
Using your computer as little as possible? - rbsn
I assume that most readers on Hacker News spent most of their daylight hours (at least Monday to Friday) in front of a computer. Do you try to avoid using your computer outside of working hours, and if so, how do you prevent yourself from wasting hours on Facebook&#x2F;Twitter&#x2F;HackerNews&#x2F;YouTube etc..
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mbrock
Currently I don't have an internet connection at home, not even a cellular
plan with data. Which is pretty much an intentional cold turkey strategy.

One summer my computer died and I thought I would be bored and miserable but
it was excellent from the first day. Since then, I've understood that constant
internet access just doesn't really function for me at this point in my life.
It could, perhaps, but I'm very prone to using the internet as a kind of
soothing, stupefying, time-wasting refuge. The internet is my comfort zone, I
guess.

At home I read a lot, Kindle books and stuff I've loaded on Instapaper while
at work. And I listen to podcasts and watch movies. This stuff all comes from
the internet, but I have to gather stuff consciously for future offline use,
which I find peaceful and constructive.

"Okay, I guess these are the things I have available right now, so I'll engage
with them, instead of looking for something else."

What a lot of us are having trouble with isn't computers or the internet, per
se, but the constant presence of "infinite jest."

I also do meditation, play guitar, go for walks and runs, cook, and so on. On
weekends sometimes I'll go out to a coffee shop and do some internetting. And
I'm posting this on Sunday, because I'm actually at the office, playing around
with a hobby programming project and surfing the web, so...

~~~
hedgehog
Cool. I cancelled my home internet service a after I got an office a couple
years ago and it's been good. Recommended.

In my case I kept tethering on my phone but it does raise the threshold for
doing anything online. It's actually a bit like having dialup, you could call
it "intentional internet access."

~~~
mbrock
Yeah, it's essentially the same for me: if I really need/want something from
the net, I can just put my shoes on and pop into some café.

One thing I've noticed is that I'm really looking forward to springtime, so I
can be outdoors more. I love weekend days when you're just ambling around all
day, but it's not so pleasant when it's cold and wet...

~~~
gametheoretic
>One thing I've noticed is that I'm really looking forward to springtime, so I
can be outdoors more. I love weekend days when you're just ambling around all
day, but it's not so pleasant when it's cold and wet...

A few years back, I'd have thought that an idle comment. I know I would have.
I'm not sure what I'm trying to say here (which, if grant the rest of this
poor sentence a charitable interpretation, you might find to be the point),
but... it's almost like, in "returning to human form," (I suspect many fellow
techies use similar phrases in their heads but not in public for fear of being
labelled a Luddite) the withdrawal experience "is" re-learning how to do that
human thing, only this time, fuck you, you have to do it "algebraically," like
you gave yourself Aspergers but for everything. E.g., slightly younger me was
too cool for smalltalk about nice weather; current me appreciates a quick,
light conversation, appreciates the smiles, appreciates the sun in his face.

~~~
mbrock
Haha, yeah, I kinda maybe know what you mean. Smalltalk and smiles are
wonderful but I had to learn that stuff.

------
codelap
A computer is a tool, like any other. If your career uses that tool, it
doesn't mean that you need avoid the tool in your off hours. Especially if it
gives you joy. My buddy drives truck, and loves to drive on the weekends. My
uncle is a carpenter, and on his free time, makes furniture in his garage for
fun. I'm sure some TV exec at HBO still sits down on a Sunday to watch
Breaking Bad (or whatever the hot water cooler show is).

You'll probably see a lot of studies quoted on here about moderation being the
key to success. But keep in mind, that a study only looks at the averages, and
we know that outliers exist. So as long as you're not hurting yourself or
others, do what you feel is right and works for you.

~~~
RexRollman
Well said.

------
TacticalCoder
My "way" of doing it is simple but probably won't get much love on HN: a good
office, a fast (and quiet) desktop computer with lots of ram, a good monitor,
a good chair, a good keyboard. Compared to that setup, the experience of using
anything else (laptop, tablet, smartphone) is so poor that I just can't stand
it.

I "do computer stuff" at my workstation and that's it. I can't stand laptop
keyboards compared to real "mechanical" keyboards. I can't sit on a chair for
long period of time besides my office's chair. I can't work productively on a
tiny 17" screen (On my workstation I'm using a 24" screen with a tiling window
manager and about 15 "virtual desktops").

So, to me, the experience of "using a device" is simply not an enjoyable one
unless I'm sitting at my desk, in front of my workstation's monitor.

I used to have an iPhone which I let drop (it broke) and now since two years
or so I'm back using my very old Nokia 3210 which... Allows to give and
receive phonecalls. I know this is not going to be a popular view here but
that's basically all I need from my cellphone. That said I may be buying an
Android phone one of these days but... It's only to use it as a 2FA.

Doing this already prevents me from "wasting" time using a computer (or a
tablet or a smartphone) when I'm not in my office, which is already great.

Now of course there's the issue of wasting time during work time on some of
the sites you mentioned... The only really "problematic" one is HN: which I
check even on sundays ; )

Got to go now: I'm going to play tennis with my brother ^ ^

------
NigelTufnel
Sometimes I put my laptop inside of the couch, my laptop battery in the
wardrobe, my laptop mouse in a drawer in the kitchen so it takes a good couple
of minutes to assemble all of this stuff.

From the facts that today's Sunday and I'm commenting on HN one can deduce it
didn't work too well for me.

------
pstack
I spent almost all of my waking time, every day, on the computer. The way I
avoid wasting hours on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, HN, etc is that I don't use
the first two, I don't randomly wander on the third one, and I use RSS and
only stop in for the interesting things on the final one.

I don't consider time I spend at my computer "wasted". What would be a better
use of it? Gardening? Edging my lawn? Detailing my car? Golfing?

~~~
dominotw
Yes people automatically assume that reading a book is automatically better
than spending time on the internet.

~~~
Haul4ss
I'm a bit of a bookworm, so there's my bias. But... reading a book is almost
certainly a better use of time than, say, farting around on Imgur, or looking
at celebrity gossip web sites, or playing Minecraft.

Is it better than, say, learning differential equations on a MOOC web site?
Probably not. I expect the number of people "wasting time" on the Internet far
exceeds the number learning DiffEq, though.

~~~
shocks
I'd say that reading a book is absolutely no better than screwing around on
reddit or playing a computer game. Apart from both both being leisure
activities, they are _entirely_ different things. Reading a book is not in any
way a 'better' activity.

------
nettletea
There have been a fair few posts about this on HN. I think some people are
actually quite glad of a HN blackout.

I did decide one year that I would not check those sites at work. And it
helped. I didn't have the time or space at home to bother also, through
exhaustion. I now only briefly fire up HN at work at lunchtime, and just scan
the post titles. I'm not as disciplined at home.

At home I was lucky to have my battery die on my laptop, which has stopped me
moving the laptop around the house. I'm actually quite glad of the little
headspace that it gives me.

My partner cheats on me, by sneaking a tablet into the lounge, and that can
feel a little weird. I think this has been discussed before. Couples spending
more time with their phones/tablets at the expense of their relationship.

I still idle too much time on the PC. I remember a good activity. Time at the
computer isn't that memorable. What happened to the last decade?

See also 'News is bad for you':
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6894244](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6894244)

Oh the paradox.

------
Tehnix
I don't feel like I'm wasting time when I'm on Facebook or HackerNews (I don't
really use Twitter at all, and not super much on youtube except when linked
something).

I get a great deal of information through HN, be it articles, discussions or
whatever HN might throw at me. Sure, if you do it while you work, I'd probably
agree it can be considered a waste, but everywhere else, the wealth of
information on HN, I wouldn't call that a waste.

As for Facebook, that's a little harder to not call a waste, but I don't
particularly feel it is though. It keeps me updated on my friends and events
in a quick manner, but can be sort of a waste if the information I gather from
"the wall" isn't of use to me.

Summed up: I don't feel what I do on my computer is a waste of my time. I'm
not hooked to my computer, programming is my hobby, and it's not like I have
trouble being social without my computer.

------
fotbr
It depends. I go through phases. Some weeks, I want nothing to do with a
computer when I'm not at work - I read, I work in the yard, I mess around in
the shop with whatever idea has popped into my head. Other weeks, you can't
pry me away from it - RPGs (of the non-mmo variety) are a big reason, but it
can also be something as simple as learning about [insert subject here].

What I won't do, is work. Bringing work home is something I avoid whenever I
can. I learned that lesson a while ago - burnout is a bitch. Let your brain do
other things. Write code if you want, but don't code on anything work related.

------
Uncompetative
Although it could be classed as procrastination. What I ought to be doing is
so incredibly dry that I need to give myself a break most of the time and only
work on it when I feel inspired. Case in point, I am supposed to be specifying
notation and semantics for tensor operators in the multiparadigm programming
language that I have been working on for many years, but yesterday I really
didn't feel like it so chose instead to write about the problems Nintendo were
having and how they should have built on the success of the Wii with a
familiar interface based upon a pair of wireless Nunchuks, rather than
alienate the casual market with a cumbersome touchscreen that they couldn't
expressively gesticulate with. This led me to hunt for images and YouTube
videos to support my argument. Doing this from time to time has improved my
writing ability:

[http://www.eurogamer.net/profiles/Uncompetative/comments/164...](http://www.eurogamer.net/profiles/Uncompetative/comments/1649530)

I don't feel there is any merit in Facebook / Twitter, but then I haven't got
any friends / social life. I suppose I should have a blog for what I write in
various fora, but I'd have even more trouble believing that anyone was reading
it and I may start making less of an effort with my writing as a result.

Really anything I do that distracts me from boredom stops me slipping into
depression. Luckily, I have no work deadlines...

------
seanhandley
Be proactive.

I make plans to do other things I enjoy. Computer time is a filler if I'm not
busy doing something else, like spending time with family/friends, being
outdoors, running etc.

I agree with mbrock also that avoiding a smartphone (or having a data-less
plan) is a good way to stop time being swallowed up. When you're on a net-
connected machine eight hours a day at work, you don't need more screen time!

------
mbesto
Triathlon.

It keeps you disciplined. It forces you to spend 10-15 hrs / week off a
computer. It keeps you healthy. Can't say enough about it.

------
yason
My smartphone just died and I had to revert back to my trusty old dumb phone
that I loved and apparently still do. The first feeling I had was relief:
mobile internet is "nice" but the joy of not being able to access anything is
great. I'm only available via simple phone calls and text messages, and if I
get any of those it's usually important.

Consequently, I need to find my laptop to access internet and I sometimes do
that but I don't feel like sitting in front of it like I used to. The magic
has moved to mobile internet and because I don't have that anymore I have no
desire to glue myself to the laptop for the sake of keeping myself entertained
by the endless articles on internet. I mostly just open the laptop when I need
to do real work or real chores.

------
moron4hire
I spent the last two weeks completely disconnected from technology, with the
exception of my Canon 5D camera. It was incredibly liberating. I actually
found I was remembering people's names better.

Well, I do have to admit, the location helped quite a bit. I was in the
Galapagos Islands </brag>

Coming home, I've noticed an immediate reversion back to my old ways, with the
addition of a low, simmering anger and slightly less patience towards these
things. However, while I used to be angry and impatient when things would work
slowly, I find now that I have this low level anger and impatience at the
entire concept of the computer.

Bleh.

------
debt
I have the no computer at home rule. It's been working pretty well. I can only
use one at work or coffee shops etc. Problem is I'm in bed writing this from
an iphone. :( It's a huge loophole to the rule.

------
robotic
If I had a free second at any point in the day I would end up checking
Facebook or reddit. I just couldn't stop myself so I deleted them. I deleted
the Facebook and reddit app from my phone and iPad. This helped a lot. I still
checked both in the browser so I ended up deactivating my fb account. I also
use Stay Focused which is a chrome extension that blocks sites after a set
time. I put reddit and a few other sites on the list. I still check HN. I see
this site as educational and I don't regret reading the articles.

~~~
delosfuegos
I second that. GetFocusd is excellent at reminding you why you installed it in
the first place. I blocked most of the sites where I waste my time: Facebook,
Reddit, News sites and general nonsensical, but entertaining sites. I turn off
WiFi and mobile internet on my phone or even set it to airplane mode in
extreme cases.

------
RexRollman
I am on the computer a lot at work, but at home it is different because I am
using the computer to pursue my own interests. I don't consider pursuing my
interests a waste of time.

------
danieldk
I have two safety rules for myself:

\- No HackerNews/Reddit/... after 21:00.

\- No computers/tablets/... after 22:00.

Other than that, other hobbies decrease computer time: watching series/news
with my wife, running, cycling, Geocaching (a great outdoor hobby for the
inner geek :)), and reading (generally newspapers).

Besides that, we are expecting our first baby next month. So, there will be no
time for computers outside work ;).

~~~
Toenex
Very similar here. Additionally I've got 2 kids 13 and 10, both have
ipod/phones that have no wifi access before 8am and after 9pm (router schedule
against mac addresses).

~~~
DesertFoxxx
I remember when I had similar restrictions imposed on me when I was staying
with another family during term time. Personally I hated it, I used to
secretly alter the settings so that my time was extended because I didn't like
being forced off. Eventually they gave up with the restrictions and I went
back to using the internet less, I guess I just wanted it more when I was told
I couldn't have it. Not saying its the same for your kids but it just reminded
me of my internet rebellion!

------
geedy
I think you're going to get variations on this a lot, but I have lots of
hobbies. I am not the most sociable person, but between music, gardening,
rebuilding an engine, board game nights and hanging out with friends, at some
point, sports, your time behind a computer starts to go down. I am not
perfect, but it definitely helps to engage your interests outside of your
work.

------
rsmith05
I think that we waste a lot of time in news feeds
(HN/Youtube/Facebook/Twitter/etc). We are afraid of missing something
important, and seeing that "something new" feels good. But once you've seen
it, you move onto something else immediately. There is some neat research in
this (see [http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/31/this-is-your-brain-
on-...](http://healthland.time.com/2013/08/31/this-is-your-brain-on-
facebook/), and I'm sure there are other meaningful sources as well).

I personally have noticed that I have this cycle:

1) I want something to do, perhaps for just a little while.

2) I think about doing something meaningful, but get a feeling of the task
being overwealming, so I'm not going to do that right now.

3) I think of something that would be easy to do right now, and HN/FB/etc.
comes up. You know, just for a little while.

4) I proceed to the FB/Reddit/HN/etc. cycle and before I know it, I've wasted
way more time than I have intended.

This is my cycle, but I'm sure there are others that have something similar.

=====

I have a case of repetitive strain injury (RSI), so I have to minimize my
computer use outside of working hours for sure.

How?

I have other things I like to do. I study Buddhism and Meditation at a local
center on Wednesday nights. I go out with friends. I read. I listen to audio
books. I have a hobby of studying philosophy and religion that takes up a ton
of time (personal interest).

I watch Netflix using my gaming systems/tablet (although I try to minimize my
gaming time to only on weekends occasionally).

This year I intend to try yoga and tai chi - both are supposed to be good for
RSI sufferers.

I have noticed that I tend to read facebook more often if I leave it open on
my tablet/phone (as you get notifications constantly). So I stopped that.

I generally try to limit Hacker News / Reddit / etc. to about 1 read a day. I
open up all the articles in many tabs, and when I'm through that, I'm through.
If I missed something important, it will come up again or someone I know will
link me. I still sometimes fall into my cycle above, but at least I am more
likely to notice that and avoid it now.

------
bnt
After 9-10hrs behind a computer at work, I don't have much need for computers
at home. Wver since I started working, I've noticed my social network usage
has gone down mostly because I don't want to stare at a screen some more. Same
goes for my iPhone. I wanted to upgrade, but seeing I use it for nothing more
that calls and messaging, I've opted out.

------
mjhoy
I have a power strip to which the wireless router and modem are connected that
can be turned off and off by remote control. _Click_!

------
Quiark
Yes, I try to socialize more, to do more sporty activities. I consider my week
ideal if I leave my laptop in the office 6 out of 7 days and only spend the
nights in my apartment. That could also answer the How? portion of your
question.

I'm single which is the main reason for this ;)

------
thehooplehead
These days, I see computer time as a limited resource. My eyes started acting
up last summer and so I've cut down on my computer time. I save articles into
something like Pocket and use the read-aloud feature while I go take a break
from staring at the monitor.

------
falcolas
One thing that helps me with hacker news is using an external aggregator (like
hckrnews.com) that only shows the top 20 or so news stories. Keeps me focused
on the most relevant news without the front page rabbit hole problem.

------
6d0debc071
I don't try to avoid it, I just have other interests. Hard to be browsing the
net while you're practising martial arts, or swimming, or singing, or dancing,
or - . Well, you get the idea.

~~~
aye
Definitely. We obsess about "how to avoid X", while getting fixated on X and
trying to come up with an "anti-X" solution, but it's so much easier to be
"pro-Y".

------
auvrw
i have a dumbphone (motorola razr) that i use when i go out.

[https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2014/01/14/In-
Line](https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2014/01/14/In-Line)

i don't feel this way at all. i probably spent about 1/4 of last year without
an internet connection at home.

------
dominotw
I recently started using rescuetime. Now atleast have an accurate idea of how
much time I am wasting each day.

------
tjpick
> how do you prevent yourself from wasting hours on
> Facebook/Twitter/HackerNews/YouTube

Have kids.

~~~
mh-
can vouch for this method. should advise that it has other caveats. buyer
beware.

------
sneak
WasteNoTime safari extension.

------
ghosh
deactivated FB account. Not much in youtube.

