I have tried this with reddit but it still causes me to be on Reddit alot. I was in bed scrolling the site on my mobile's browser for like two hours last night and didn't want to get off.

I keep reddit mostly blocked on my laptop but it automatically unblocks for a few hours at the end of each night. I don't understand why if you are addicted to a site/app people basically give you a workaround for access. This advice doesn't make sense.

Like the size of an iPod shuffle with current smartphone camera technology? I would buy that

For those of you who have done the same, what is your why? Seeking motivation to stay off.

Hi! I (F21) posted a little over a week ago about advice and how to get into digital minimalism. Since then I have dumb-phone-afied my current iphone 12 which has already helped significantly. After reading other posts and input, I turned the color off my phone (way less enticing to do anything on here), turned off all notifications expect calls and texts from specific people, and deleted social media and other unnecessary apps. I have already decreased my phone time by 31% in one week. I’ve nearly finished two books I started this week, and have been off my phone for such long stretches that i constantly lose it (new problem, but a good one in my opinion). But I am back with a new question, i currently carry a pocket notebook, and my boox e-reader or kindle (i like to have my library at my disposal), am an considering carrying my old digital camera from middle school and a dumb phone to solidify the setup. The hard part comes with finding a dumb or dumber phone to fit my needs. I do a lot of driving, so if possible it’d be great to have something that has maps and in an ideal world, spotify for music + audiobooks. I am okay with something still digital but a smaller screen, as it’ll be something i would truly only use for calls, texts, maps, music. I’m open to any suggestions or even dumb phones to steer clear of etc. It’s felt nice being somewhat disconnected and I want to keep going down this path. Thank you in advance!! (again lol)

I've been seeing more content in daily life related to giving up your phone, reducing screen time, criticizing social media, and dopamine fasting. Is there actually a tide of people realizing the negative effects of too much phone/social media/computer, or is my algorithm just serving me things it knows I want to see? It would be really exciting if the younger generation was making positive changes to their life and starting to criticize the apps that are marketed directly to them, but I'm not sure if that's the case. Thoughts?

Lately, due to the high prices in the country, I only consume content on social media. Although I try to stay away from it, at the end of the day I spend time with my phone in my hand, not much time, not including the computer, but 3 hours a day. But I still feel inadequate.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been working on an idea that combines productivity and digital minimalism into a system that reduces distractions while helping you focus on what matters most. The concept is a time-aware workspace manager (and potentially an Android launcher) that adjusts your environment based on your schedule and tasks.

How It Works

The idea is to create workspaces that dynamically adapt to your time, tasks, and calendar events. By curating what’s visible and accessible, it minimizes decision fatigue and distractions, allowing you to focus fully on your current priorities.

Key Features

1. Time-Driven Workspaces
   • Workspaces automatically adjust based on your schedule.
   • For example, during a meeting, only your video conferencing app (e.g., Zoom) and notes are visible, positioned just as you like them.
2. Application and Website Blocking
   • Workspaces can block specific applications or websites that don’t align with the current task (using DNS or similar methods).
   • Example: Social media is disabled during work hours but available in your downtime workspace.
3. Task and Calendar Integration
   • Tasks are tied to specific time slots or events in your calendar.
   • For instance, a "Deep Work" task opens only your IDE and terminal, while blocking distractions like messaging apps and social media.
4. Evening Planning with Speech/Text Input
   • At the end of the day, you can verbally or manually input tasks and let the system schedule them.
   • Example: “Prepare presentation for Friday” is added to a workspace for focused work later in the week.
5. Reduced Cognitive Load
   • By only showing the tools you need for your current task, the system removes the temptation to multitask or engage in unrelated activities.

Extending to Android: A Minimalist Launcher

To extend this philosophy to mobile devices, imagine an Android launcher that adjusts based on time or tasks:

• Work Hours: Only productive apps are visible, while distracting apps like social media are hidden or blocked.
• Personal Time: Entertainment apps and messaging are visible but balanced with reminders to unwind mindfully.
• Evening Mode: Encourages reflection and task planning, with distractions minimized to promote better rest.

Example Use Cases

• Morning: Your workspace shows emails and a calendar overview to start the day.
• Meeting: A workspace opens Zoom and your note app side by side.
• Coding: IDE on the left, terminal below, and browser on the right with the debug page.
• Evening: You speak or type tasks like “Prepare slides for Friday,” and the system schedules it into an appropriate slot.

Tech Stack Ideas

• Base: Tiling window managers like Hyprland, i3, Sway, or bspwm.
• Automation: Python/Bash scripts for layout management and calendar integration (e.g., CalDAV, Google Calendar API).
• UI: A visual calendar built with Flutter or GTK, seamlessly integrated into the desktop.
• Voice Input: Tools like Whisper or DeepSpeech for natural speech processing.

Why This Matters

By aligning your digital environment with your intentions, this system could help:

• Reduce distractions and procrastination.
• Foster deep focus by showing only relevant tools.
• Improve productivity while promoting a healthier relationship with technology.

Seeking Feedback and Ideas

I’m sharing this concept to see if it resonates with others in the digital minimalism space. Would this system help you stay focused and intentional? Are there additional features or challenges I should consider?

I’d also love to collaborate with like-minded individuals who share this vision. Maybe you’re a developer or someone passionate about reducing digital noise—let’s brainstorm together!

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and suggestions!

Are we so far lost as a society that everyone is now scrolling their phones AS THEY WALK OUTSIDE FROM PLACE TO PLACE? It's a beautiful day, life is passing us by, are you so addicted to internet dopamine that you literally can't tear your eyes off your phone screen as you move from one place where you'll be on a screen to another place where you'll be on a screen?

Is it too much to ask that people have their eyes up when walking around? You don't have to smile and say hello at every single person you pass but for god's sake at least have situational awareness about the traffic as you cross the street, people you may be impeding or bumping into as you shuffle slowly along with your nose in your phone, or maybe... I don't know... not making the normies walking around unplugged from devices feel like the outside is a dystopian zombie wasteland? /r

I successfully eliminated social media from my life which was enormously beneficial to my mental health. I’m the mother to a teenager, however, who is clearly addicted to it (Snapchat/IG mostly). I try to talk with her about the downsides to social media and create rules limiting her use during family time (dinner, travel etc) but it is hardddddd. I can see how SM affects her mood and am now able to bear witness to its negative effects, since I am out of it. That said, it really feels like the primary way kids converse these days - for better or worse. Wondering how people who are in my boat handle these convos with your kids and/or help them to see what it might be doing to their psyche, without them realizing?

have been traveling this path for a while. I have also experienced failure, like many of you, including repetition, uncertainty, and times when I wanted to give up. However, I came to understand that NoFap is more than just anything as time went on. The goal is to take back control and design a life that is consistent with your values and aspirations. It was not enough at first to rely solely on my willpower. Things that were of great assistance to me It has to do with self-awareness and readiness. I make strategies based on my triggers, such as loneliness at night or passively browsing the internet. I no longer have sleepless nights thanks to a regular bedtime routine that includes reading, journaling, or meditation. Using tools to make the journey easier is another game-changer. I have been able to cut down on pointless distractions by using apps like Zenze to manage my screen time and stay focused, and BlockerX has made it simple to restrict access to content. Motivation is important. It's amazing what small changes like this can do to your thoughts and habits.

I'm not even joking. Maybe I did doomscroll a little more lately than I should. With all the political commentaries and tiktok ban and some new app floating and all... my brain physically feels fried. It actually feels numb and sore inside!

I know there are some ominous and negative things happening around the world and I know it is important to get informed...

BUT I don't think we're supposed to know opinions of thousand other people. While some people's beliefs or incidents may be disheartening, they will always exist somewhere in the world. I don't need to keep feeding that to my brain. Also, I swear I see people creating the same content about the same topic or even talking exactly the same word for word. Am I tripping?

What am I watching? Why am I spiraling? Why am I letting algorithm dictate what I think?!

I'll take this banning thing as an opportunity to live in real life. God what have I been doing to myself.

Seems to be quite a few young folks in here lately. Let's help em out with a list of books and other inspiration for the switch to digital minimalism. Here are mine: Digital Minimalsim by Cal Newport Stolen Focus by Johann Hari August Lamm's You Don't Need a Smartphone pamphlet, $8. It's a practical guide to how to get rid of your smartphone. Inspired me to make some changes even if I don't get rid of it altogether. Link to her substack: https://augustlamm.substack.com/p/you-dont-need-a-smartphone

To understand awe is to acknowledge its dual nature: it is both universal and deeply personal.

Philosophers from Edmund Burke to Immanuel Kant referred to the “sublime,” a term encompassing awe’s mix of wonder and terror. Kant saw it as the mind grappling with its limitations when faced with overwhelming vastness, whether a star-filled sky or the dizzying scale of an idea.

Today, psychologists like David B Yaden, Dacher Keltner and Jonathan Haidt have codified awe into scientific frameworks, describing it as the collision of perceived vastness and the inability to immediately comprehend it. It’s a feeling rooted not just in the extraordinary but also in the destabilizing realization of one’s smallness.

Scientific research has only reinforced what humanity has long experienced. Awe shuts down the self-referential chatter of the default mode network in the brain. This network—responsible for our ego, our internal monologue—is silenced, allowing us to feel interconnected, compassionate, and present.

Awe activates the vagus nerve, that mysterious braid of fibers linking brain to body, often described as the physiological seat of empathy and social connection. It also reorients our sense of time: moments of awe make time feel both suspended and expansive, leaving us with a paradoxical mix of urgency and serenity.

The benefits of awe extend far beyond its immediate emotional impact. Studies suggest that individuals who experience awe regularly are less stressed, less isolated, and more satisfied with their lives. They are also more likely to exhibit prosocial behaviors, from helping strangers to showing greater patience with loved ones. Awe recalibrates our priorities. It diminishes the petty and amplifies the profound.

For the past several years, I’ve been on a journey. I’ve left a stable job to start a business. I’ve woken up in (and worked from) over 40 different cities in 10 countries across four continents, in the last two years alone.

I’ve experienced sadness in times that I should have been happy. I’ve experienced pure bliss in times that I definitely should have been sad.

Most importantly, I’ve recalibrated my priorities and recognized that many of my goals were no longer mine, but simply a product of mimesis. All that has led me to here, writing this post today.

To some this sounds exhausting, even frightening. To me, it’s led to a stark realization about how I want to live my life.

At first, I thought I was addicted to novelty which scared me a bit since you can only have so many novel experiences. Now, I think I’m addicted to awe which I’ve learned to intentionally create in abundance.

Travel, for me, has been a deliberate pursuit of awe, the emotion that peels back the layers of our routines and leaves us raw and vulnerable in the presence of something grand.

Most recently, I found myself in Japan. If you’ve ever been, you know it’s a country that doesn’t ease you into the experience. For the first 24 hours, the culture shock was so intense it left me slightly anxious—different language, different customs, different everything. But once the initial unease wore off, I was completely hooked.

I walked through centuries-old temples, their silence speaking louder than any words. I watched Snow Monkeys soak in hot springs, perfectly content and oblivious to the chaos of the world beyond their mountain sanctuary. I even stumbled across tiny alleyway bars where locals welcomed me like an old friend, despite the language barrier.

These moments we're grounding. They reminded me how much there is to learn, experience, and feel outside of my usual routine. It’s easy to let the noise of daily life dull our senses, but awe has this way of cutting through all of it.

Here’s the thing: you don’t have to travel across the world to find it. Awe is everywhere if you look for it. Whether it’s in the stillness of a sunrise, a stranger’s unexpected kindness, or even just trying something that makes you slightly uncomfortable.

And yet, we’ve built a world where awe has to fight for its life. Social media wants you angry, distracted, and endlessly scrolling. Not staring slack-jawed at a mountain. These apps designed to capture and hold your attention don’t care about expanding your soul.

Awe, on the other hand, demands space, silence, and a willingness to look up.

Just think about the last time your mind was truly blown. There’s a solid chance it didn’t come from travel. There’s also a solid chance it was planned: a sporting event, a concert, a long hike, a memorable date.

So here’s my challenge to you…

Step away from your screen. For one hour, leave your phone behind and walk outside with no destination in mind. Seek out the small wonders that hide in plain sight. Let yourself be disoriented. Let yourself be surprised. And when you return, reflect on what you felt.

Was it discomfort? Relief? Maybe even awe? In a world that seeks to shrink our attention spans and commodify our experiences, choosing awe is an act of quiet rebellion.

It is a reminder that we are more than consumers of content; we are participants in the vast, unfolding drama of existence. Lock your phone away. Go. Look. Feel. Repeat

p.s. -- this is an excerpt from my weekly column about how to build healthier, more intentional tech habits. Would love to hear your feedback on other posts. All research I mention here is linked there too.

Almost every extension/add-on displays the total time spent on a particular website not the total time on the browser itself. It would be very helpful to have total time spent on browser throughout the day pinned, so you know you're overspending your time.

My life would be so much better without a smart phone. However, my company requires and is exclusive to using the Microsoft authenticator app to allow us to login and use the vpn. I don't know of any phones that are dumb enough and have the ability to log me in. My only hope atm is the light phone III, but that comes out in 5 months and is like $600! Any tips?

Hey everyone. I recently heard about the freedom app and have been really happy with it for the most part - I primarily use it to block instagram and tiktok for an hour at a time to prevent getting distracted. I was just wondering if there's a way to route starting a session through the Apple shortcuts app, or any other similar means. This is mainly so that I can start sessions from my control center without having to unlock my phone in the first place. I've tried configuring URL schemes to little luck, so I was just wondering if anyone else has figured this niche problem out. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

One piece of advice I want to give all of you is to not be too hard on yourselves—you’re not to blame for this! These apps are specifically designed by massive tech companies to be as addictive as possible.

Don’t underestimate how manipulative these companies are and how much effort they put into keeping you glued to your screens.

Now, you can look at addiction from two perspectives:

1. Addiction can be a signal from your body that you’re not feeling okay, meaning the root cause is anxiety.
2. These apps are intentionally designed to be addictive, so the root cause lies in the manipulative elements they include to keep you hooked.

Both perspectives are valid. While I’m not a psychologist and can’t help with the first problem, I can help minimize the addictive elements.

Here’s a list of tools and modded apps I regulary use to reduce my screen addiction significantly!

Farhan

Consolidates all your notifications into one app, reducing constant interruptions. It also alerts you about doomscrolling habits and encourages mindful phone use.

-

Instander

A modified Instagram app that gives you control over your experience. You can disable reels, hide attention-grabbing ads, download posts or Stories, and tweak privacy settings for a more relaxed browsing experience.

-

InstaDM

A minimalist version of Instagram. It removes the main feed but still allows you to post, view and reply to Stories, and manage your DMs. Great for staying connected without the distraction of endless scrolling.

-

Beeper

Combines multiple messaging platforms like Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, SMS, Discord, and more into a single app. It saves time by reducing app-switching.

(Note: It requires some setup for certain platforms like iMessage.)

-

Google Digital Wellbeing

Tracks your phone usage and lets you set app timers and focus modes to limit distractions. It also provides insights into your habits, helping you become more aware of your screen time.

-

Bluesky

An alternative to Xitter with less toxicity and addictive design.

It lets users control their feed algorithms, moving away from attention-driven models that fuel addictive behavior. It might take time to adjust to a less constant, profit-driven experience.
-

RVX

A modded YouTube app that eliminates Shorts, clickbait thumbnails, sponsors, and ads.

(Tip: Research this on Discord and Reddit for safe installation.)

-

Google Fit & Health Connect

Tracks physical activity. It syncs with other fitness apps and devices, encouraging healthier habits by gamifying your progress.

-

Forest and Zen Space

Forest: Lets you grow virtual trees as you focus on work or study, and even plants real trees through their partnership with reforestation programs.

Zen Space: Offers relaxing visuals, white noise, and guided meditations to help you stay calm and focused.

-

Sleep for Android

Tracks your sleep patterns and helps you manage your bedtime routine. It integrates with Do Not Disturb to reduce distractions, ensuring your phone doesn’t interfere with your rest, promoting better sleep hygiene.

-

AdGuard

Limits the amount of data that apps and websites can use to create personalized, addictive content by blocking ads and trackers.

Hey! First off, I'm new to Reddit so hopefully I'm posting in the right community!! Sorry in advance for any nooby mistakes. Here goes:

I’m a writer working on an article for Hims & Hers about how giving up (taking short breaks from or quitting altogether) social media platforms like IG and TikTok impacts self-esteem/mental health (for better or worse).

I'd love to include a wide array of first-hand experiences and takes. If anyone here would like to share their experiences, please pm me! I'm also happy to ask you specific questions if more structure would make it easier to respond. I'd just include your first name and age in the article, too.

THANK you in advance for considering <3

I’ve been thinking a lot about what it means to thrive in today’s world. It feels like everything in life — happiness, productivity, mental health — comes down to how strong our foundation is.

For me, it comes down to 4 core pillars of wellbeing:

1. Sleep – Getting consistent, high-quality rest.
2. Diet – Nourishing your body with what it needs.
3. Exercise – Moving your body regularly.
4. Digital Consumption – This one’s newer but just as critical. It’s about both the quality and quantity of the information we consume.

I'm making these 4 pillars my main goal on a daily basis for 2025. In the past I think I've focused on too many things and ended up giving up completely.

We spend so much time curating our meals and workouts, but when it comes to our minds, we tend to binge low-quality content without a second thought. I saw a stat that the average person consumes more information in a day than someone in the 15th century did in their entire lifetime... Our brains aren’t wired for this, so we end up feeling overwhelmed very quickly.

What's crazy is how interconnected these pillars are. If one starts to slip, the others tend to follow. A bad night of sleep kills self-control, making it easier to grab junk food, skip exercise, and doom-scroll endlessly. Then, you feel wired and stressed which leads to more bad sleep... and the cycle repeats itself.

The thing that's thrown me off the most is phone addiction. It’s something I’ve struggled with, and it’s been the hardest to tackle. Cutting back isn't just about time, although that's important too... it's about freeing up mental bandwidth and reclaiming my focus.

Not that other things aren't important but if I'm not doing these well, everything else is harder... once these are in place, it’s much easier to add other habits that elevate life even further, like mindfulness, meaningful human connection, or pursuing a hobby.

Here are some settings I use to make Reddit more intentional. I only use this app as social media now. Obviously the best advice is the mindsets you follow, but this helped me be more mindful of what I use this app for.

1. Remove suggested posts

(Settings -> Account settings for u/chickenfriednugget -> Enable home feed recommendations -> Off)

This will disable Recommended subreddits on your home feed. You will only see posts to subs you are subscribed to. This is my biggest advice, but you need to be hyperviligant about what you are subscribed to. Does it align with your goals? Your mindset of what you want from this app and what you want from digital minimalism really applies here. The less the better. I try to avoid any mainstream subs and stick to smaller communities.

2. Use compact mode

(Settings -> Default view -> Compact)

Each post on your feed will be smaller rather than larger cards. Combined with removing thumbnails, this makes the app have less of a doomscroll feel imo.

3. Disable autoplay media

(Settings -> Media and Animations -> Autoplay video previews -> Never AND Enable Autoplay Images -> off)

Instead of looking at gifs mindlessly, this makes you read the title to see if you would like to look at the post. Helps feel more mindful of what you're consuming.

4. Remove thumbnails

(Settings -> Thumbnails -> Never show)

I found that the less visual distractions, the easier it is for me to leave the app. I don't get stuck in that doomscroll mood.

This is just what I found helpful for myself and hope it changes your relationship to this app. If anyone has anymore advice, please let me know.

Hi everyone, looking to change my phone habits and take back my free time. My one problem is that I always, always need my smartphone to be switched on and near me. I’m diabetic and my medical devices are linked to it, and I take my insulin from it. There’s no workaround on this aspect.

I thought about using screen time and locking down my phone for everything not diabetes-related, but that sounds like a recipe for disaster. Or does it…?

I really only have two vices, Reddit and a specific mobile game.

Anyone else in the same boat ? Got any tips for me ?? Thanks for reading 🫶🏻

I like the new ASUS Zenbook DUO that's out for 2025 but I also want to be minimalist and avoid AI as much as possible. So it's probably not the best option for me. Doesn't anyone have suggestions for laptops that are more minimalist and utilize AI as little as possible? I mostly use Microsoft Office applications, Gmail, and do some video streaming.

I'm down from 9 hours a day to 6 hours a day! Aiming for 4 hours a day by the end of 2025!

(I make and edit and upload and download videos from my phone).

Want to use Instagram and YouTube mindfully? My upcoming app blocks distracting Reels and Shorts, so you can enjoy the content you want without the time-suck. Keep the rest of the app.

Join the waitlist: Google form

What feature would help you use social media more intentionally?

I read about Tim Ferriss' “low-information” diet in a post here and did a bit of searching and then I came across this statement: “2/3rd of Americans have reported increased stress about the future of the nation, egged on by the 24-hour news cycle.”

2/3 of people are permanently stressed! Why? 99.99% of the things that are dramatized in the news do not directly affect the people who read/watch/hear it. So why are we bombarded with negativity everywhere? Why isn't positive content that really serves people being aired?

It's the same with social media algorithms: negative content is pushed much more than positive content.

Why does everyone need to actively counteract this individually? It could be stipulated by the government or otherwise organized instances that news or other media must focus positively on the mental health of the population, without of course losing the neutral news service. But most of the content really does have an artificially negative connotation in order to create more drama, which leads to permanent anxiety among people.

The more I observe and think about it, the more I don't understand why it is this way.

Seeing the news about what each major country in the world plans to do about the rampant problem of media consumption.
The US are planning on making Tiktok become US owned instead of china-owned. This is not a solution and is just a way for the US to be able to spy on the population instead of China.
France, UK and Australia are working on a "no account creation under X of age" (usually 15 or 16yo). Id dont see it working as people would just use free VPN to log in in another country that doesnt have these restrictions. And as we all know, people on that sub are not 15 and 16yo only. This implementation would try to protect younger people but would do nothing about 17 to 99yo people.

The fact is, we cant delete or ban social media. They're too important in today's world. And i dont think they are inherently bad. At least they WERE not.

The most effective way to better things out would be, not to force social medias companies to be banned, but just to make them remove those two things from their algorithms : recommendations and infinity scrolling.

In short : governments should make social medias go back to their 2005 - 2010 selves. Where when you opened facebook, you'd see the posts of your friends, groups and pages and that would be ALL.

I've counted

- On 30 posts in my facebook feed : 5 were from friends, 2 from groups i follow. The 23 other ones were "recommendations" pages or "reels" that i never followed.
- Worse : on my instagram feed 30 out of 30 posts were reels or recommended pages. Nothing from friends.

I know banning reels and infinite scrolling isnt feasible because as soon as you ban something people will try to get it back.

The solution to me would be to force social medias apps to make an alternate version of their algorithm where, like in 2005, you would just see the posts of what and who you follow and once you finished that, then the page doesnt load anything else until there is new post from what and who you follow.
I bit like how a subbreddit works when you put it in "New" mode instead of "Hot".

You could then choose what type of algorithm and feed you'd like in those social apps. "Normal" (brainrot) mode or "concentration / light" mode.

This would make social medias useful again because lets face it, seeing what your friends are up to in the other part or the world is cool. At least i think it is. But i dont want to have to dig through 30 dumb reels to see the pic of my friend.

To those that think this is not possible, the EU basically forced Apple, second biggest phone company in the world, to change their charging port. And is now forcing every tech company to produce easily repairaible electronics devices (ie, battery removal without glue or proprietary tools).

I totally see laws asking media group to add a light or concentration mode to their apps. Or just add the options to disable things like stories or reels.

Like the Distraction free instagram does. You can disable stories and reels. My only problem is that you can either disable 100% the feed and not see anything from your friends, or allow the feed but get all the reels and recommended pages with it (no hate to the dev, you're doing huge work and i think its because of insta's code that you cant add what im describing).

DF insta, made official by the companies themselves. And for other apps too. I dont have Tiktok but even that social media could be pretty nice to just see small videos of your friends in vacations etc... i still send post cards but those "modern ones" in form of short videos are cool too i think.

Of course it would maybe hurt the revenu a bit of those companies so they'll never do that themselves. That's where governments, with the tiny bit of power they still have, should force them to do that.
But for that, gov would have to realize the bad impact social medias have on the population and act to help them... and i think we're far away from that.

Id love to hear your opinions

I am really keen to cut down on my social media and phone use in general this year, but am nervous about becoming out-of-the-loop with my friendships.

I see several posts on here talking about loneliness and social isolation after digital detoxing. I already live in a different city to most of my good friends and find that it’s easy to catch up on things/know topics to talk about when we do meet in person as we’ll refer to things we’ve seen each other posting about e.g. I saw you went to x beach/How was that camping trip etc.

I also find that I often refer to things I’ve seen on Facebook or Instagram (news, memes, opinions etc) as conversation topics in social settings and don’t want to feel like I don’t have things to talk about/contribute to conversations.

I’m not a naturally outgoing person and struggle to initiate contact with people even with social media, so I guess I’m just after advise about how to overcome the nerves about not knowing what my friends are up to and not being relevant/up-to-date.

TIA.

Hi everyone,

YouTube has been by far the hardest app for me to cut out. I constantly find myself watching videos on random news, tech shows, or so-called productivity hacks.

That said, I occasionally stumble upon high-quality videos that introduce interesting ideas or genuinely improve my life.

I’m currently trying a digital declutter, but YouTube feels almost irreplaceable, especially when I’m eating—it’s become my go-to.

Do you have any good alternatives to YouTube that could help fill this gap? I’d appreciate any suggestions!

Thanks in advance.