Just wanted to see who else has thoughts around this.
I’ve been using the Mudita for a while now and I don’t technically use it that often. I had the LPII for a few years prior and I have found since switching to minimalistic phones that my laptop usage has increased. I have a blocker on my computer, but I will often side load other browsers to the point of having to block those as well. I’m doing my best to create an environment that is distraction free but my monkey brain continues to find ways to bring those distractions back into my life. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this?
I have a similar problem. I have always used my laptop a lot, even when I had a smartphone (much easier for reading/writing/research/videos, etc). However, since I switched to a dumbphone about a year ago, my usage has gone up a little bit, for more trivial activities (web browsing and YouTube).
However, I’m getting much better at using it intentionally. My suggestion would be to make sure you have other means of entertainment and distraction which are healthy, such as reading books, going on walks without any distracting technology (such as podcasts or music - you could ensure this by leaving headphones at home). In addition to reading, walking, even watching a movie on an actual TV(!) without distractions is a big deal in today’s world.
I’m not sure if that helps - but the key thing for me is to ensure any time spent on a smartphone or distracting technology has an equivalent non-distracting technology (in the broadest sense) to replace it.
I’m quite good at sitting and being bored now, which is great. I also find prayer/meditation to be really helpful, which I guess is why Mudita includes meditation functionality (although I wouldn’t recommend using this for prayer)!
Hope that helps. Feel free to grill me on any details or clarity you might like.
I have the same problem with cold turkey blocker but i have managed to block about 30 browsers and haven’t been able to find another one that works yet haha. Also i set a scheduled frozen turkey blocker on my laptop after 8pm so that i cannot access my laptop at all in the evening and I am forced to read and relax without the internet. Having a few hours at night with no internet at all has been amazing for my mental health even though at times I can get incredibly restless.
Also sometimes when I need to do uni work I will download the material first and then block the browser I am using currently for a few hours so I have no access to web search at all. Cold turkey blocker would be perfect if they fixed the downloading another browser issue.
I know … I literally need other browsers for the google drive function when teachers upload the slides via drive. I have to ask other students to send over the PDF file. I sometimes switch to studying on my eink tablet. Yeah, I have blocked so many search engines, websites, browsers and I think I have it all blocked until December? I know that once I am done school, I may want to switch to a desktop computer because realistically I am not going to sit at the computer all day with my desktop… Lol
Intentionality is KEY. I use my laptop for work, but outside of that, it purely utilitarian. It’s a tool, like any other technology & I try to make sure it does not overtake my life. For example, I just traveled from Poland to Sweden (via Ferry) and spent the last 5 days on the southeast coast of the country- sightseeing by car. I took my laptop (just in case) but I had everything on my Kompakt: Ferry passes/tickets, contact for my AirBnB host. Everything was planned out in advance & I didn’t even open my laptop in 5 days.
Similar. But not really laptop addiction, I’m having something more like proneness to procrastinate. People tend to call that ADHD today I think.
What I did and what helped me:
separate personal laptop, logoff and disable anything personal on the work laptop, don’t take the personal one to the workspace,
modify hosts file to point youtube.com and alike to 0.0.0.0, these won’t work; on my work laptop I don’t have admin rights granted that easily so it turned out enough for me to stop the biggest threat for my productiity.
Yet still, first few days I’ve been spending an hour or two on news websites, so I guess the problem is even deeper.
No browser would help but I need a browser for work. I might keep locking out websites and end up cleaning the ceiling with a toothbrush I guess.
I do suffer from laptop use but it’s almost unavoidable. I have to work with peple in different continents so my work usually start very early ,and ends pretty late but with very long breaks in between.
So not a 9-5 where I can close my laptop and forget it, but the good part is that I treat it as a desktop, so I rarely take it outside unless I’m traveling.
I do feel much more comfortable doing phone tasks in my laptop than in a phone, and that includes calls and messages. So I actually treat my phone as a mobile device and I mostly use it when I’m outside.
What is great about laptops/desktop is that using apps like Ublock Origin I am able to block stuff from websites/web apps (not just ads) but anything I feel it’s too distracting, and makes them less overwhelming and less crowded to use.
The two technologies that draw our attention the most do seem to be our computer and our phone, and the competing and overlapping addictions these can entail.
There seems to be many reasons people seek a minimalist phone like the Kompakt:
(1) To disengage picking up and viewing the phone constantly like addition to social media, emails, Facebook, etc., as they feel their phone and apps have become a distraction to their life and they seek a better disengaged experience,
(2) Some just like new unique technologies such as the Kompakt and ways to tailor it to their own use,
(3) Thirdly, like myself, those whom have a distain for the creeping takeover by IOS and Andorid as my big brother monitoring my every action and monitoring my every move, even trying to manipulate my thoughts and choices (For those thinking it, yes, I do have a Tin foil hat). For others the use of a minimalist phone may be another reason or a combination of aforementioned reasons.
I feel for me anyway; I cannot fully disengage and still need some apps on my phone, and the Kompakt offers a way to sideload those which are not subject to tracking of big brother (Yet). As for my laptop, I try to tailor it the best I can to avoid tracking and monitoring, and I keep it a focused experience. I have found that by keeping it in a far room in my home away from my daily life task, I am more likely to not linger on it.
I agree with other inputs on the forum for those that have purchased the Kompakt with a purpose to disengage, that disengaging from your phone to just engage more on a laptop is counterproductive.
Therefore, if disengaging is the reason for your Kompakt purchase, maybe try moving your laptop to a specific area for use in your home that makes you want to get on and off and not linger.
I would say I’m more in the 2nd category, the 3rd one I kinda solved years ago with adblockers, pi-hole, vpns. But I can’t lie and say that I don’t have my distractions from category 1, even though I don’t use proper social media, but some community forums and some subreddits do take some of my free time that I get between tasks.
Yeah my laptop already is like glued to a spot, I use my macbook as a desktop replacement. Don’t use it outside my desk (like in lap, bed, sofa etc).
However my work schedule needs to be changed before I can make any improvements. I’m trying to finish my current contracts and proceed to something more local so I can stop using my computer at a reasonable time.
My phone screen-on-time was already low before the Mudita Kompakt, it hasn’t changed much since I got it. Even when I’m outside and bored waiting for someone, the worst thing I do is to read news using Feedly (RSS).
I still think the key is to occupy yourself with something else. If you don’t have anything, why should any of the preventative measures above work? You’re seeking distraction - so distract yourself with something useful or see boredom itself as the distraction! Force yourself into a situation without a distracting technology. Walk around with nothing and see what thoughts come into your head. You’ll be surprised…
I have a lot of stuff to keep me busy outside my laptop.
But I do have contracts that I’m “on call” so I have to be close to my computer for quick responses. That is something that you can’t escape.
I don’t want to bring my computer at my hobbies and my leisure time, so when I’m duty I do have to stay close and ready. This is not something that can be fixed without changing the work situation. But that should come soon!
