bad habits/automatic behaviours/avoidance

[embr3ce2026]

heya everyone! :) I was just wondering how does everyone manage their habits/automatic behaviours here or what helps everyone manage them? I've really struggled with mine since my early teens myself and it's partly fueled my own si somewhat as it's made it difficult for me to achieve p much any long term goal I've ever had and I instead default to scrolling, bed rotting or oversleeping (which leads to stimulation seeking when it's actually time to sleep!), particularly if the thing I want to do stresses me, is uncomfortable or I'm more isolated.

sometimes even when I start too it can be difficult to keep focus too and not default to something that's more stimulating and requires less thought.

I have a difficult relationship with my phone too where I feel I have to use instagram/scroll somewhat to send people stuff and maintain contact with them/show them I care but also have a big problem with defaulting to scrolling.

I imagine gaining more control over this involves identifying what internal beliefs or mindset keeps you there as well as some environmental changes. can anyone relate? what's everyone's experience of this and what have people found works for them? :)

 

[Abacab]

I've struggled with this too and haven't ever really found an actual solution. My sleeping schedule nowadays is mostly fine, but it's just because I get so tired from work that I'm naturally more inclined to sleep at 11pm and pretty much have to get up at a "proper" time. I did manage to genuinely improve over what I was like roughly 2 years ago, though.

A few things I can suggest that might help a bit with mitigating these issues with scrolling:

Build a reading habit with physical media. Especially before sleeping. Take a book, magazine, newspaper, comic or even an instruction manual to bed and read it with a lampshade (not your regular bedroom light) before you go to sleep.

Work on your eating habits. Maybe get a doctor to commission you a blood test to see if your vitamins are in order. Sometimes we get drowned on meds when just adding a bit more oranges to our diet could do wonders.

Try getting into a manual hobby that will keep you distracted. This of course depends on your interests, but it could even be crosswords or puzzles. I'm into miniature diorama building with scrap materials but of course that's not for everyone. Some people go for collection-based manual hobbies like model kits or mini racing tracks but that's a bit cost-prohibitive unless you have high income (I've looked at prices for hobby RC cars recently and let out a "yikes!"). I built a model kit recently and it was strangely therapeutic, but too expensive to be a consistent part of my routine!

 

[tipoftheRGB]

Strict app blockers and website blockers have really helped me out. I actually pay for the app blocker. You can block stuff but you can also add time limits for how long you use things as well.