You’re not the first reader to express interest in doing one of these. I should get around to writing a manual. The digital tools are a tiny part of the overall project. Discipline is surprisingly unimportant too, in the long run. Succeeding in a project like this is all about understanding how habitual behavior works.
That said…
Could you detail for a digitally illiterate how you did this?…What site plugin did you use?
I use Block Site—Website Blocker for Chrome™. Uninstall your videogames, social media and news feeds. (Do not delete your videogames’ save files.) Logout from social media on your phone if you cannot uninstall the apps. (There is no need to cancel your accounts.) Don’t worry about the /etc/hosts file. It’s for 1337 h4x0rz only.
If you want to listen to music on YouTube then create a separate account solely for music. Install Adblock Plus—free ad blocker. Adblock is very important! Don’t skip it. Listen to music for a few hours. Whenever you see a recommended video that isn’t music, click the “⋮” menu and then “Don’t recommend channel”. Keep clicking “Don’t recommend channel” hundreds of times while listening to music until the YouTube algorithm understands what you want. Non-music videos are like weeds. You will never completely eradicate them but you can reduce them to a small fraction of your overall recommendations. If you click on a non-music video accidentally that’s not the end of the world, but try to click away quickly so YouTube doesn’t recommend more videos like it.
Do not listen to music on YouTube via the YouTube smartphone app. Install the Brave adblocking browser and listen to YouTube music through it instead.
How long should I keep it up before I will feel results in your estimation?
It depends on how much junk media you consume. For me, I always feel significant results within 24 hours. Since I don’t know your specific situation, I’d feel comfortable saying within 7 days…if you cut out everything on the listplus personally addictive poisons[1]and you go a full week without any exceptions.
Different results happen on different timescales. Increasing my socialization, cooking and self-care happens within days. Curing my insomnia can take up to a week. Studying quantum field theory took several months and may not generalize to you at all.
One problem I have in keeping this kind of regime is that I often find myself going around my blocking software, e.g. through using private browsing. Do you have a recommendation for something that works more generally?
Have you tried software like RescueTime? I have used it in the past and was happy about it (it is a more comprehensive system than just plain blockers; also tracking what you are wasting time on; allowing differeent levels of usefulness etc)
The fundamental problem is there is no way you, as system administrator, can force yourself not to disable your own blocking software. This is a question of psychology, not technology. Blocking software can provide friction at its best.
Modifying your /etc/hosts file is a general solution, if you use Linux. I never bothered to find out if there is a good nontechnical solution since the /etc/hosts file works well for me. If someone else was your system administrator then that person modifying your /etc/hosts file might get around the “disable your own blocking software” problem.
I have never used RescueTime. I prefer open source software that lets me control all of my own data.
Warning: Infohazard
The Tor browser can get around modifications to your /etc/hosts. However, regular so-called “private” browsing cannot.
You’re not the first reader to express interest in doing one of these. I should get around to writing a manual. The digital tools are a tiny part of the overall project. Discipline is surprisingly unimportant too, in the long run. Succeeding in a project like this is all about understanding how habitual behavior works.
That said…
I use Block Site—Website Blocker for Chrome™. Uninstall your videogames, social media and news feeds. (Do not delete your videogames’ save files.) Logout from social media on your phone if you cannot uninstall the apps. (There is no need to cancel your accounts.) Don’t worry about the
/etc/hostsfile. It’s for 1337 h4x0rz only.If you want to listen to music on YouTube then create a separate account solely for music. Install Adblock Plus—free ad blocker. Adblock is very important! Don’t skip it. Listen to music for a few hours. Whenever you see a recommended video that isn’t music, click the “⋮” menu and then “Don’t recommend channel”. Keep clicking “Don’t recommend channel” hundreds of times while listening to music until the YouTube algorithm understands what you want. Non-music videos are like weeds. You will never completely eradicate them but you can reduce them to a small fraction of your overall recommendations. If you click on a non-music video accidentally that’s not the end of the world, but try to click away quickly so YouTube doesn’t recommend more videos like it.
Do not listen to music on YouTube via the YouTube smartphone app. Install the Brave adblocking browser and listen to YouTube music through it instead.
It depends on how much junk media you consume. For me, I always feel significant results within 24 hours. Since I don’t know your specific situation, I’d feel comfortable saying within 7 days…if you cut out everything on the list plus personally addictive poisons[1] and you go a full week without any exceptions.
Different results happen on different timescales. Increasing my socialization, cooking and self-care happens within days. Curing my insomnia can take up to a week. Studying quantum field theory took several months and may not generalize to you at all.
A friend of mine reads fiction novels to abnegate so he has to stop reading fiction when he abstains from junk media.
One problem I have in keeping this kind of regime is that I often find myself going around my blocking software, e.g. through using private browsing. Do you have a recommendation for something that works more generally?
Have you tried software like RescueTime? I have used it in the past and was happy about it (it is a more comprehensive system than just plain blockers; also tracking what you are wasting time on; allowing differeent levels of usefulness etc)
https://www.rescuetime.com/
The fundamental problem is there is no way you, as system administrator, can force yourself not to disable your own blocking software. This is a question of psychology, not technology. Blocking software can provide friction at its best.
Modifying your
/etc/hostsfile is a general solution, if you use Linux. I never bothered to find out if there is a good nontechnical solution since the/etc/hostsfile works well for me. If someone else was your system administrator then that person modifying your/etc/hostsfile might get around the “disable your own blocking software” problem.I have never used RescueTime. I prefer open source software that lets me control all of my own data.
Warning: Infohazard
The Tor browser can get around modifications to your
/etc/hosts. However, regular so-called “private” browsing cannot.I know I’m 2 years late, but here’s a open source alternative for Rescue Time if anyone is interested.