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Using Home Assistant, adguard home and an $8 smart outlet to avoid brain rot

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370 points remuskaos | 1 comments | 22 Jun 25 20:26 UTC | HN request time: 0.41s | source
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AdieuToLogic ◴[23 Jun 25 02:48 UTC] No.44352075[source]▶
Here is a gradated set of exercises to determine one's phone addiction, if any, in increasing levels of potential difficulty.

  1 - on an off day, with no reason to require phone use,
    put your phone in a dresser drawer for the day and
    do not use or look at it.

  2 - on an off day, with no reason to require phone use,
    put your phone in a dresser drawer for the day and
    leave your residence for at least one hour.

  3 - leave your phone at home when either meeting friends,
    getting lunch, or going to the grocery store.

  4 - leave your phone at home when going into the office
    for one day.

  5 - leave your phone in a dresser drawer for an entire
    weekend.

  6 - leave your phone at home when traveling for more
    than a day (vacation, visiting family, etc.).
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annie_muss ◴[23 Jun 25 05:54 UTC] No.44352801[source]▶
The problem is I know that I am completely addicted, but I cannot stop. I feel like I'm the alcoholic drinking a bottle of vodka a day. I have tried to give up many times but I just can't crack it. Every time I have a good day the next day just slides right back into addiction. I probably average around 5-10 hours of pointless screen time a day (scrolling random youtube clips. Researching items I will never buy. Fantasizing about jobs I can never get. )

I have tried all kinds of blocking software and strategies. Blocking software, however elaborate, never seems to make a different. You find one way or another to get around the block and then after a while turning off the block just becomes part of your muscle memory. The most extreme thing I tried was cutting off the internet to my house and going back to a dumbphone for 6 months. For sure, I probably had less screen time. But I also spent many hours sitting in the station using the public wifi or watching hours and hours of pointless television.

This is a really tough nut to crack. I think there is probably no technological solution to it.

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1. AdieuToLogic ◴[24 Jun 25 00:18 UTC] No.44361578[source]▶
Full disclosure:

  I am just some rando on the internet and only share
  what I hope will help.  In no way is the below a
  replacement for professional counseling.
> The problem is I know that I am completely addicted, but I cannot stop. I feel like I'm the alcoholic drinking a bottle of vodka a day. I have tried to give up many times but I just can't crack it.

My first recommendation is to try to not beat yourself up about this. No one knows how to hurt you more than yourself.

My second recommendation is to take small steps and allow yourself time for each new habit to become entrenched. For example, keep your phone in your pocket instead of visibly near. Once that feels natural, incorporate the next habit which you feel reduces the device's prominence in daily life.

> I have tried all kinds of blocking software and strategies. Blocking software, however elaborate, never seems to make a different.

As others have mentioned and you describe, using an app on the device to alter dependency on the device likely will not work as the device remains the focal point.

> This is a really tough nut to crack. I think there is probably no technological solution to it.

It is and I believe you are entirely correct in identifying "no technological solution to it." If we pursue this hypothesis to its logical conclusion, then one or more solutions must exist outside the technical space. Which suggests a solution might be found in the behavioral space as the two actors in this scenario are a person and a device.

I'm not saying this will be easy nor simple, only that I hope you find peace in finding your solution.