Tips for information addiction?

[N Seeker]

It's hard to find information on this addiction (or maybe I just want too much? ). Anyone has any tips on how to fight it?

The problem is that I have learned a lot of things and they have been useful in my life. But I compulsively seek information in order to avoid tasks or feelings. I can make google search after google search, and I am not one who is typically satisfied by the results on the first page. I search for information on health despite knowing that I will not use it. At times, I search "How to kill myself" and countless variants in a short period of time, despite knowing that searches are resource-expensive and despite not wanting to kill myself. I also check my feeds, and some websites that are often updated. Hours go by. At other stages, it has been Reddit and YouTube.

I have been avoiding AI as I would otherwise become addicted to it (I use a search engine without AI).

I don't know what to do. I have tried blockers, self-help books, of course I have most notifications turned off and a distraction-free home screen. I might do the "keep your phone away from you" a couple of times before I forget it. But it's as bad on computers as on the phone. And the worst part is needing them for work and for communicating with my family.

Any tips?

 

[neurotic]

You may be looking at this wrong and it may be more positive than negative. This urge to gather information isn't wrong in itself, it demonstrates a very hungry mind.
Limiting your resources like AI also may be a tell you're searching for not just any information, but specifically information that provides a rich, authentic type of data. Compare this to using TikTok or ingesting other quick forms of media. I truly think you have the right idea on adding blockers, removing distractions, and keeping your phone away. You're making the right choices.

With all of this in mind, I don't see a reason for you to force yourself to not indulge, but instead, I think you should consider to keep doing what you're already doing. Focus on using healthy, information gathering tools from calm sources. By that I mean, keep limiting the noise and keep creating paths for signal, and optimizing to remove media that creates overstimulation. That is rich information without added bloat and overstimulating. You're definitely heading in the right direction.

I would highly recommend you get a library card for your local library, and browse the non-fiction books they may have. Unlike the internet, it's more heavily curated and absolutely full of information from anywhere you can think of, which would definitely appeal to your side of navigating multiple webpages on a vast amount of subjects. It's much better than browsing random websites.

(To note, even this can become a habit in which every waking moment is spent on information intake. When this happens to me, you need to think of your energy as over stimulation. How do you calm down your over stimulation when you've taken in too much information? So, it's a good idea to make sure the media/information you consume does not overload you or you will have to solve that problem over and over again. That's why books are absolutely amazing and you can just go absolutely wild with them!)

 

[daruino]

Yes, what a unique addiction! Unfortunate to hear that it is getting in the way of things though. I don't really have much to help since this seems different from substance addiction; but most times beginning to fight the addiction is knowing why you do it. You recognize it is to avoid tasks or feelings, but do you know why? What kind of tasks set this off, and what feelings, and why you don' t want to feel them. Have you tried setting limits for yourself? Perhaps planning what you use the internet for or a time limit; only an hour of information seeking at a set time a day for example.

 

[derpyderpins]

Man losing hours going down rabbit holes is something that I struggle with, big time.

Since you already have the information addiction, try learning about psychology/neurobiology and a bit of the 'why' behind it. As a commenter above me said, this can also be a superpower in a way, so one thing is realizing it's going to happen so you might as well make it productive.

Specifically on the psychology/neurobiology, I'd look into practiced quieting of the ego. Our ego is usually hyperactive/dysregulated when we just cannot pull ourselves away or we are behaving irrationally.

From a psychological perspective, learn about the ego theoretically (I like Jung, personally) and how a lot of times it is protecting us or otherwise trying to fill a need when it behaves in a way we don't want it to. eg, for me my obsessive distractions are often my ego protecting me from dealing with a problem that I don't want to deal with right now, or trying to fill the need of a mental break (even if it's accidentally giving me more stress).

Then with the biology/neuroscience, you can look into what types of things help with ego regulation and being able to control the ego a bit more. (eg what types of brain waves / network usage are associated heavily with ego overload and what types of activities increase those, and so on.)

For me, who is also someone who 'needs to know,' peaking under the hood a little bit helps me with managing.

 

[akiyama346]

Set a screen time limit for Google/your browser on your phone