My solution:

1. Make starting inconvenient. I have no FB app/tiktok/YT on my phone. I can log to FB in a browser, but I intentionally set some random password I don't remember so each time I need to go through password recovery process.
2. What to do when you started. Whenever I find a moment when I am strong enough to stop watching, I also log out/uninstall app, i.e. revert to the state when starting was inconvenient.
3. When starting is inconvenient, I have these 30 second or so to reflect on "where will that lead?" and this is usually enough to not start.

This works well for me. I watch short videos on days when I'm too tired to do anything productive - this is quite pleasant and relaxing then - but I learned to force myself to logout later, and this is enough.

Selling my TV was one of the best decisions I ever made. In that same post I wrote about the underlying scientific principles behind Supernormal Stimuli. 

If you're interested in the topic, I'd recommend author Deirdre Barrett’s book Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose, and also Eliezer's post Superstimuli and the Collapse of Western Civilization.

I don't want to pretend that I'm someone who is immune to Youtube binges or similar behaviors. However I am not sure why this is a problem and what meaningful work that this behavior was getting in the way of? Speaking for myself, 9/10 if I have a commitment the next morning, I won't stay up late on my computer because... I know I have a commitment at a set time. (If you forced me to hypothesize why that 1/10 times I don't, I'd guess that it is stress related anticipation means I can't sleep even if I did lay down - but that is just a wild guess).

I'm also surprised to see how most of the solutions in the comments involve removing access to anything... doing something more productive. I think there is a difference between the nebulous guilt we feel about Opportunity Cost - "oh geez I could have used that time more effectively" and specific, tangible, realistic things we could have done but didn't. I often find that Youtube Binges are caused by/as-a-result-of not being able to find those activities, they do not frustrate them.

I have perennially found that whatever vice (or as you call it 'hyperstimuli') that I remove, I just replace it with another but it's never a beneficial activity. (The one exception I can think of was when I stopped listening to music when I had a bout of insomnia and instead replaced it with lectures on Wittgenstein or Quantum Physics, because I figured "I might as well learn SOMETHING').

This has caused me an incredible amount of frustration. For all the talk of "social media detox" and even the farcically named "dopamine detox" none seem to actually result in net increases in my well being.

Going back to what I said about specific, tangible, realistic alternatives: I have found that the only way to stop mid-way through a Youtube binge or a Instagram scroll is to be excited about a project that I have a lot of faith in my ability to complete, and a viable first-step which I can do now. 

This isn't fail-safe, if I'm writing a journal entry or an essay, and I have to leave in 30 minutes, you bet your bottom dollar I'll be late because I'll be so engrossed in that writing process. But that doesn't sound like a 'hyperstimuli'


 

My solution: don’t have a smartphone and don’t use social media at all (don’t even have any social media accounts). Seems to work well.

There have been a lot of tricks I've used over the years, some of which I'm still using now, but many of which require some level of discipline. One requires basically none, has a huge upside (to me), and has been trivial for me to maintain for years: a "newsfeed eradicator" extension. I've never had the temptation to turn it off unless it really messes with the functionality of a website. 

It basically turns off the "front page" of whatever website you apply it to (e.g. reddit/twitter/youtube/facebook) so that you don't see anything when you enter the site and have to actually search for whatever you're interested in. And for youtube, you never see suggestions to the right of or at the end of a video.

As a general rule, I try and minimise my phone screen time and maximise my laptop screen time. I can do every "productive" task faster on a laptop than on my phone.

Here are some things object level things I do that I find helpful that I haven't yet seen discussed.

• Use a very minimalist app launcher on my phone, that makes searching for apps a conscious decision.
• Use a greyscale filter on my phone (which is hard to turn off), as this makes doing most things on my phone harder.
• Every time I get a notification I didn't need to get, I instantly disable it. This also generalizes to unsubscribing from emails I don't need to receive.

I use Freedom and Limit on my computer and Stay Focused on my Android phone. The former two allow for a combination of complete blocking during certain time windows and time limits (for any website, even across browsers and even if you open an incognito window). The latter does both for my phone.

I block all social media and content during prime working hours and implement a 30-minute limit outside of that. It works pretty well. I may make it more strict because I sometimes find myself looking at Twitter, etc. occasionally when watching a TV show in the evenings.

I also use BlockTube to get rid of YouTube Shorts entirely from my web browser. They no longer show up in search results or in the menu.

Finally, I recommend the tools here, though I haven't tried all of them: https://liamrosen.com/2023/04/18/modding-social-media-to-win-the-attention-war/

For those who live alone, one option for the phone password is to make it an Antimeme.

1. Randomly generate a long random string
2. Mix in some novel Unicode characters that you’ll have to remember the names of so that you can google

Write it down somewhere inconvenient

I also have this problem and tried many things over the years. Here are my conclusions:

• Finding a good blocker is a balance game. If it's too restrictive - you'll find ways to bypass it; and if it's too permissive - you're just binging. A good blocker is one that makes you think "fair, that's enough, thanks" when you encounter it.
• All blockers eventually erode, you just need to notice that and keep trying new ones.
• There is a baseline of escapism you require and if you force yourself below it, you'll waste time some other way. It changes based on stress levels and life satisfaction (and hunger probably).
• "Unendirsed" is a crucial distinction here. Sometimes I'm ok with watching some YouTube and sometimes I disgust myself afterwards. I've found I have a parasocial relationship with some YouTubers. It's not about productivity, I really want to know what they're up to and deep inside don't want to give up on that.

Lately I'm using LeechBlock extension for FireFox on android. It's set up so that I have 3 overrides per day of 15 minutes each and usually after 15 minutes I'll concede it's enough and go do something else.

The extension broke down in the last update and my YT consumption spiked, showing that it's both effective and a crutch.

I installed Mindfulness Bell on my phone, and every time it chimes, I ask myself, "Should I be doing something else right now?" Sometimes I'm being productive and don't need to stop. When I notice I've started ignoring it, I change the chime sound so I notice it again. The interval is adjustable. If I'm stuck scrolling social media, this often gives me the opportunity to stop. Doesn't always work though. I also have it turned off at night so I can sleep. This is a problem if I get stuck on social media at night when I should be sleeping. Instead, after bed time, I progressively dim the lights and screen to the point where I can barely read it. That's usually enough to let me fall asleep.

To avoid shorts/reels etc I use ScreenZen. I'm allowed to use all of YouTube and Instagram with no issues except for the short videos where I receive a special message that I can bypass but then my 100 days streak would be broken so... Yes I used my achievements addiction to force myself out of Reels/shorts.

Depending on how far gone you are it may not be enough but I found that this was great because it gave more control, for instance you can simply delete all shorts from the youtube interface iirc. 

This might not work well for others, but a thing that's worked well for me has been to (basically) block cheap access to it with anticharities. Introducing friction in general is good

Ideally this is someone you are in regular contact with (a partner/roommate) that can give you more time, but maybe it's embarassing because you told them you want to spend less time on it. 

Another approach (which is the one I take) is to have the person who made the screen time passcode write it down on a sheet of paper that I keep in my wallet. Then, if I need the code, I can ask anyone else to put it in. This only works if you're able to keep the rule of not looking at the piece of paper, though

Things that have worked for me:

• Grayscale filter on my phone. Makes images/videos less appealing, while retaining the utility of text-based use cases.
• Having a custom hosts file for blocking websites at the OS level. Each time I thought "OK having access to this website on this device is counterproductive", I appended it to this file. As a bonus, you can use it to block telemetry/tracking/ads domains. StevenBlack has made a good compilation of domains you may want to block. A word of caution: use only for the worst websites, or else you may find yourself disabling it.
• Pairing/repacing the superstimuli with a wholesome nearby stimulus. For instance, right now I don't have the grayscale filter enabled on my phone, and I have Instagram installed on it. You may think I get sucked in by the reel feed? Nope. I don't, because I am very accustomed to opening the app, checking my DMs, seeing a couple memes sent by friends, searching for memes to send in return, sending them, and closing the app. I have recontextualized the content as a resource used to express affection. For this, it is very important to search for content that I expect the other person to enjoy, or to feel represented by.

A thing I'm curious to try:

• Having a very minimal OS interface setup for my work computer. As in, doing as much as possible with terminal-based tools (turns out, you can do a whole lot from your terminal), and having a small set of only absolutely necessary GUI apps (for instance, some internet browser that didn't save cookies and had a hard tab limit, also probably Zoom, and that's it).

Tbh I struggle with this too, and also have ADD tendencies

Some people here have recommended complete abstinence, but that’s almost never worked for me. 

I think a better strategy is mindful consumption. Eg

•  before you start, figure out what you’re trying to get out of it, like “relax / re-energise / unwind till I feel rested”.
• before you start, decide what channels you’re going to watch.
• before you start, set a timer / set a natural breakpoint of # of videos.
• If you find yourself really wanting to watch the next video, try saving it to a “watch later” playlist instead. That might make it easier to stop. 

Also, if you find yourself doomscrolling a lot in bed, don’t keep your phone next to your bed. Keep it in your bag, or on the other side of the room, or outside your room. 

Lastly try to cultivate better hobbies. I’ve managed to somewhat replace my YT consumption with LessWrong / Kindle consumption recently. It’s a noticeable improvement. 

//This Comment contains references to self harm.

This idea is a little crazy, but... You could use a TAP that punishes you every time you open the app.

Trigger: I just clicked the Twitter Icon

Action: Bite my arm until it hurts

Biting is an example, But you could also:

• Have your phone auto-play fingernails on a chalkboard sound
• Slap yourself
• Punch your knee
• Just have the action be closing the app immediately
• Flick yourself in the nose

I'd recommend reading the Hammer Time Sequence post on TAPS. Specifically, the part about setting a Yoda Timer and practicing it for 5 minutes.