Curbing Compulsive Visiting/Scrolling with Scheduling?

[hikatamika]

My time back in the SmallWeb after choosing to social-web detox has been nice… but…
I find instead of scrolling/refreshing social media sites, I look out for Alerts here on MelonLand, or scroll the Most Recent Posts page as if it were a feed or a timeline… lol. 

Sometimes I even spend more time pressing Random on WebRings as if they were For You Pages or Algorithms or something. My dopaminergic scroll brainrot just found newer outlets  .

I'm feeling partially inspired by how the MelonLand forums, for a few reasons, close on Mondays. I'd already decided to only schedule art to share with the Social/Platform-Web once a month,
but I'm interested in limiting how frequently, and for how long I visit/scroll sites, SmallWeb or BigWeb, using some sort of schedule/rhythm/routine as well.

I don't know if I wanna have one day where I use a large, set, time limit to check up on every site I want, or if I should have a smaller time block every day, but switch which place I check, like "Wednesday is MelonForums day, Thursday is Bluesky day…" etc.

What patterns, rhythms, or schedules do you use to balance the frequency at which you check sites and interact with web apps? And have you experienced people who follow the common cultural practice of checking sites/apps frequently and as much as they want, finding you strange for doing things like taking a few days or even a week to reply to, or interact with, something?

[Dan Q]

I've come to timebox a moderate amount of my consumption. I do all of my news/blogs reading via my RSS reader (no distractions, all in one place!), and I hit it at the start and end of each day, and optionally at lunchtime. Where sites don't support RSS, I use XPath Scraping to achieve the same thing. I keep interruptions/notifications to a minimum.

I avoid media with "endless scroll"/"look at this next..." features, or - where that's not feasible - use JS-blocking or userscripts to remove that functionality (e.g. on the rare occasions I use YouTube, it never suggests a "next" video when I'm on a video page - when I'm done watching a video, I'm done unless I take the proactive step of navigating e.g. to the creator's channel to see what else they have).

I've only been on Melonland for a month and haven't yet adopted "good" habits here, but eventually I'll probably end up using my RSS reader for this, too: telling me about new threads in boards I'm interested in, and replies to threads I've engaged with, I'm thinking. But for now, I'll admit I'm like you @hikatamika - "popping in" to refresh a couple of times a day. Still much better than being interrupted with a buzz in my pocket, but not as disciplined as I'd like.

Making the Internet slow and deliberate takes effort and self-discipline.
It's worth it, but - like any good habit - it takes time to acquire, and you'll fail as often as you succeed in the early days.

Find what works for you, and it'll pay off. For me, as described above, the strategies are:

• Centralising - having one place to consume most of the things I access reduces the risk of distraction
• Scheduling - I primarily hit my feed reader only as specific times
• Blocking - if it interrupts me, it has to be for a good reason, e.g. because something's on fire, or because a real life human wants my attention; everything else should be on silent or removed entirely
• Sabotaging - where sites I use exploit the attention economy, I stop them doing so by nerfing their dark patterns (e.g. with plugins like DeArrow and userscripts) and by blocking the cookies that feed algorithmic "recommendation" algorithms
• Self-compassion - I accept that I'm not perfect, and respect that some "digital sins" are worse than others: losing an hour while I get lost on Wikipedia's a lot less-harmful than any 5 minute period spent on Twitter, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts, I'm sure!

[cyberdreamz]

Bumping this thread because I'm having the same problem right now And I wonder if anyone else has anything to say on this topic.

I keep compulsively checking notifications on every website I have an account on. What if someone liked my art or replied to my post?... In that 5-minute span after my last check? And while I'm at it, are there any new posts that interest me? It's like opening and closing the fridge expecting food to just magically appear there or something
I want to try setting a specific time to check everything and leave it till next day. In the evening, ideally, so I don't get sucked into the endless scrolling loop for the whole day again. And actually like, commit to that. I agree with what Dan Q said, it takes effort and some time, which my brain haaaates, but it's worth it... Gotta remember that.

I once heard some good advice on resisting compulsive/impulsive behavior like that: just before you do the thing, pause and set a timer for at least couple of minutes. You are free to do it after the time runs out, but usually you won't even want to by then... Worked for me for a while and then I forgot about it (or my brain started blocking me from even pausing to think... Certainly feels like it). Maybe I'll try doing that again.

[squidlifecrisis]

I used to scroll to avoid having thoughts. it happened accidentally too, when I picked up the phone to check email or put music on. here's what worked for me:

+ get separate devices for different services if you can (may take awhile). like a dumbphone just for calls/texts, mp3 player just for music, physical calendar instead of using the app.
+ delete scrollable apps from phone. you can check notifs after school.
+ if you can't delete them, at least turn notifs/wifi off while you're working.
+ if you catch yourself scrolling, close the app and turn off wifi.
+ if your cat catches you scrolling, stop and pay attention to the cat.
+ when you stop scrolling, ask yourself if the time was well-spent. (sometimes it IS enjoyable! but be honest.)
+ accept that the need to check notifications is recurring, like hunger, and will continue to happen. you will need more. and more will come. no need to rush.
+ send more direct messages to your friends. you might be craving notifs because you're craving conversation/attention. friends are more likely to give you that than strangers.
+ close your eyes, get comfortable, and scroll through your thoughts instead. this is called meditation. it will lead you to powerful self-discoveries that make scrolling, and the exterior world itself, irrelevant.
+ if your thoughts are bad, IFS therapy.
+ remember how upset scrolling made you last time.
+ you do not have to do anything in place of scrolling. if you're scrolling to procrastinate, you can still sit there and procrastinate without scrolling.

I identified which part of me wants to check notifications, and now I only do so when he needs his fix. that way, we do it intentionally and appreciate it more. AND I'm not tempted to peek when he's not around--wouldn't want to spoil it for next time!

A schedule may or may not work--depends on what kind of person you are. Never worked for me. my cravings are irregular, so predicting them is always a losing battle. Be careful you're not beating yourself up over an impossible goal! You'll find what works for you if you listen closely.