Breaking the Loop: Replacing Reddit with Quiet and Focus
It has been a while.
As expected, it was two steps forward and one step back. I blocked large parts of YouTube, only to find myself staring at its blank homepage. Then came the inevitable pivot: I opened Reddit instead. Like the Hydra from Greek mythology, cutting off one head seems to make two more grow. I had just finished listening to that myth in audio book form, and it felt fitting.
What did help, was an eleven-day holiday in Crete. A beautiful island, full of beaches, incredible food, and long days with hardly any time spent online. Outside of checking maps and looking for new restaurants, the phone stayed in my pocket.
Coming back, it is clear that the next step is addressing the new version of the same problem: Reddit. I have uninstalled the Reddit and Bluesky apps from my phone. Instead, I installed Librera Reader from F-Droid so I can read e-books more easily. I also discovered that The Great Courses are available on Audible, which has been a welcome change. Quitting big tech entirely is a longer-term goal. For now, I am focusing on mindful internet use.
Reddit is deceptive. It gives the illusion of depth. It feels like I am learning about hobbies or subjects I care about, but looking back, I can’t remember many moments where casual browsing led to real insight. When I do find something valuable, it is usually when I search for it directly. Random scrolling has never brought that same value.
Worse, it fragments my attention. It makes things like writing music more difficult. Instead of keeping Reddit tailored to my interests, I have decided to block it entirely. Narrowing it down just made me use it more. The kind of knowledge I am after is not found on Reddit. It comes through experience, long-form reading, and simply doing the thing.
There is no point in defeating online distraction by finding a better version of it. And yes, the irony of writing this in a blog is not lost on me.
Additionally, if more information was the answer, then we'd all be billionaires with perfect abs. But we chase information as if it will change us, when often the answer is much simpler. Do I really need to read another book on habits, minimalism, or fitness routines—or do I just need to take out the trash, sell some things online, and go to the gym and do the workout I enjoy?
The internet is not going anywhere. But maybe, slowly, I can teach myself to be somewhere else.