But it’s never late for changes in your life. I’m still young, and even if I wasted a considerable amount of time, I still have a lot to give to myself.

Originally published on Medium