I Think I'm Addicted To The Elctronic Screens

[Ice_nine]

Seriously, I've been trying to lessen my dependence on the internet and television, but it's hard. It makes me feel so dumb but it's like I constantly need this . . . it's like an itch I need to scratch. And it might start out as a legitimate "I need to look up something for class," that degenerates into a facebook binge and a 3 hour session of the latest monstrosity I found on addicting games.

Anyhow I know I'm ranting. And I know that there's practical step to combat this. I love reading for example, but it's so hard to focus and it actually makes me tired! Like my brain can only handle passive entertainment. I recall an article saying that it's become harder and harder for us to read long passages because our brain is conditioned to receive all we need to know in a few instants.Same for writing too. I enjoy writing, but I can't ever just focus on something and i need the internet or tv to dull me down from whatever thoughts I have going on. I also have hobbies too, but I still feel that compulsive need to have something on in the background. And when I want to go to sleep . . . that's the worst! I'll be tired and like, will not be able to rest my mind until I get my fix. And I tend to be on much longer than I planned.

wahh. I don't know if this is a legitimate addiction or just a major PITA but it really smells of elderberries and I feel like its slowly siphoning my life away from me. How do I turn it off?!

[Nihil Obstat]

Have you tried tuning out for a couple days? I will do this at some point, but it's not an option for me given my current situation... but the idea is that for a day to start, a week if you can handle it, you just turn off every 'connected' device. No computers, no tv, no phone, etc..
As I said, it's not something I can do right now, but after this whole long distance thing is done with I absolutely will find time to try it out.

[Kia ora]

My computer broke down for three months. The first couple of weeks were torture. By the end, I hoped it would stay broken.

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

Pax,ask somone to buy you a weekday missal and a sunday missal and try reading that before and after mass and if you don't goto weekday masses you could read the missal 1st thing in the morning(don't take that to far you can brush your teeth and have brekkie 1st unless you wan't to read it immediatly after waking.) and last thing at night, this possibly literally(haha a literature joke), i believe the missal can keep us in partial communion daily. This could be a gentle start to reducing your t.v. and computer time. I am blessed to live by myself and pretty much don't have to answer to no-one cept GOD,so i cut the cord off my t.v. and chucked it in the bin. Was really funny was offered two or three t.v's soon after i ditched it in quick succesion lol. I have one that has snuck into my house but it is in the spare room,i let some guests whom stayed for two weeks to get one,i think i may dump that now that am talking about it. T.V. for me is like a magic wand and little to no pro active capability except gossiping about stars,panicking about media issues or glorifying fantasy. You also could reduce your t.v. viewing to 1 show per day eventually,pick your favorite ones and have sundays with absolutely no t.v. And record the ball game on sunday and watch it after sunset on sunday. Now i'm gonna try and say more than i shoul if i haven't already.

God bless you.

p.s. heres a hip phrase that may help... Reduce the abuse and misuse.

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

P.s.s. I believe the weekday missal can keep us in partial communion if we only go sundays.

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye' timestamp='1324457213' post='2354983']
Pax,ask somone to buy you a weekday missal and a sunday missal and try reading that before and after mass and if you don't goto weekday masses you could read the missal 1st thing in the morning(don't take that to far you can brush your teeth and have brekkie 1st unless you wan't to read it immediatly after waking.) and last thing at night, this possibly literally(haha a literature joke), i believe the missal can keep us in partial communion daily. This could be a gentle start to reducing your t.v. and computer time. I am blessed to live by myself and pretty much don't have to answer to no-one cept GOD,so i cut the cord off my t.v. and chucked it in the bin. Was really funny was offered two or three t.v's soon after i ditched it in quick succesion lol. I have one that has snuck into my house but it is in the spare room,i let some guests whom stayed for two weeks to get one,i think i may dump that now that am talking about it. T.V. for me is like a magic wand and little to no pro active capability except gossiping about stars,panicking about media issues or glorifying fantasy. You also could reduce your t.v. viewing to 1 show per day eventually,pick your favorite ones and have sundays with absolutely no t.v. And record the ball game on sunday and watch it after sunset on sunday. Now i'm gonna try and say more than i shoul if i haven't already.

God bless you.

p.s. heres a hip phrase that may help... Reduce the abuse and misuse.
[/quote]
[quote name='Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye' timestamp='1324457285' post='2354984']
P.s.s. I believe the weekday missal can keep us in partial communion if we only go sundays.
[/quote]


I believe you should stop posting until you're healthy.

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

and whom are you to say ? Tell me about yourself and what you believe and i will decide whether or not to listen to your advice .

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye' timestamp='1324457604' post='2354987']
and whom are you to say ? Tell me about yourself and what you believe and i will decide whether or not to listen to your advice .
[/quote]

Authority of reason over reason of authority.

[Tab'le De'Bah-Rye]

i will say that that is all i have to say

[Nihil Obstat]

[quote name='Tab'le Du'Bah-Rye' timestamp='1324458669' post='2354993']
i will say that that is all i have to say
[/quote]
That's about all I expect.

[DMcB]

Ice -

Habits are tough to break...but it is doable. When first coming back to the Church, I struggled with focusing during prayer (and I still do, from time to time, but to a much lesser extent). As you well know, it was VERY frustrating. With time and practice, I was able to cut off the part of my brain that wanted to think about everything but prayer. My wife would often comment about how much time I was spending in prayer. Little did she know, it was taking me 10 minutes to shut down my brain before I could even get started.

Stick with it, pray on it, and be patient...it'll happen.

[Papist]

I gave up TV for Lent one time. Who knew that reading could be so enjoyable. Since, we got the basic of all basic cable, which is about 12 channels and of two weeks ago they took EWTN from that list. Now I save about $45/mo and watch very little TV. Having little children in the house I want the TV off as much as possible.

My wife has a real problem with the computer. She now uses a stopwatch to keep a daily tally of the amount of time she is spending on it. Seeing the actual amount of time spent has helped her reduce time on the computer.

Edited December 21, 2011 by Papist

[brandelynmarie]

I got rid of my cable about 8 months ago. I still miss certain TV shows & I really have no idea what pholks are talking about with the new ones anymore. I've realized that alot of people are developing an attention span of a tick & yes, we have to "unplug" (at least occasionally) to get our equilibrium back. If you turn off the sound & just watch the images, you will see with some programming & most commercials that the images will switch every 3-5 seconds or so. It's down right scary.

I read alot & have a phatmass addiction so I guess it all evens out.

[AccountDeleted]

WhenI lived in the bush for eight months I had very limited TV because of poor reception and had to use dial up Internet - if you can believe that - slowly than molasses and no online videos at all! I read a lot at that time.

Now I watch more TV but if I find a good author, I usually get ALL of that author's books and work my way through them and then back to TV again when I have nothing to read. I also do my online activities while I have the TV on. I can't seem to watch TV by itself anymore - not interesting enough!

I probably spend more time online these days than usual, but part of that is research work for various things I have happening in my life right now (travel bookings, convent research etc). But I don't feel addicted because I can always disconnect the Internet, especially when I have to do my typing work or prayers - I think a routine helps. I have a pendulum wall clock that chimes, and it lets me know when it's time to do something. So perhaps getting a cooking timer or something would help those who need a reminder to get offline?

[arfink]

You could try doing what I did when I was at school for a while- force yourself back into the stone age. I still absolutely HAD to have a computer for homework, papers, etc, so I just picked one that did the absolute bare minimum and nothing more:

[img]https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-qauUlZBYk1Q/Sh3z6T-6jpI/AAAAAAAAAJI/a8_N3ZIuveA/s800/DSCF2640.JPG[/img]

You'll notice I have two computers there: the "desktop" model is an Apple IIgs with a Lantronix MSS-VIA for ethernet hookup (email, writing papers) and the other is a Tandy 200 laptop, which I used in class for taking notes. Then I would hook up a dot matrix printer and print my notes so I could scribble on them. Very old-school, but it got the job done. I don't know if you have the fortitude to do something like that, as it requires a more intimate knowledge of such old machines. But hey, you could give it a shot and see...