Hi, my name is ____ and I am addicted to the internet

[llong]

Sadly, internet addiction (IA) is considered silly. (When I say Internet Addiction, I am not referring to pr0n or anything like that.)

I go to about 10 different sites, and basically cycle through them, only taking breaks to go to some random site. I have done this for 10 hours, with breaks maybe to eat, lift, run, etc., HOWEVER, my core home activity is surfing the web.

Anyone else suffer from this? Any tips, beyond moving away from the keyboard?

[starlet]

Set a timer. Allow yourself x amount of time to be on the 'net and when that timer rings the computer goes off. Find a hobby - reading, a sport or something that gets you away from the seduction of the internet.

Personally, I am on the internet about an hour a day, give or take 10 minutes (one of my message boards is SLOW at loading sometimes).

[ahimel]

There's a firefox extension somewhere that will block off your internet access after a certain time. You tell it which URLs are problematic (in my case, these forums) and what time you want to get to work, and it will (for example) block off Stevepavlina.com/forums after 9AM.

Unfortunately, lifehack is down right now, so I can't provide the link. But I'll post this anyway, in hopes that a Google search will bring it up.

[FireLife]

I read this on Trizle earlier and I think it applies well here:
How to Use Your Computer

[radeldudel]

Originally Posted by llong

I go to about 10 different sites, and basically cycle through them, only taking breaks to go to some random site. I have done this for 10 hours, with breaks maybe to eat, lift, run, etc., HOWEVER, my core home activity is surfing the web.

Anyone else suffer from this? Any tips, beyond moving away from the keyboard?

Yep, I had this, too, and sometimes I still fall into it today.

Annoying, isnt it? I don't view TV, but I think this might be something like watching TV and not being able to stop even though you know you could (and should) use the time for something better.

Somehow I decided to be more involved in what I want to do in my time instead of concentrating what I don't want to do (it is not enough to know what you want to leave behind, you also need to know where you want to go/be, otherwise you always come back).

I got the feeling 'The Gift of Our Compulsions' by Mary O'Malley might be a good book to read in this case.

Love You!

[Tammy]

It's a terrible thing, it has happened to me too

If you are constantly checking sites to see if they are updated, first, think that they could not get updated at all, there's not guarantee, and if they do, the best thing to do is to check'em just once a day and read all the updates you missed since the last time.

The key to deal with mindless habits like this one is to think, to turn that unconscious act into a conscious one.

And get something productive to do! Start a business, write a novel (or a blog), draw, take a long walk, compose music, etc. Seize the day!

[Liara Covert]

Last weekend, I met a man who confided in me that he and his wife are at their wit's end because their fourteen year old daughter appears addicted to the internet. She uses it to where she skips school for it and has become increasingly anti-social with almost no friends. This teen is apparently very intelligent with excellent grades (top 5-10% of her class) but school doesn't seem to motivate her. This man asked me for advice. He and his wife have taken their daughter to a psychiatrist because they fear biochemical imbalance, they took her to a counsellor but she didn't say much.

My initial thought is to figure out what some of her dreams are and empower her to refine her priorities. I already heard she was interested in earning a full scholarship to college and for some special programs in the interim. I would encourage her to find out names of former students who have won the desirable scholarship so she could contact them. She may connect and learn from them. I also have a few other ideas. As it happens, her dad may put me in touch with her later this week. I plan to ask a few questions and really listen to her. I will encourage her to explore her dreams through people and activities outside the Internet. My plan is not to try to control her but to understand why the Internet has suddenly become such a focus. Everything happens for a reason.

[radeldudel]

For intelligent kids school often is boring. Listening to her sounds like a good idea. Might be difficult though, since kids are not used to be listened to, adults usually just listen very short to offer some general advice, so the kid got the feeling they are not interested.

I think you are right, understanding is the key. As a healer somewhere said
'it's not our job to find a solution. It is our job to help them to find their own solution'

Sounds like you'll do well!

Love You!

[alexyeo]

I used to have this problem too...
But I managed to win the battle!

You definitely need to "make yourself busy" and do stuffs that do not require you to use the computers or access the Internet. I guess you are not working right now as you have 10 hours of free time to surf the net?

You might wish to meet up some friends and have a gathering, visit a library or even go shopping! Just do something away from the computer! When you are away, sometimes you still have the urge to go back to your PC. I called it the "withdrawal symptom". Its ok and normal to have it. Just force yourself to do other stuffs and gradually you will feel alright not to have the PC. It may take just a few days or even weeks. It really depends on your determination. But it should not take you too long since you know its an addiction and I assume you want to get rid of it asap.

If you really can't get away from the PC, like you are studying or doing a school project, and you need to use MS Office or Internet etc. The best way is to set a limit. Maybe you can do your "real stuffs" for 1 hour, and give yourself just 10 mins for a break and to surf net. In other words, 10 mins of net surfing for every hour of work done. Its still productive in this way!

You can quit the addition! In fact, if you don't reply this thread for more than 10 days, it means you have successfully cure your net addiction.

[Sunnybayes]

Listen to Steve's 30 minute podcast about breaking habits and patterns. Its awesome.

http://www.stevepavlina.com/audio/

Its podcast #4

[llong]

Thanks everyone.

One thing I'm starting to do is simply go to the library, which despite being in Manhattan isn't really busy. There I can:

read
write
pay bills
text message if needed
organize my stuff
go through the mail
clean my bookbag

etc.......all without beging tempted to use a computer!

[pinkhighlighter]

I am learning to manage my time better.
I decide what I want to do before I get online.
I also decide how long I will spend there.
Once that time is up, I move on. I think looking forward to the next time I can go online is much more fun than spending too much time here. When I am bored I find myself roaming around online and it honestly just sucks.
I like to have a plan, get it done and move on to the next thing.
I am also very picky about what I do online. Nowadays I go to only one writers forum, this forum, check out the blogs I have found to be interesting and e-mail. Chatting has become a complete bore as well. It's much more fun when a friend comes on and we can chat for 10 minutes and say goodbye until next time.

[Haris]

I'm using two time management tools to cut down my internet usage. :]

1 - Kids PC Time Administrator
2 - Leechblock - Firefox website
3 - My Timeboxing

[Basu]

Here's a tip that I'm using currently and that could be useful for any part of your life you're trying to improve, esply. time management.
First think about what you would have done if you weren't addicted. Next get a pad and pen. Write down: "I want to keep surfing" or whatever your addiction is telling you to do. Then think what your non-addicted self would be doing. Write it down: "My improved self would be cleaning the car" or whatever. Then go do whatever you're improved self should be doing, immediately. It's ok if you drift back to the Net half way through cleaning. At the end of the activity write down: "What I actually did was clean half way and go online again". Do this for each and every thing. I think you should find yourself improving.

[Andrew Brunelle]

I guess you could say I am a recovering internet addict myself, but not to the extent I've seen others addicted. If you spend too much time on the Internet, it is filling a void in your life and you are using the Internet to fill that void. Here is a suggestion: Go one day without using your computer for anything. Then see what you decide to do instead. If you decide to go out for a walk or exercise, or even just sit there and think, you will see that there are many more meaningful activites you could be doing. Go somewhere with a friend. I like starlet's suggestion of setting a timer for a predetermined amount of time each day and once that time is up, you can no longer surf the internet. I feel that part of it is a lack of self-discipline, and the other part of it is that it fills a void and what you need to do is consciously fill that void with something else. I really hope someone starts a support group for IA. "Hi, my name is Andrew, and I am an Internet-aholic." "Hi, Andrew!"

[hamish]

If you want to scare yourself, do what I just did. Make a guestimate of how many hours per day on average you spend on the net (just thinking back over the last week will probably give you an accurate indication) multiply that daily average by 365, & from that you can work out how many days/weeks/months you've spent in the last year in front of the PC.

In my case, I reckon I spend around 4.5 hrs a day on average on the net. This is possibly a conservative guess, it could be more, as on weekends it's not unusual for me to chew up entire days, 10 - 12+ hrs, in mostly aimless browsing.

That adds up to 1643 hours per annum, which could be expressed as

68 entire days!

or 9.8 weeks!

or even 2.26 months solid in front of the computer

Even worse, if you look at it as a percentage of your waking hours, I'm assuming I spend 16.5 hours out of every 24 awake, it works out that I spend approximately 27% of my waking "usefull" hours on the computer It could even be as high as 1/3rd.

No wonder I haven't achieved a real lot in the last couple of years, no wonder my apartment is always untidy & I always feel 'behind' with everything. I've got to fit full time work & everything else into the other 2/3rds of my time!

Confronted with that, I'm feeling decidely motivated to cut back dramatically and reclaim my spare time. There are so many other things i want to accomplish.

P.S. First post, and if I keep true to this one, I wont be making too many others

[Kylark]

Haha, that Trizoko site is awesome.

[JohnPlace]

Internet addiction is not silly. It is very real.

I have found that the easiest fix is going cold turkey for a period of 1 week. In other words, for 1 week, stay away from those problematic sites altogether.

This breaks the cycle of repetitive behavior and gives you a chance to see if you really miss the site after the week has passed.

Another point: As a previous poster has said, an internet addiction may be a sign that you are using the internet to fill a void in your life. Once I started leading truly purpose driven life, the time required for this sort of addiction ceased to exist.

[Steve Roh]

The long-term fix is, as others have suggested, identifying the emotional void that is driving the behavior and learning to satisfy it, instead of distracting yourself with the internet.

Some tactics which may help in the short-term:

1. Delete bookmarks and shortcuts on your desktop
2. Switch back to dial-up if you have broadband
3. Edit your hosts file so that if you manually enter your favorite sites in your browser address bar, it leads nowhere (basically, on Windows the hosts file is a system file that controls access to websites, google "editing windows hosts file")
4. If you are addicted to forums and get caught up in flamewars, use your real name (this is highly motivating in terms of avoiding getting into stupid pointless arguments)
5. Use an RSS reader for sites that provide RSS feeds, so that you do not have to actively check for site updates
6. Move computer to least pleasant corner of house. Maybe next to kitty litter box or kitchen garbage can. You'll still be able to sit down and pay bills, deal with emails, etc. but you will not want to stay there all night!

Hope this helps!