Journal - 60 minutes a day logged off
It's crazy how addicted I am to the internet! 
It makes sense in a lot of ways, since it's a way to excape from facing my problems, and it has minimal negative consequences, unless you really take it too far (which I kinda feel I do now). When my mental health was a lot more unstable, I think it was actually a good thing for me to just zone out and watch Netflix all day; however, now I am trying to ween myself off it. I am fine with continuing to use it a lot, I'm not anti-tech, but I really think I'd benefit from having at least some time everyday when I'm not online; partly so I can be more productive and do other things, but also even if I'm not any more productive, I think it's beneficial to have some time without the constant stimulation of the modern world. Time to just Be.
I've been using StayFocusd, and I started out with trying to use the Nuclear option to not allowing myself to be online for an hour a day,when I normally would be online. I have to say that it was difficult to go longer than 30 mins without wanting to opening up my laptop, or go on my phone. Since it's not causing me any serious problems currently, and I don't mind weening myself off my internet dependany gradually; so I've decided I'll maybe divide the time up, and do two 30 minute sessions offline per day. I'm still finding the second one hard, and some days I don't do it, but it's easier doing them in two divided sessions. With time this should get easier, and I hope to be able to swich back to doing the full hour in one go soon. I'm not trying to torture myself, but it's pretty ridiculous how much our brains are get hyjacked by the internet.
Anyway, I thought I'd make a thread here to log how I'm doing. If I manage to stick to it, and any benefits I find from doing this exercise, so I'll have motivation to continue.
Wish me luck friends.
@resourcefulPond1641 Best of luck! I really admire your drive to manage your addiction, and I think you came up with a solid plan. Yes, time management will definitely help. We are here for you! Thanks so much for sharing; you've got this! :D
Thank you for your support!
I did this for a bit, was tough, but turned out to be a great month. Now I routinely have an hour before bed with no screens or devices. It's a great hour.
@DaveMcGrath Yeah, I got the idea of logging my progress here after reading your thread. 
I'm glad to hear you found it helpful, and you've kept up with having an hour offline everyday.
@resourcefulPond1641
It's hard to keep up, I definitely slip.. like here I am.. up late and posting away on 7 cups and watching youtube video. Ah well, can't start a successful streak without having a fail day. :P
I did well on Saturday, and manged to have 45 minutes, divide in two sessions, logged off when I normally would have been online. But on Sunday I wasn't feeling well, so I pretty much stayed in bed watching Netflix all day. However, I'm not discouraged by that. I don't expect or need to do this perfectly, and I can make allowances for when I'm feeling sick. I'm going to try again today though, and see if I can actually log a full hour offline this time. I know what tripped me up on Saturday was that I didn't turn off my phone, so I'll have to remember to do that in future. It's too tempting to check it when it's still on.
Well, I haven't been updating this thread. However, I have been doing better at not spending as much time just zoning out watching Netflix most of the day. I'm still online a lot, but I don't mind that as much if I'm not just mindlessly binge watching things as a distraction so I don't have to deal with my real life. I still have progress to make, but I feel like I'm doing a bit better with it at least.
@resourcefulPond1641
I find my needs to turn off my computer a few hours a day varies a lot. It's nice I have the discipline when I need it. I sometimes exercises it randomly by going for longer walks wth my dog or reading. Sometimes both at the same time. Once you got the skill, its there if you need it, which is nice.
@resourcefulPond1641
That sounds like a great plan! Good luck! I've been trying to stay away from social media for similar reasons, and I really fell like it's been beneficial to my mental health.
@igoback622 yeah, too much social media tends to make me feel depressed, unless I'm actually using it to talk to a friend or write something. I think it's the temptation of endless scrolling that is the problem with it for me. I've worked on not doing that, but I still have to be careful or it creaps back in again.
