once you gain awareness of it, the multitasking, the overthinking, the brain fog, days being spent meaninglessly it hurts a lot and it feels like we aren’t living
Yeah, like everyday when I come back from school I do the exact same thing, eat lunch, scroll social media, sleep and then watch more social media until I want to do my homework and that leads me to doing my homework until ungodly hours thus getting a bad sleep and the next day being too tired and repeat the cycle again.
this weekend has probably been the worst brain fog/disassociation that i’ve experienced and i didn’t know why that was because there wasn’t a “real” reason, but then i realized how overstimulated i felt and i didn’t or well don’t know how to fix it.. so i’m glad this video came on my recommended because it gives me a sense of relief and glad to know that i’m not alone.
This video feels like a kind teacher saw you crying in the hallway and took you aside to give you some comfort you and a space to calm down. It was very serene and helpful.
You asked what my body's telling me; my body craves to go to nature to a forest, maybe a lake .... somewhere with fresh air and the sound of birds and water hitting the rocks and just being in there doing absolutely nothing, just wandering around and breathing with no humans or phones or anything. Not thinking about studies or deadlines or any project. Not feeling guilty or shame because i wasted time just peace
I had a dream last night where I was in nature. I saw a bald eagle take flight. I saw mountain peaks. And I broke down and SOBBED. There is so much beauty in this world. It’s waiting for us to slow down and connect to it. I wanna travel so bad. I don’t know how financially but my soul Needs to go backpacking and adventure. I feel you! Nature. Stillness. No man mad deadlines…
I am not sure if you would do this, but I live across the street from a lake, birds and nature. It helps, but sometimes I still struggle to keep the phone at home. Great comments!!
Been an internet addict since I was a child, this is the ONLY self-improvement video that i've been able to finish till the very end. Silently crying like baby as i'm a typing this. We share a lot of opinions, and I just really needed someone to, as weird as it sounds, look me in the eyes and tell me that i have control of my life. I had forgotten, so just really, really, thank you.
hi there, i cant look you in the eyes, but i can tell you that you DO have control over your life. you can continue being the internet addict, or you can lock your devices into your closet and take control of your only life. yes, you have one life buddy, and spending it looking at screen consuming other people's thoughts IS NOT WORTH IT.
I can feel you dear and you are not being idiotic, believe me! I cried at the end too, I don't know why. But it's just, I have realised, WE NEED OURSELVES RN ❤
Quit instagram over six months ago. Trying to not get sucked in into yt shorts. Pinterest feels like a nicotine patch. I understand society and the world less and less. But somehow I get it more and more.
I have a browser extension called StayFree, it's mainly for app timers but it has a section to block in-app features for RUclips. I turned off shorts months ago and basically completely stopped using them.
If you want a way to watch youtube without shorts and you have an android you should try revanced. Its a free mod for youtube that does a bunch of things but it allows you to remove shorts and community posts from all parts making them completely inaccessible. I did the same thing as you except I started on tiktok and then went to Instagram and then went to shorts.
It’s so frustrating that you can’t hide yt shorts on mobile. I don’t like that they are the first thing I see when I open the app/search for a video they’re full of a lot of useless videos unrelated to the topic I searched for. And I agree with Pinterest being a better alternative to Instagram. Still stimulating without the irresistible urge to keep scrolling for hours on end.
it is terrifying that we as a collective are going through something like this. it feels so dystopian and scary that more people than we think are trapped in their own head, feeling numb and useless because of something like social media and constant stimulation. this was sadly very necessary and intentionality is the way to keep living.
the good news is that we as in you and I, the people watching this video exist.the pendulum is shifting. I know its hard to believe, but there is hope as long as you and I exist in our awareness
My favorite tip: crafts! Knitting and sewing are my favorites, but painting, crochet, making things out of beads, embroidery, macrame, sculpting, any and all of these are GOLD for the brain! Start super small, super simple, in the beginning go for quantity rather than quality, do a lot of something small and watch yourself fall in love with a project that takes 150 hours to complete over several months (i did this with a vest i knitted). It also helps with fine motor skills, concentration, flow, etc. 100000/10 whole heartedly recommend
I absolutely love this, learning new crafts is my favorite thing ever!! make patches with acrylic paint on old jeans, learn how to make a flower Kandi cuff, sew on buttons just for glam or to repair an old piece of clothing, make art to put on your walls even if you are just tracing an image, get some rocks and paint them as little fairy houses, learn some basic origami most of them you can make with a singular sticky note, make a tiny room out of an old cardboard box or a animal mask, make merch for your favorite artist, start a junk journal, or a commonplace book, write a page of a story by following some random prompt. I started with an old foldup table and a bunch of jars that I scraped the label off of and now I have a perfectly functional art table which is my favorite spot other than my bed. start small with practical things and see what calls you're name 💪💪💪
@@archieman68 this is the best comment ever 🥰 YES being creative can be as simple or as complicated as you want. Starting off small makes it easier to create a habit and finding joy in working with your hands. 10000/10 setup, you're living the dream!!!
- Realise you’re in control of your attention. - Realise that you can escape the instant gratification culture by leaning into tasks that require more effort but feel really good to you - Replacing that numbing passive consumption with intentional conscious consumption - Consuming sources of information that are more wholesome and serve you more - Going out into the REAL WORLD and EXPLORING. Remember that YOU ARE REAL! - Let the Silence give you your meaning.
Okay so, I'm no expert in this, and I am still trying to manage the escape from the algorithm BUT something I noticed is that even using screen time to watch movies and shows is more productive than scrolling social media. At least for me, art inspires art. If I'm on my computer, but I'm watching something cool, that inspires things I can paint or draw, which is useful later to reduce my phone use and actually create stuff. Not all screen time is wasted if you use it to suit you ❤
Totally. A decade ago, I used the internet purely for what I chose to use it for: art inspiration, enjoyment / knowledge from video essays, social connection on forums specific to my interests, etc. It's only been very recently, with the ubiquity of smartphones and apps engineered for addiction, that the Internet has become so problematic for the majority of us
I'm with you on that... I was sucked into youtube shorts and mobile games for about 7-8 months straight for 8+ hours a day. Up until 8 days ago I decided to delete all mobile games, social media (I have a modded version of youtube that blocks all youtube shorts, hides them from my feed etc.) and started reading books on a Kindle my mom gave me. I stopped vaping 4 days ago and don't even have an interest in it anymore. I dreamed last night for the first time in about 4 years. I finished a 288 page book in less than a week and am on my second book now. I feel like I'm starting to take back control of my life that these big corporations have taken from me. I'm buying a bike on Friday so I can start going on trails around me. I'm so excited for the future of my life and I hope the rest of the world can see that THEY ARE IN CONTROL!!!
@MrJanalula I'm still going strong. I still haven't vaped since, still no social media, and still going strong on the books. I've learned how to moderate my usage on video games and only spend about 30 minutes a day on them, but I don't keep them on my phone anymore, only on my PC and VR headset. Thank you so much for the encouragement, because it really helps me move forward with this new yet long journey I have to better myself.
So refreshing seeing someone around my age talking about this. I feel so scared for my generation and how this is going to impact us in 10, 20 years. I hope we can change. I’m happy there’s a voice of reason among the crowd
we've been manipulated into this. all of us. nobody would consciously want to numb their life away like this. have compassion for yourself and realise that just being aware of what's happening is a huge step. now one step at a time we can take back control...
An strong solution for youtube-only addicted people- I just never go to social media bcz of that instant gratification stuff. As i highschooler, i dont really need that too. I dont have a social media account at first place so i dont have the need to activate any to check and scroll.... All i do is just mindless scroll on youtube. The best technical solution for those who r just addicted with youtube but still wasting away their most part of day is- Delete and pause the history of youtube, no more recommendations and your home page gonna be blank. Now you choose the video you want yourself to consume from an already-subscribed channel. You yourself wont be able to bust away any more than 2 hours a day, you will fed up and start going for the work you should really be doing.... This Works fr.
Thank you for the advice! Just did it myself. Hopefully this will help me not to consume short-form content on youtube, and be more aware of what I watch :)
my body lately has been telling me to do something with my hands; im chronically tired, but that doesn't mean i should be sitting doing nothing but scrolling, especially isolated in my room. my body is craving creativity in a physical sense in a social setting. what comes to mind is learning to knit or crochet and sitting on the couch with my family.
i feel you so much. and i'm just gonna say this unrequested advice- all you gotta do is LET yourself do it and break free from doom-scrolling at least for some time. it pays off.
@@Kai_mybel0vedi know you didn’t say that to me lol, but i just want to add that TRUE! i’m planning to start learning how to crochet again since the last time in high school, but that’s an amazing hobby
ik you made this comment like 2 weeks ago but if you want an alternative that is very hands on I love making cuffs out of pony beads, they only take like 30 minutes and I find that my hands don't cramp because it isn't *too* repetitive!!! also air dry clay is pretty cheap and you can make little trinket dishes by painting them with acrylic paint and sealing them with mod podge :}}}
It took me so much effort to not scroll pinterest or somt else while listening to your video, it shocked me, I had to physically restrain my hand from clicking off the video, this is.a good indicator of the need to change
I literally spend +12 hours on my phone per day, I'm overwhelmed, so tired and unmotivated. Thank you very much for this vídeo, I'm surely going to take a look to your channel. You're a precious human being. Have a good day, afternoon or night.
Man. Sitting in my bed. its 2 am. Normally watching some reels for hours now but i saw your video. Just klicked on it and the first 20 seconds let me feel like i am in a safeplace and that it will get better. I think many of us struggles with short content dopamine. Its like a drug. Your videos help a lot of people. Thank you for that! Greetings from germany 🇩🇪 wish you all the best
I'm starting to believe the only thing that will help alleviate this "media indigestion" on a macro-social level is creating real communities, but real ones, not those communities that media and brands are constantly showing us, but a community based on sharing human experiences. I was wondering why it is so difficult nowadays to make new friends, and then I realized it's because we are always using our phones, I mean all the time, it's unbelievable. If we arrive minutes earlier at any place we usually go, we spend those few minutes mindlessly using our phones. Before this accessibility to digital consumption, we used to use those minutes to get to know the other people who share those spaces with us (and this applies to every single moment we are "waiting" for the next thing to happen). After realizing this I'm trying to just wait, observe and be present, be a real human in real time in real places...
You know what, I’ve been unknowingly doing this for the past 5 years and couldn’t figure out why I was feeling so overwhelmed I thought collecting endless information was beneficial but ended up wearing me out. Thank you so much Josh keep doing what you’re doing.
I feel the same way but I have one dilemma with all this that I don’t know what to do about! Tik tok feels like it has simultaneously melted my brain and stolen so many hours of my life BUT ALSO has taught me some incredible lessons that I don’t know if I would have EVER come across naturally. For example, there are lots of therapists on there saying things that have changed my life. It’s hard to stop opening the app not because of all the other stuff like food videos, pranks, etc but because I’m scared I’m missing out on more little tidbits of life lessons JUST LIKE THIS VIDEO. And yes they’re short 1 min videos but sometimes that’s all it takes, so yeah I’m not sure how to reconcile with that!
I'm so overstimulated that I fell asleep to this, and I don't mean because it's boring, It's actually super insightful, but I've been watching whatever RUclips feeds me, and even putting on a series and checking my phone at the same time, that watching this video was the most "quiet" my mind has been in a while that I dozed off, I didn't realize how tired and emotionally numb I actually was. Thank you for making this, definitely identified a lot and definitely finished watching it haha.
You’re not alone in that, either. I’ve gone through periods where I’ve isolated myself from even people I genuinely enjoyed every moment of being around. I thought that they’d not care about me anymore, after I stayed away by myself for so long. But that wasn’t what happened. Even in periods of isolation, the people that you’ve met and interacted with have also met and interacted with you. And they won’t have forgotten you, or blame you for leaving them alone, even if for a long while. Because if they’re the right kind of people, they’ll always welcome you back. Something I like to think about (as a Christian), is the parable of the lost son. Essentially, the story is of a son who asks his father for his inheritance early (he would usually get it after the father died), and then goes off and spends all the money on “riotous living”, aka pleasure pleasure pleasure. He spends everything, to the point where he’s so broke that he’s starving, and couldn’t even get anyone to give him pig slop. Then the son remembers his father’s house. Even the servants got enough to eat there, he knew. So he went to go back, hoping his father would maybe take him back as a servant. The father realizes his son is coming back while he’s still a bit down the road. But then, something surprising happens. The father- instead of shunning the boy or even just getting angry with the boy for wasting all of his inheritance- *runs* to his son and embraces him, *crying* with joy that he’d come back. Because the father, he’d thought his son was dead. He didn’t care what his son had done, how he had wronged him, or how long he was gone. All he cared about was the overwhelming happiness of getting his son back. Now, that’s not the entire story by far, but you can find the rest in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, verses 11-32, if you’d like. :)
the picking up crime and punishment cracked me up because that is exactly what i did after being told so by a productivity reel. tysm for the advice on following your intuition, gonna pick up a fantasy novel that i actually like
GAHH!!/positive if you want to read some short (ish) stories that feel as fancy smacy as the chunky classics I have so many that I adore!! just flipping through some pages of the Great Gatsby is so much fun I love all the little moments in that book( meeting the owl eyed man is so entrancing i love him) , I also catch myself reading The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World over and over it's so good and spooky. Some others are, The yellow wallpaper, Metamorphosis, The Monkey's paw. My favorite new book is currently Circe by Madeline Miller it's about the Sea Witch from The Odyssey and it's so calm and sweet and lovely. I hope you have fun finding a good book (or three)
@@archieman68 oh these are some recommendations! I love the way you described them… can tell how much you enjoyed reading them. thank you for sharing this beautiful comment 🎀
i'm picking up crime and punishment again because i wanted to!!! it's been so long since i've read an actual book :') and, also, idk if you're looking for recommendations for fantasy novels and/or series, but i sooo fucking love the wildwood trilogy!!! really whimsical and beautiful. :3c
@@grrwyz ooh good luck on your read! keep an open mind if i must say since this book is kinda heavy. also, Ty for the recommendation! I will surely look into it and suggest more if you wish
Bro the pottery class example and not needing to “find a reason” to talk to someone you already share similar passions with was such a huge realization. Great stuff man, we need more people like you to keep our heads straight
Two years ago I turned off notifications for all of my social media outside of messages from friends. My mental health significantly improved. Recently I turned a few back on and it just immediately made me want to turn them back off and I did so. Idk, might not work for everyone but I think it’s a good first step for someone wanting to become less reliant on the internet.
since you asked what my body is telling me: my body wants to do art again i thought i fell out of love with it because of depression and self harm, this video really reminded me that i am a human and i deserve something as simple as trying to paint and draw again
this was like aloe vera for my brain. i’ve been feeling so alone and hopeless and despairing about how algorithmic everything is starting to feel, so this video was a breath of fresh air
“You might not have everything you need right now, but what you do have is what you paying attention to.” That clicked with me hard because really what you give your attention to is what you are and what you will be. Since COVID, I lived in the digital world more than in reality, spending the majority of my time on scrolls and meaningless media. And now, it’s a struggle for me to do the human things. I lost my self, my passions, and the feeling of living a life.
I feel isolated because I have very strong opinions. I get upset when people don't care about human rights, art, the environment, diversity, justice, etc etc the same way I do.
Hi! I don’t know if this reply will be helpful. I speak with genuine empathy. I would say that isolation due to differing beliefs is an echo chamber and precludes social connection. It’s okay that you feel so strongly about these things, but the sooner you understand that these things are not as important as authentic contact with individual humans, the sooner you will be able to break free. Again, social justice, etc, is important and a worthy cause! But, if you only view others through the lens of “do they agree with me?” then you miss out on their basic humanness. You need to figure out how to interact with people at a more basic level. It shouldn’t be a judgment of: “they are liberal,” or “they are close minded”, rather you need to operate based on the fundamental judgment of: “they are also human,” and “we are both human.” You would be surprised at the level of true connection that you can foster even with people who you disagree with when you see past ideologies and connect with the truth of personhood. No matter what we believe, we are all navigating our individual lives, filled with struggle, loss, and joy. This is the substrata of consciousness, which unites all humans. I hope this doesn’t sound too pretentious, I really speak with kindness. I came to understand all this from studying Buddhism and Hinduism
Love this because it's the first I've seen where I didn't feel guilty and dreadful but instead inspired and optimistic. Also completely unrelated, but amazed how your shirt matches the color of your eyes.
as much as the algorithm-based content sucks, sometimes it feels like the algorithm knows exactly what you need. like when youtube recommended me this video. thank you so much! this is incredibly refreshing and reassuring. will be thinking about this and practicing a lot of what you said.
You look 13 but have the wisdom of an old man. People underrate simple things like writing, drawing, painting, walking, reading. You don't have to go be the best at those things, its doing them for the sake of doing them+remembering that sm joy lies in the slow paced things. You also end up naturally working through issues, because you're intentionally aligning your body and mind. It just works idk the specific science. Same for drinking more water or eating better. Do a little and introduce it to your life, then accidentally you do end up just craving those things. And exercise for the benefit of your mental/physical wellbeing+for strength+fitness. Dont do it to punish your body or with harsh body goals in mind. Just reap the endorphins and the rest comes.
that desire we all have to connect with and talk to others is very present in myself, but what else is present is the fear of being seen as weird. i know i'll have to get past that but recognizing it is the first step.
Yea, same happens to me too, it's very difficult to just be yourself comfortably. Nevertheless i know there's people that understand me out there, slowly but surely we will make it :)
Wow, I do not comment on RUclips at all but wanted to just thank you for sharing your thoughts and caring for change. As a climate activist I see it as a great need we as a society have to get to know what the attention economy does with us
ive never done therapy but if my therapist doesn’t talk to me like this, i don’t wanna start thank you so much dude, your video found me when i was feeling the most hopeless
Dude, this really helped. This is a kind of wild coincidence because right now as it's the summer holidays I have this freedom to do things, but a lack of structure, and it's making me feel more 'lost' than usual - so today I made a little list of things I actually wanted to do. Play some guitar, maybe arrange some music I can't find sheet music for online, work on my english portfolio, listen to an episode or two of a podcast I like, play a video game, draw. Even when I started looking through youtube earlier, I was trying to do it mindfully and really engage with videos I actually thought were interesting - ones that my 'spark' drew me to. And then this video!! Thank you so much, I'm absolutely going to take on board the advice you've begin. I'll find my spark. We all will.
Last week I decided to delete twitter and tiktok for this very reason. I'm a person struggling with post traumatic stress and the algorithm just kept recommending me ragebait content that would remind me of my own worst memories, and one night struggling to sleep I decided I just couldn't take it anymore. It's only been a few days but my life already feels like it has improved :)
The fact that I was already doing alot of the tips you gave just shows how intuitive this whole process is. Everyone who's doing this all does the same things and uses the same methods,the answers are inside of us we just need to be willing to listen to them
This video has helped me a lot with parsing through these ideas without shame or guilt. It’s also just really inspiring and comforting to be reminded that the fulfillment and richness that I seek is still there! I haven’t squandered my soul! I’m going to go outside now and when I get back I’ll email my old pottery studio to see if they have an opening in their classes :)
i want movement, to sing more, perform, dance, play, paint, create, be outside most of the day, cook heartwarming wholesome meals, take care of myself physically. i want to start accepting things, accepting the balance in life. i won't always feel happy and excited and all of these good emotions, but that's okay, and actually it's needed. i am aware that i need low moments, and to go through things that hurt me, to shape who i am and to help me learn, and appreciate the good times. i'm slowly but surely getting there. still find myself doom scrolling and feeling discontent with what i'm doing sometimes, but i am trying so hard, and thats all that matters thankyou for this video. lovely to see someone similar in age talking about this sort of stuff.
Dude, your videos are insanely helpful. Been feeling like I hit a rut with the things I’ve had lots of success in. I can honestly say that overstimulation has been a massive part of that feeling and I’m ready to get back to ME and making sure I continue to smash my goals. I have a feeling you’ll be someone that history looks back on in amazement. Gonna follow you throughout this journey, bro 🙌🏾💯
I’ve been depressed and my screen time has been horrible. When you say it like that, it makes so much sense that I’d be mindlessly scrolling when I’m at my lowest… I’ve conditioned myself to need that instant gratification instead of sitting with my low mood.
I'm 52 and haven't seen a young man show such much wisdom and grace, you young man might be something special with this content. At my age we could have an actual conversation
I've been following the steps you mentioned for a week now. Some steps I already knew, others I didn't. And I was feeling very frustrated and overstimulated on the day that I first watched the video. I'm back here 7 days later to leave this comment. I feel so much better, I've uninstalled most of the social media apps and I'm back to reading and watching my TV shows. Thank you, your video was the push I needed. The way you spoke really motivated me. Hug from Brazil.
You have no idea how much hope this has brought into my life. Watching everything that's happening in the world, in watermelonia (not a joke, just to avoid getting the commnet deleted by yt), it's been overwhelming to say the least. And no matter how many reels or shorts I go through, they're almost never enough to "numb the pain". It's kind of like antibiotic resistance, even the quick hits of dopamine stop working after a bit. That's where you come in. Thankyou, Josh. A suggestion for the future, I'd love if you make longer versions of the anti-videos here on youtube.
I'm so happy I found this video and forced myself to watch it without doing anything else. It actually made me emotional how much I related to everything you said. I never thought that my phone was contributing so much to my mental health deterioration.
I was talking about that with my therapist one hour ago, guess the little man inside my phone heard me and suggested me that video. It is really important. I've got to the point where i have a headache now that has been going for like a month, nonstop. I do nothing but stay inside my room, scrolling through those little videos, it has ruined me. I have been an cocaine addict and i can say it is the SAME sensation, the emptiness, the nothing, you feel like a zombie after the minute you close the app. I can't read a book, i can't watch things that have more than 10min, i can't focus. Your video really meant a lot to me, it helped me understand a lot, thanks. Hope we can all get through this and not get to the point where everyone is sick like this. I really worry about the children who are raised with a phone on their hands, technology is really amazing but it can be poison. (sorry about my writing, english is not my first language)
This brought me to tears. I’m a creative person and I grew up drawing, dancing, painting. Now I feel like I’ve lost touch with the things that centered me because a “lack of time” after work. I’m just spending time on the internet and giving myself creative blocks. How silly. Thank you for this!!
I hope you know how much i love you for this video… i think i knew a lot of things you covered in this video but didn’t really realise it. This over consumption is literally ruining a generation and more to come as a gen z myself.
I came across this video just when I am trying to do a "dijital detox" if you will. Something about your narration, the camera angle and the eye contact felt like we were talking face to face and I was actively listening to a friend. I am trying to regain that sense of purpose and everything you talked about resonated with me deeply. Thank you for this conversation.
A shining light amidst a sea of unfiltered noise and polarizing content. I feel blessed that I came across this video today and my weary soul is eternally grateful for this message.
This actually felt nice. Without any background music I thought that it might be boring but I liked it. I feel like I probably need to get more comfortable with silence again.
I've been trying to live like back in the 90s during my childhood where technologies still pretty limited, it kinda help somewhat to enjoy the moment that I have. This video totally helps me clarified that what I'm doing is right, thank you :)
This is, without a doubt, the most important video I have ever watched. This information is life-changing and hugely impactful. You are going to have an impact on the world one person at a time. You are incredibly wise, and I am so grateful you showed up for the first time in my feed today. Thank you. I will be putting your suggestions into action. You also give me hope for the future.
I love these kinds of videos I've been coming across where it's just another person around my age being real about being human. It's really nice to know that a lot of the feelings I have are shared and acknowledged. I run into a lot of "not trying hard enough" or "not being good enough" and I really appreciate the calmer videos that are just about taking a deep breath. This video especially gives me a little guiding light to direct me towards meaningful engagement with the things I enjoy. Thanks for that. I'm excited for my future, but I'm worried I'll get caught up in the instant gratification feedback loop and trip into a bad state of mind. I'll probably come back to this video to avoid it. :)
Thank you for this video. I got an app a couple months ago that blocks instagram form 9:00 to 5:00 and completely blocks it if I have been on it for more than an hour. I had a “oh crap” moment and realized I have limited time and that I find more enjoyment in doing my hobbies and spending time with family than spending time on my silly phone that I think is “helpful for news and info” but it just puts me into a deeper pit of feeling like I have no fulfillment. I’m only a teen and I’m trying to improve everyday with trying to have less and less time on my phone but it honestly feels so impossible sometimes when me friends think I’m crazy for blocking social media for most of my day. This video really helped me to spark my curiosity and passion to live rather than bury myself in a screen. Thank you!! Have a great day!!
Hey just wanted to say you're not alone in this and don't give up. I'm 17 and I've been off social media for a while and it has helped me be so much more conscious of how to truly grow and how difficult it can be in society today since distraction is the expectation.
I used to be rather addicted to social media and the internet, along with the tide of influencers promoting veganism and cold showers and I also watched booktube. My life was all about that idealised lifestyle where I read 40 books a year and jogged, but I've regressed into not reading at all and no exercising but scorlling my phone almost every second in my free time. I think I was always built this way but that my attitude was always problematic. Just that my attention was in a specific sphere of the internet and now that I escaped it, I bounced back into the regular overconsumption. Sometimes you need to get worse before you get better, I'm trying to commit myself to feel human again but it's still very much distracted and living in a fog. Anyways, putting this out there in case someone else also is in the same headspace as me, you're not alone bud. We exist together running in cycles we hope to break
You explained it better than I ever could When scrolling through TikTok and other social media, I feel so desensitized and empty. It didn’t used to be this way, but now it is. One video is happy, a cute child or kitten doing something funny, and the second video is an activism video or a sad video about someone’s situation in a poor country, after seeing so many videos like that, I can no longer be able to feel sad or empathy for some reason, the most I do is interact and comment hearts and scroll, it feels so weird because at this point, I could see a violent video and just scroll and move on. Years ago, when I didn’t have social media, I would get nightmares from the things I now simply scroll past. I feel like I lost my empathy and got desensitized to things and I can’t be cured or helped anymore.
This video is phenomenal. I’m sharing with my Gen Z kids. This needs to be viewed by millions not thousands. You have a very bright future ahead of you!
It's exactly 4.20am, I'm awake, the electricity is out and it's raining outside. Somehow I've actually intuitively realised what you've said in this video way before, you just put it in words that I couldn't really realise. Sellf-improvement was something I should've implementing but I realised I must do something that keeps me in a state of flow. I've started reading self-help and although ive been procrastinating but my realisation has gotten better. I always struggle with consistency, but passive consumption really did cost me overstimulation and yes, I eneded up on this video XD you're 100% the confrontations make it harder. Small steps are really something that are very important imo. Seeking self-centred pleasure is destructive, I've pulled myself out of self isolation cycle at least I'm glad I did that one thing properly lol. Thanks for this video bro. I mean, I'm just speechless. There's ton of helpful information and advice in here. I tried explaining lol. I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense 💀 there's some serious stuff that I must note down in my book.
i stayed still just listening to this, without any scrolling, checking messages. just staring out of the window. after the video ended i realised i hadnt checked the lenght - and I've been just listening to it for 20 minutes, doing nothing else. im proud of myself. thank you, this was so healing. love yall, kerp going!
I love this video. I feel like you found the right words for the most happiest days of my life. It felt intangible, like I couldn’t put words to it. So thank you for this, this will def be on repeat as a reminder
I almost dismissed this video because you look very young, and didn't think you'd have anything helpful to say. But I'm glad I watched. You have an old soul and are wise. Also, your calming voice is great for discussing these stressful topics.
I appreciate how you don't trash the internet and treat it as something that can be useful. Corporate greed has made it to what it is today but it wasn't always meant to be this and it can be a genuine resource to learn more.
This was helpful, thank you for uploading this. I saw a lot of „improvement“ videos the last months and years. They always try to sell me stuff or just feel like time wasted because I will try the „good habits“ and never pick it up again after i failed. This video made me actually think „maybe i CAN refocus my attention? Slowley get my offline life back, WITHOUT throwing my phone out the window.“ Oh and it actually made me THINK. Other channels just tell me what they think is best without actually encouraging me to think while watching it. Like i said: thx
Josh!! Thank you so much for making this!!! Over this summer, I’ve found myself getting sucked into the familiar negative patterns that you’ve described in this video, and I actually had something of a breakdown as I read my Bible earlier tonight. I was thinking about things, and wrote out a prayer on a sticky note. The first phrase? “Lord, I am so broken.” I asked God for help while I cried into the pages of my Bible’s index, and then I read the introduction to my translation for about an hour. I picked up my phone after, not-so-consciously intending to go into one of my instant-gratification patterns, when I saw this video. The title caught my attention for an obvious reason- it was in essentially direct reply to the prayer I’d written. I don’t know what your beliefs are, but whatever they may be, I want to say that your influence is a light to the people you touch, and that God acted through you and your message to help me tonight. So thank you so much!! Keep doing what you’re doing, because our world needs it.
One thing that helped the passive consumption on youtube - turning off the auto-play. I didn’t realize how much I let videos just play in the background while I did things around the house. Now there’s no string of videos that’s just noise in the background, and I’ve found curating the feed a lot easier.
really needed this!! This is such a beautiful concept. It was extremely refreshing too to listen to your well-spokenness and lack of the word ‘like’ haha. Keep doing what you’re doing!!
Thank you for the checkpoint, I like the sentence of our attention being our freedom, it helps to think of what am I investing my time or what am I choosing to tire my brain with. Very much aprecciated 🌷
I was having a tough day when - ironic as hell - the algorithm served me this video. I wasn't feeling very overwhelmed per se, but more kind of... stuck? or lost? So I wasn't expecting to resonate with this as much as I did. You perfectly spelled out a lot of what was going wrong in my head and what I needed to do to change it. Because I wasn't feeling great, I was an easy target for instant gratification media, ragebait, even videos about tragic events that just raised my anxiety and sadness higher and higher. While starting to listen to this video I decided to take a break from the PC and listen to the rest on my balcony. It's close to midnight and it was really nice and chill outside. There were a few bats flying around, and I love animals so that was great. I even zoned out a little from the video a few times but that's fine. As you say, it's my attention and I can let it go wherever I want. All of this was enough to snap me out of my state of mind a little, and make me feel more grounded. I've started cleaning up my house a little now and I'll continue doing that after finishing this comment. You gave me some well-needed hope and perspective and snapped me back into positive or at least neutral thinking. Thank you for that 💚
Already feeling better, thank you so much :) +I have to point out that I absolutely loved that the video was made as one cut (or at least seemed to be), it made it feel like a genuine conversation and added a sense of calmness to it
you give off this feeling of fresh air in a space filled with toxic waste. its just so human the way you talk to the camera; thank you for helping me regain some of that self-control.
I have PTSD because I've experienced sexual harassment in my past workplace. I've escaped from the horrible feeling I get through endless scrolling on social media for about 6 months now. This video reached me at the right moment, I needed it so much. Thank you.
im so sorry. feeling what you need to feel instead of numbing it with social media is a great first step. It was not your fault, I hope you're able to heal
@@looofa6528 thank you, my psychologist said that most of the work I need to do is regulate my nervous system and I'll be ok. It isn't easy but I'm proud of myself, I've been handling everything so well, even the toughest parts 😊
A needed video! For the last couple weeks Ive been off social media. It took me awhile to get the courage to delete them but I am so happy now that I did. I had an epiphany while scrolling and realized that everything posted was just to show off. Show off the things you're doing the things you have, etc. Although I know that it's not all of it, it's painstakingly most of the media that is fed to me. Everything felt curated and hand picked for me as a consumer. It was a jarring feeling. After that I deleted instagram, it had been making me feel like my life wasn't what it was supposed to be. But who gets to decide how my life should be? It sure won't be the normality of everyone. Ive spent more time working on myself, keeping up with hygiene, drinking water, and spending time on things I actually want to do. Even though some times in the past weeks I have sat down and went on RUclips to scroll endlessly on the shorts which Im not proud of. I have become a stronger person. Although your video was not the inspiration for my change I hope it inspires others in the same situation to see that the world can be a beautiful and vast place of experience that you can't get on a phone. 💙💙💙
2am and you’ve been showing up on my yt feed for a few weeks by now and finally gave one of your videos a shot, should’ve done it earlier! this year i started playing more narrative-driven videogames and i feel like it does the job in redirecting my attention, with that im also getting better at reading articles online and books, i feel almost ready for crime and punishment
thank you so so much for your videos. i cant even begin to explain how much they help me return to my senses in a way. i got very overstimulated today again, didn't know what to do, thought "ain't no way a video will help me when im feeling this bad", decided to watch a video of yours nonetheless, because they have helped before - and i already feel so much better than i had 20 minutes prior. really, honestly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you //non-native speaker, sorry if the comment is worded weirdly
Inspired by other comments in this comment section I want to share what my body is feeling. My body is tired. He is tired for years now. I actively looked at screens since I was 11 years old starting to play Minecraft & watch media in form of videos. In the Pandemic it really got worse, I was so overstimulated that often I played games, talked to a friend and watched videos at the same time because I got used to the stimulation of “just” one of those things. This year I graduated and I started critically thinking about the way I consume media (a friend of mine gave me a hint and I spiraled a bit). I deleted my games for weeks at a time to get away from my computer and set me limits for apps like Instagram, RUclips etc. but nothing really helped because I wanted to do it all at the same time and on top of that I just felt guilty which was my motivator. This video really helped me think about the way of my consumption. The part that hit me the most was the meaninglessness. Something in my body actively reacted to that point and the more I think about it the more I can see how I need to find a purpose to help me strive. The whole video for me was really helpful and it is so different to the videos I consume otherwise - so much calmer and without so many stimuli that I get a headache in the end. What my body is telling me right now is that I need to get away from my normal area, outside into nature where I can just sit and think about my life without my phone in my hand - without distractions - just sitting there and rearranging the way I live with sounds of nature in the backround to calm my brain. I want to do stuff I am really interested in and spend my time more wisely. Thank you for the video! I try to work on myself. I’ll keep some updates under this comment hopefully - if I forget yall can ask for sure if interested haha
wow, you mentioned all the phases I went through since last year with social media, it's like my brain knew it needed less time scrolling and more time consuming meaningful content. I can say my levels of anxiety decreased and I feel I have more power or control over my free time. turning off notifications is key, as well, it helps a lot. great video btw!
You have no idea how much you help. I needed to hear this, it’s helped me understand why i scroll even though it makes me feel rubbish, and makes me motivated to change that
once you gain awareness of it, the multitasking, the overthinking, the brain fog, days being spent meaninglessly
it hurts a lot and it feels like we aren’t living
i agree, the sudden realization is like a shock to the heart
And for me, it’s the fact that I know this deep in my bones and still get sucked into the mind numbing algorithm vortex
Yeah, like everyday when I come back from school I do the exact same thing, eat lunch, scroll social media, sleep and then watch more social media until I want to do my homework and that leads me to doing my homework until ungodly hours thus getting a bad sleep and the next day being too tired and repeat the cycle again.
this weekend has probably been the worst brain fog/disassociation that i’ve experienced and i didn’t know why that was because there wasn’t a “real” reason, but then i realized how overstimulated i felt and i didn’t or well don’t know how to fix it.. so i’m glad this video came on my recommended because it gives me a sense of relief and glad to know that i’m not alone.
@@umm0821 I never understood the meaning/concept of "brain fog", can you give me some context or examples if it's possible?
"We're not actually chasing real pleasure, we're just constantly numbing pain" DAMN
right!??? That one really hit home 😭
Whew child! 😢
This video feels like a kind teacher saw you crying in the hallway and took you aside to give you some comfort you and a space to calm down. It was very serene and helpful.
yes this is exactly the vibe thank you for putting it into words ❤
You asked what my body's telling me; my body craves to go to nature to a forest, maybe a lake .... somewhere with fresh air and the sound of birds and water hitting the rocks and just being in there doing absolutely nothing, just wandering around and breathing with no humans or phones or anything. Not thinking about studies or deadlines or any project. Not feeling guilty or shame because i wasted time just peace
Oh yeah 🦋🐢🦅🕊️🩵
i wish i could have this too.
I had a dream last night where I was in nature. I saw a bald eagle take flight. I saw mountain peaks.
And I broke down and SOBBED.
There is so much beauty in this world.
It’s waiting for us to slow down and connect to it.
I wanna travel so bad.
I don’t know how financially but my soul
Needs to go backpacking and adventure.
I feel you! Nature. Stillness. No man mad deadlines…
I did that. It does not help.
I am not sure if you would do this, but I live across the street from a lake, birds and nature. It helps, but sometimes I still struggle to keep the phone at home.
Great comments!!
Been an internet addict since I was a child, this is the ONLY self-improvement video that i've been able to finish till the very end. Silently crying like baby as i'm a typing this. We share a lot of opinions, and I just really needed someone to, as weird as it sounds, look me in the eyes and tell me that i have control of my life. I had forgotten, so just really, really, thank you.
hi there, i cant look you in the eyes, but i can tell you that you DO have control over your life. you can continue being the internet addict, or you can lock your devices into your closet and take control of your only life. yes, you have one life buddy, and spending it looking at screen consuming other people's thoughts IS NOT WORTH IT.
I can feel you dear and you are not being idiotic, believe me! I cried at the end too, I don't know why. But it's just, I have realised, WE NEED OURSELVES RN ❤
i second this
I’m in the same situation. This video was a great refresher from the ones that claim to help, but just shame me for the things I do wrong.
Quit instagram over six months ago. Trying to not get sucked in into yt shorts. Pinterest feels like a nicotine patch. I understand society and the world less and less. But somehow I get it more and more.
if you use android, look into youtube revanced, where you can remove shorts
I have a browser extension called StayFree, it's mainly for app timers but it has a section to block in-app features for RUclips. I turned off shorts months ago and basically completely stopped using them.
If you want a way to watch youtube without shorts and you have an android you should try revanced. Its a free mod for youtube that does a bunch of things but it allows you to remove shorts and community posts from all parts making them completely inaccessible. I did the same thing as you except I started on tiktok and then went to Instagram and then went to shorts.
It’s so frustrating that you can’t hide yt shorts on mobile. I don’t like that they are the first thing I see when I open the app/search for a video they’re full of a lot of useless videos unrelated to the topic I searched for. And I agree with Pinterest being a better alternative to Instagram. Still stimulating without the irresistible urge to keep scrolling for hours on end.
you can get the yt short out of your feed if needed :)
it is terrifying that we as a collective are going through something like this. it feels so dystopian and scary that more people than we think are trapped in their own head, feeling numb and useless because of something like social media and constant stimulation. this was sadly very necessary and intentionality is the way to keep living.
the good news is that we as in you and I, the people watching this video exist.the pendulum is shifting. I know its hard to believe, but there is hope as long as you and I exist in our awareness
My favorite tip: crafts! Knitting and sewing are my favorites, but painting, crochet, making things out of beads, embroidery, macrame, sculpting, any and all of these are GOLD for the brain! Start super small, super simple, in the beginning go for quantity rather than quality, do a lot of something small and watch yourself fall in love with a project that takes 150 hours to complete over several months (i did this with a vest i knitted). It also helps with fine motor skills, concentration, flow, etc. 100000/10 whole heartedly recommend
literally writing my college essay on how knitting has helped me slow down and have more patience.
I absolutely love this, learning new crafts is my favorite thing ever!! make patches with acrylic paint on old jeans, learn how to make a flower Kandi cuff, sew on buttons just for glam or to repair an old piece of clothing, make art to put on your walls even if you are just tracing an image, get some rocks and paint them as little fairy houses, learn some basic origami most of them you can make with a singular sticky note, make a tiny room out of an old cardboard box or a animal mask, make merch for your favorite artist, start a junk journal, or a commonplace book, write a page of a story by following some random prompt. I started with an old foldup table and a bunch of jars that I scraped the label off of and now I have a perfectly functional art table which is my favorite spot other than my bed. start small with practical things and see what calls you're name 💪💪💪
@@archieman68 this is the best comment ever 🥰 YES being creative can be as simple or as complicated as you want. Starting off small makes it easier to create a habit and finding joy in working with your hands. 10000/10 setup, you're living the dream!!!
I recommend cross stitching 🪡💕
YES!!
- Realise you’re in control of your attention.
- Realise that you can escape the instant gratification culture by leaning into tasks that require more effort but feel really good to you
- Replacing that numbing passive consumption with intentional conscious consumption
- Consuming sources of information that are more wholesome and serve you more
- Going out into the REAL WORLD and EXPLORING. Remember that YOU ARE REAL!
- Let the Silence give you your meaning.
Okay so, I'm no expert in this, and I am still trying to manage the escape from the algorithm BUT something I noticed is that even using screen time to watch movies and shows is more productive than scrolling social media. At least for me, art inspires art. If I'm on my computer, but I'm watching something cool, that inspires things I can paint or draw, which is useful later to reduce my phone use and actually create stuff. Not all screen time is wasted if you use it to suit you ❤
I blame Steve Jobs
I can’t blame my screen time when it takes me a few hours to do art but I also like watching videos or listening to music in the background
Totally. A decade ago, I used the internet purely for what I chose to use it for: art inspiration, enjoyment / knowledge from video essays, social connection on forums specific to my interests, etc. It's only been very recently, with the ubiquity of smartphones and apps engineered for addiction, that the Internet has become so problematic for the majority of us
I love this channel so much! i swear this feels so dystopian.. that we are so addicted to our screens and so disconnected from the real world
I'm with you on that... I was sucked into youtube shorts and mobile games for about 7-8 months straight for 8+ hours a day. Up until 8 days ago I decided to delete all mobile games, social media (I have a modded version of youtube that blocks all youtube shorts, hides them from my feed etc.) and started reading books on a Kindle my mom gave me. I stopped vaping 4 days ago and don't even have an interest in it anymore. I dreamed last night for the first time in about 4 years. I finished a 288 page book in less than a week and am on my second book now. I feel like I'm starting to take back control of my life that these big corporations have taken from me. I'm buying a bike on Friday so I can start going on trails around me. I'm so excited for the future of my life and I hope the rest of the world can see that THEY ARE IN CONTROL!!!
@@legitsnp9that’s so inspiring omg keep going you’re amazing!
@@legitsnp9dude that's awesome!! keep going! I'm so glad people are waking up. we need to take back control, we can do it, one step at a time...
@MrJanalula I'm still going strong. I still haven't vaped since, still no social media, and still going strong on the books. I've learned how to moderate my usage on video games and only spend about 30 minutes a day on them, but I don't keep them on my phone anymore, only on my PC and VR headset.
Thank you so much for the encouragement, because it really helps me move forward with this new yet long journey I have to better myself.
@@legitsnp9 You've got it man! We're here for you! :)
I’m already calmer because your camera isn’t zooming every 5 seconds to “hold attention” need more content like this 👏
So refreshing seeing someone around my age talking about this. I feel so scared for my generation and how this is going to impact us in 10, 20 years. I hope we can change. I’m happy there’s a voice of reason among the crowd
listening to this and scrolling through twitter is sickening
Yaaas sickening kween
we've been manipulated into this. all of us. nobody would consciously want to numb their life away like this. have compassion for yourself and realise that just being aware of what's happening is a huge step. now one step at a time we can take back control...
@@jadejaguar69 💀
@@MrJanalula❤
NNNooOoOoOoO stOOOPppp
An strong solution for youtube-only addicted people-
I just never go to social media bcz of that instant gratification stuff. As i highschooler, i dont really need that too. I dont have a social media account at first place so i dont have the need to activate any to check and scroll....
All i do is just mindless scroll on youtube.
The best technical solution for those who r just addicted with youtube but still wasting away their most part of day is-
Delete and pause the history of youtube, no more recommendations and your home page gonna be blank.
Now you choose the video you want yourself to consume from an already-subscribed channel.
You yourself wont be able to bust away any more than 2 hours a day, you will fed up and start going for the work you should really be doing....
This Works fr.
How do you delete and pause it.…
@@Steph1234 watch Lil tutorial about it. It's hitting few buttons but so helpful to quit addiction.
Thank bro 👍🙌
Thank you
Thank you for the advice! Just did it myself. Hopefully this will help me not to consume short-form content on youtube, and be more aware of what I watch :)
my body lately has been telling me to do something with my hands; im chronically tired, but that doesn't mean i should be sitting doing nothing but scrolling, especially isolated in my room. my body is craving creativity in a physical sense in a social setting. what comes to mind is learning to knit or crochet and sitting on the couch with my family.
i feel you so much. and i'm just gonna say this unrequested advice- all you gotta do is LET yourself do it and break free from doom-scrolling at least for some time. it pays off.
You should definitely start to learn to crochet or knit!! I crochet myself and it helps me so much to escape from doom scrolling.
@@Kai_mybel0vedi know you didn’t say that to me lol, but i just want to add that TRUE! i’m planning to start learning how to crochet again since the last time in high school, but that’s an amazing hobby
@@Kai_mybel0vedI came to say take up crotchet 😂❤
ik you made this comment like 2 weeks ago but if you want an alternative that is very hands on I love making cuffs out of pony beads, they only take like 30 minutes and I find that my hands don't cramp because it isn't *too* repetitive!!! also air dry clay is pretty cheap and you can make little trinket dishes by painting them with acrylic paint and sealing them with mod podge :}}}
Stop scrolling through the comments, go back to watching the video
You got me there 😅
It took me so much effort to not scroll pinterest or somt else while listening to your video, it shocked me, I had to physically restrain my hand from clicking off the video, this is.a good indicator of the need to change
I thought I was addicted to the internet, this makes me feel better, thanks 😭
Me too:(
I literally spend +12 hours on my phone per day, I'm overwhelmed, so tired and unmotivated.
Thank you very much for this vídeo, I'm surely going to take a look to your channel. You're a precious human being. Have a good day, afternoon or night.
Man. Sitting in my bed. its 2 am. Normally watching some reels for hours now but i saw your video. Just klicked on it and the first 20 seconds let me feel like i am in a safeplace and that it will get better. I think many of us struggles with short content dopamine. Its like a drug. Your videos help a lot of people. Thank you for that!
Greetings from germany 🇩🇪 wish you all the best
bin auch deutsch!! mega zu sehen dass andere auch seine videos schauen
Jup wir sind nicht alleine ❤
Schön zu sehen, dass sich unter diesem Video auch weitere Deutsche gefunden haben :)
I'm starting to believe the only thing that will help alleviate this "media indigestion" on a macro-social level is creating real communities, but real ones, not those communities that media and brands are constantly showing us, but a community based on sharing human experiences. I was wondering why it is so difficult nowadays to make new friends, and then I realized it's because we are always using our phones, I mean all the time, it's unbelievable. If we arrive minutes earlier at any place we usually go, we spend those few minutes mindlessly using our phones. Before this accessibility to digital consumption, we used to use those minutes to get to know the other people who share those spaces with us (and this applies to every single moment we are "waiting" for the next thing to happen). After realizing this I'm trying to just wait, observe and be present, be a real human in real time in real places...
You know what, I’ve been unknowingly doing this for the past 5 years and couldn’t figure out why I was feeling so overwhelmed I thought collecting endless information was beneficial but ended up wearing me out. Thank you so much Josh keep doing what you’re doing.
I feel the same way but I have one dilemma with all this that I don’t know what to do about! Tik tok feels like it has simultaneously melted my brain and stolen so many hours of my life BUT ALSO has taught me some incredible lessons that I don’t know if I would have EVER come across naturally. For example, there are lots of therapists on there saying things that have changed my life. It’s hard to stop opening the app not because of all the other stuff like food videos, pranks, etc but because I’m scared I’m missing out on more little tidbits of life lessons JUST LIKE THIS VIDEO. And yes they’re short 1 min videos but sometimes that’s all it takes, so yeah I’m not sure how to reconcile with that!
I'm so overstimulated that I fell asleep to this, and I don't mean because it's boring, It's actually super insightful, but I've been watching whatever RUclips feeds me, and even putting on a series and checking my phone at the same time, that watching this video was the most "quiet" my mind has been in a while that I dozed off, I didn't realize how tired and emotionally numb I actually was.
Thank you for making this, definitely identified a lot and definitely finished watching it haha.
Wow you’ve really called me out. I’ve isolated myself so much and live in that depressive state of instant pleasure
You’re not alone in that, either. I’ve gone through periods where I’ve isolated myself from even people I genuinely enjoyed every moment of being around. I thought that they’d not care about me anymore, after I stayed away by myself for so long. But that wasn’t what happened.
Even in periods of isolation, the people that you’ve met and interacted with have also met and interacted with you. And they won’t have forgotten you, or blame you for leaving them alone, even if for a long while. Because if they’re the right kind of people, they’ll always welcome you back.
Something I like to think about (as a Christian), is the parable of the lost son.
Essentially, the story is of a son who asks his father for his inheritance early (he would usually get it after the father died), and then goes off and spends all the money on “riotous living”, aka pleasure pleasure pleasure. He spends everything, to the point where he’s so broke that he’s starving, and couldn’t even get anyone to give him pig slop.
Then the son remembers his father’s house. Even the servants got enough to eat there, he knew. So he went to go back, hoping his father would maybe take him back as a servant. The father realizes his son is coming back while he’s still a bit down the road.
But then, something surprising happens. The father- instead of shunning the boy or even just getting angry with the boy for wasting all of his inheritance- *runs* to his son and embraces him, *crying* with joy that he’d come back. Because the father, he’d thought his son was dead. He didn’t care what his son had done, how he had wronged him, or how long he was gone. All he cared about was the overwhelming happiness of getting his son back.
Now, that’s not the entire story by far, but you can find the rest in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 15, verses 11-32, if you’d like. :)
the picking up crime and punishment cracked me up because that is exactly what i did after being told so by a productivity reel. tysm for the advice on following your intuition, gonna pick up a fantasy novel that i actually like
GAHH!!/positive
if you want to read some short (ish) stories that feel as fancy smacy as the chunky classics I have so many that I adore!! just flipping through some pages of the Great Gatsby is so much fun I love all the little moments in that book( meeting the owl eyed man is so entrancing i love him) , I also catch myself reading The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World over and over it's so good and spooky. Some others are, The yellow wallpaper, Metamorphosis, The Monkey's paw. My favorite new book is currently Circe by Madeline Miller it's about the Sea Witch from The Odyssey and it's so calm and sweet and lovely. I hope you have fun finding a good book (or three)
@@archieman68 oh these are some recommendations! I love the way you described them… can tell how much you enjoyed reading them. thank you for sharing this beautiful comment 🎀
i'm picking up crime and punishment again because i wanted to!!! it's been so long since i've read an actual book :') and, also, idk if you're looking for recommendations for fantasy novels and/or series, but i sooo fucking love the wildwood trilogy!!! really whimsical and beautiful. :3c
@@grrwyz ooh good luck on your read! keep an open mind if i must say since this book is kinda heavy. also, Ty for the recommendation! I will surely look into it and suggest more if you wish
I'm literally 200 pages into War and Peace right now and I'm fighting with myself every day to pick it up, I felt so called out 😂
Bro the pottery class example and not needing to “find a reason” to talk to someone you already share similar passions with was such a huge realization. Great stuff man, we need more people like you to keep our heads straight
Two years ago I turned off notifications for all of my social media outside of messages from friends.
My mental health significantly improved. Recently I turned a few back on and it just immediately made me want to turn them back off and I did so.
Idk, might not work for everyone but I think it’s a good first step for someone wanting to become less reliant on the internet.
Such a big point - if we can connect you back to your child like sense or wonder and play, it will be very very easy to stay present
since you asked what my body is telling me: my body wants to do art again i thought i fell out of love with it because of depression and self harm, this video really reminded me that i am a human and i deserve something as simple as trying to paint and draw again
this was like aloe vera for my brain. i’ve been feeling so alone and hopeless and despairing about how algorithmic everything is starting to feel, so this video was a breath of fresh air
this might be one of the most important things i’ve ever watched, this is going to stick with me for a long time
“You might not have everything you need right now, but what you do have is what you paying attention to.”
That clicked with me hard because really what you give your attention to is what you are and what you will be. Since COVID, I lived in the digital world more than in reality, spending the majority of my time on scrolls and meaningless media. And now, it’s a struggle for me to do the human things. I lost my self, my passions, and the feeling of living a life.
I feel isolated because I have very strong opinions. I get upset when people don't care about human rights, art, the environment, diversity, justice, etc etc the same way I do.
Hi! I don’t know if this reply will be helpful. I speak with genuine empathy. I would say that isolation due to differing beliefs is an echo chamber and precludes social connection. It’s okay that you feel so strongly about these things, but the sooner you understand that these things are not as important as authentic contact with individual humans, the sooner you will be able to break free. Again, social justice, etc, is important and a worthy cause! But, if you only view others through the lens of “do they agree with me?” then you miss out on their basic humanness. You need to figure out how to interact with people at a more basic level. It shouldn’t be a judgment of: “they are liberal,” or “they are close minded”, rather you need to operate based on the fundamental judgment of: “they are also human,” and “we are both human.” You would be surprised at the level of true connection that you can foster even with people who you disagree with when you see past ideologies and connect with the truth of personhood. No matter what we believe, we are all navigating our individual lives, filled with struggle, loss, and joy. This is the substrata of consciousness, which unites all humans. I hope this doesn’t sound too pretentious, I really speak with kindness. I came to understand all this from studying Buddhism and Hinduism
Love this because it's the first I've seen where I didn't feel guilty and dreadful but instead inspired and optimistic. Also completely unrelated, but amazed how your shirt matches the color of your eyes.
as much as the algorithm-based content sucks, sometimes it feels like the algorithm knows exactly what you need. like when youtube recommended me this video. thank you so much! this is incredibly refreshing and reassuring. will be thinking about this and practicing a lot of what you said.
You look 13 but have the wisdom of an old man.
People underrate simple things like writing, drawing, painting, walking, reading. You don't have to go be the best at those things, its doing them for the sake of doing them+remembering that sm joy lies in the slow paced things. You also end up naturally working through issues, because you're intentionally aligning your body and mind. It just works idk the specific science.
Same for drinking more water or eating better. Do a little and introduce it to your life, then accidentally you do end up just craving those things.
And exercise for the benefit of your mental/physical wellbeing+for strength+fitness. Dont do it to punish your body or with harsh body goals in mind. Just reap the endorphins and the rest comes.
that desire we all have to connect with and talk to others is very present in myself, but what else is present is the fear of being seen as weird. i know i'll have to get past that but recognizing it is the first step.
Yea, same happens to me too, it's very difficult to just be yourself comfortably. Nevertheless i know there's people that understand me out there, slowly but surely we will make it :)
rather than convincing yourself you're not weird, start by believing that everyone is weird and it's okay to be weird
Wow, I do not comment on RUclips at all but wanted to just thank you for sharing your thoughts and caring for change. As a climate activist I see it as a great need we as a society have to get to know what the attention economy does with us
ive never done therapy but if my therapist doesn’t talk to me like this, i don’t wanna start
thank you so much dude, your video found me when i was feeling the most hopeless
Dude, this really helped. This is a kind of wild coincidence because right now as it's the summer holidays I have this freedom to do things, but a lack of structure, and it's making me feel more 'lost' than usual - so today I made a little list of things I actually wanted to do. Play some guitar, maybe arrange some music I can't find sheet music for online, work on my english portfolio, listen to an episode or two of a podcast I like, play a video game, draw. Even when I started looking through youtube earlier, I was trying to do it mindfully and really engage with videos I actually thought were interesting - ones that my 'spark' drew me to. And then this video!! Thank you so much, I'm absolutely going to take on board the advice you've begin. I'll find my spark. We all will.
This is crazy, i did the exacy same thing today! I totally agree the lack of routine definitely makes my days feel empty.
Last week I decided to delete twitter and tiktok for this very reason. I'm a person struggling with post traumatic stress and the algorithm just kept recommending me ragebait content that would remind me of my own worst memories, and one night struggling to sleep I decided I just couldn't take it anymore.
It's only been a few days but my life already feels like it has improved :)
thank you very much. i just deleted my youtube history and paused it. i am now only receiving content i conciously subscribed to rn. feels refreshing
How can I do that? I am turning my history off as well, sick of it baiting my mind
The fact that I was already doing alot of the tips you gave just shows how intuitive this whole process is.
Everyone who's doing this all does the same things and uses the same methods,the answers are inside of us we just need to be willing to listen to them
This video has helped me a lot with parsing through these ideas without shame or guilt. It’s also just really inspiring and comforting to be reminded that the fulfillment and richness that I seek is still there! I haven’t squandered my soul! I’m going to go outside now and when I get back I’ll email my old pottery studio to see if they have an opening in their classes :)
In a world where we are being bombarded with supposed answers, Josh has the courage to ask questions. Thank you so much.
Thanks a lot. You are clever. I like your non-blaming approach. Responsibility is so liberating. No shame nor guilt. Only action.
1:50 this made me giggle, also i love the way you flow the conversation into different things. you’re a great speaker
i want movement, to sing more, perform, dance, play, paint, create, be outside most of the day, cook heartwarming wholesome meals, take care of myself physically. i want to start accepting things, accepting the balance in life. i won't always feel happy and excited and all of these good emotions, but that's okay, and actually it's needed. i am aware that i need low moments, and to go through things that hurt me, to shape who i am and to help me learn, and appreciate the good times. i'm slowly but surely getting there. still find myself doom scrolling and feeling discontent with what i'm doing sometimes, but i am trying so hard, and thats all that matters
thankyou for this video. lovely to see someone similar in age talking about this sort of stuff.
Dude, your videos are insanely helpful. Been feeling like I hit a rut with the things I’ve had lots of success in. I can honestly say that overstimulation has been a massive part of that feeling and I’m ready to get back to ME and making sure I continue to smash my goals.
I have a feeling you’ll be someone that history looks back on in amazement. Gonna follow you throughout this journey, bro 🙌🏾💯
I’ve been depressed and my screen time has been horrible. When you say it like that, it makes so much sense that I’d be mindlessly scrolling when I’m at my lowest… I’ve conditioned myself to need that instant gratification instead of sitting with my low mood.
I'm 52 and haven't seen a young man show such much wisdom and grace, you young man might be something special with this content. At my age we could have an actual conversation
Damn son. Sunday service couldn’t have came at a better time😭🙏🙏🙏
I've been following the steps you mentioned for a week now. Some steps I already knew, others I didn't. And I was feeling very frustrated and overstimulated on the day that I first watched the video. I'm back here 7 days later to leave this comment. I feel so much better, I've uninstalled most of the social media apps and I'm back to reading and watching my TV shows. Thank you, your video was the push I needed. The way you spoke really motivated me. Hug from Brazil.
You have no idea how much hope this has brought into my life. Watching everything that's happening in the world, in watermelonia (not a joke, just to avoid getting the commnet deleted by yt), it's been overwhelming to say the least. And no matter how many reels or shorts I go through, they're almost never enough to "numb the pain". It's kind of like antibiotic resistance, even the quick hits of dopamine stop working after a bit. That's where you come in. Thankyou, Josh.
A suggestion for the future, I'd love if you make longer versions of the anti-videos here on youtube.
I'm so happy I found this video and forced myself to watch it without doing anything else. It actually made me emotional how much I related to everything you said. I never thought that my phone was contributing so much to my mental health deterioration.
I was talking about that with my therapist one hour ago, guess the little man inside my phone heard me and suggested me that video. It is really important. I've got to the point where i have a headache now that has been going for like a month, nonstop. I do nothing but stay inside my room, scrolling through those little videos, it has ruined me. I have been an cocaine addict and i can say it is the SAME sensation, the emptiness, the nothing, you feel like a zombie after the minute you close the app. I can't read a book, i can't watch things that have more than 10min, i can't focus. Your video really meant a lot to me, it helped me understand a lot, thanks. Hope we can all get through this and not get to the point where everyone is sick like this. I really worry about the children who are raised with a phone on their hands, technology is really amazing but it can be poison. (sorry about my writing, english is not my first language)
This brought me to tears. I’m a creative person and I grew up drawing, dancing, painting. Now I feel like I’ve lost touch with the things that centered me because a “lack of time” after work. I’m just spending time on the internet and giving myself creative blocks. How silly. Thank you for this!!
I hope you know how much i love you for this video… i think i knew a lot of things you covered in this video but didn’t really realise it. This over consumption is literally ruining a generation and more to come as a gen z myself.
your videos are like a breath of fresh air
like fresh fruit tray in in a gas station snack selection of content
I came across this video just when I am trying to do a "dijital detox" if you will. Something about your narration, the camera angle and the eye contact felt like we were talking face to face and I was actively listening to a friend. I am trying to regain that sense of purpose and everything you talked about resonated with me deeply. Thank you for this conversation.
A shining light amidst a sea of unfiltered noise and polarizing content. I feel blessed that I came across this video today and my weary soul is eternally grateful for this message.
This actually felt nice. Without any background music I thought that it might be boring but I liked it. I feel like I probably need to get more comfortable with silence again.
I've been trying to live like back in the 90s during my childhood where technologies still pretty limited, it kinda help somewhat to enjoy the moment that I have.
This video totally helps me clarified that what I'm doing is right, thank you :)
This is, without a doubt, the most important video I have ever watched. This information is life-changing and hugely impactful. You are going to have an impact on the world one person at a time. You are incredibly wise, and I am so grateful you showed up for the first time in my feed today. Thank you. I will be putting your suggestions into action. You also give me hope for the future.
You make it so clear! Thanks for taking the time to make this video. God bless you!
I love these kinds of videos I've been coming across where it's just another person around my age being real about being human. It's really nice to know that a lot of the feelings I have are shared and acknowledged. I run into a lot of "not trying hard enough" or "not being good enough" and I really appreciate the calmer videos that are just about taking a deep breath.
This video especially gives me a little guiding light to direct me towards meaningful engagement with the things I enjoy. Thanks for that. I'm excited for my future, but I'm worried I'll get caught up in the instant gratification feedback loop and trip into a bad state of mind. I'll probably come back to this video to avoid it.
:)
Thank you for this video. I got an app a couple months ago that blocks instagram form 9:00 to 5:00 and completely blocks it if I have been on it for more than an hour. I had a “oh crap” moment and realized I have limited time and that I find more enjoyment in doing my hobbies and spending time with family than spending time on my silly phone that I think is “helpful for news and info” but it just puts me into a deeper pit of feeling like I have no fulfillment. I’m only a teen and I’m trying to improve everyday with trying to have less and less time on my phone but it honestly feels so impossible sometimes when me friends think I’m crazy for blocking social media for most of my day. This video really helped me to spark my curiosity and passion to live rather than bury myself in a screen. Thank you!! Have a great day!!
Hey just wanted to say you're not alone in this and don't give up. I'm 17 and I've been off social media for a while and it has helped me be so much more conscious of how to truly grow and how difficult it can be in society today since distraction is the expectation.
I used to be rather addicted to social media and the internet, along with the tide of influencers promoting veganism and cold showers and I also watched booktube. My life was all about that idealised lifestyle where I read 40 books a year and jogged, but I've regressed into not reading at all and no exercising but scorlling my phone almost every second in my free time. I think I was always built this way but that my attitude was always problematic. Just that my attention was in a specific sphere of the internet and now that I escaped it, I bounced back into the regular overconsumption. Sometimes you need to get worse before you get better, I'm trying to commit myself to feel human again but it's still very much distracted and living in a fog. Anyways, putting this out there in case someone else also is in the same headspace as me, you're not alone bud. We exist together running in cycles we hope to break
You explained it better than I ever could
When scrolling through TikTok and other social media, I feel so desensitized and empty. It didn’t used to be this way, but now it is. One video is happy, a cute child or kitten doing something funny, and the second video is an activism video or a sad video about someone’s situation in a poor country, after seeing so many videos like that, I can no longer be able to feel sad or empathy for some reason, the most I do is interact and comment hearts and scroll, it feels so weird because at this point, I could see a violent video and just scroll and move on. Years ago, when I didn’t have social media, I would get nightmares from the things I now simply scroll past. I feel like I lost my empathy and got desensitized to things and I can’t be cured or helped anymore.
This video is phenomenal. I’m sharing with my Gen Z kids. This needs to be viewed by millions not thousands. You have a very bright future ahead of you!
It's exactly 4.20am, I'm awake, the electricity is out and it's raining outside. Somehow I've actually intuitively realised what you've said in this video way before, you just put it in words that I couldn't really realise. Sellf-improvement was something I should've implementing but I realised I must do something that keeps me in a state of flow. I've started reading self-help and although ive been procrastinating but my realisation has gotten better. I always struggle with consistency, but passive consumption really did cost me overstimulation and yes, I eneded up on this video XD you're 100% the confrontations make it harder. Small steps are really something that are very important imo. Seeking self-centred pleasure is destructive, I've pulled myself out of self isolation cycle at least I'm glad I did that one thing properly lol. Thanks for this video bro. I mean, I'm just speechless. There's ton of helpful information and advice in here. I tried explaining lol. I'm sorry if it doesn't make sense 💀 there's some serious stuff that I must note down in my book.
Did you find what makes you in a state of flow?
4:34 for me💀💀
God, I love this man.
i stayed still just listening to this, without any scrolling, checking messages. just staring out of the window. after the video ended i realised i hadnt checked the lenght - and I've been just listening to it for 20 minutes, doing nothing else. im proud of myself. thank you, this was so healing. love yall, kerp going!
I love this video. I feel like you found the right words for the most happiest days of my life. It felt intangible, like I couldn’t put words to it. So thank you for this, this will def be on repeat as a reminder
I almost dismissed this video because you look very young, and didn't think you'd have anything helpful to say. But I'm glad I watched. You have an old soul and are wise. Also, your calming voice is great for discussing these stressful topics.
This video felt more human than most out there. Not having music and effects or subtitles on a video was nice
I appreciate how you don't trash the internet and treat it as something that can be useful. Corporate greed has made it to what it is today but it wasn't always meant to be this and it can be a genuine resource to learn more.
This was helpful, thank you for uploading this. I saw a lot of „improvement“ videos the last months and years. They always try to sell me stuff or just feel like time wasted because I will try the „good habits“ and never pick it up again after i failed. This video made me actually think „maybe i CAN refocus my attention? Slowley get my offline life back, WITHOUT throwing my phone out the window.“ Oh and it actually made me THINK. Other channels just tell me what they think is best without actually encouraging me to think while watching it. Like i said: thx
Josh!! Thank you so much for making this!!!
Over this summer, I’ve found myself getting sucked into the familiar negative patterns that you’ve described in this video, and I actually had something of a breakdown as I read my Bible earlier tonight.
I was thinking about things, and wrote out a prayer on a sticky note. The first phrase? “Lord, I am so broken.” I asked God for help while I cried into the pages of my Bible’s index, and then I read the introduction to my translation for about an hour.
I picked up my phone after, not-so-consciously intending to go into one of my instant-gratification patterns, when I saw this video.
The title caught my attention for an obvious reason- it was in essentially direct reply to the prayer I’d written.
I don’t know what your beliefs are, but whatever they may be, I want to say that your influence is a light to the people you touch, and that God acted through you and your message to help me tonight.
So thank you so much!! Keep doing what you’re doing, because our world needs it.
One thing that helped the passive consumption on youtube - turning off the auto-play. I didn’t realize how much I let videos just play in the background while I did things around the house. Now there’s no string of videos that’s just noise in the background, and I’ve found curating the feed a lot easier.
really needed this!! This is such a beautiful concept. It was extremely refreshing too to listen to your well-spokenness and lack of the word ‘like’ haha. Keep doing what you’re doing!!
Thank you for the checkpoint, I like the sentence of our attention being our freedom, it helps to think of what am I investing my time or what am I choosing to tire my brain with.
Very much aprecciated 🌷
I was having a tough day when - ironic as hell - the algorithm served me this video. I wasn't feeling very overwhelmed per se, but more kind of... stuck? or lost? So I wasn't expecting to resonate with this as much as I did. You perfectly spelled out a lot of what was going wrong in my head and what I needed to do to change it. Because I wasn't feeling great, I was an easy target for instant gratification media, ragebait, even videos about tragic events that just raised my anxiety and sadness higher and higher.
While starting to listen to this video I decided to take a break from the PC and listen to the rest on my balcony. It's close to midnight and it was really nice and chill outside. There were a few bats flying around, and I love animals so that was great. I even zoned out a little from the video a few times but that's fine. As you say, it's my attention and I can let it go wherever I want. All of this was enough to snap me out of my state of mind a little, and make me feel more grounded. I've started cleaning up my house a little now and I'll continue doing that after finishing this comment. You gave me some well-needed hope and perspective and snapped me back into positive or at least neutral thinking. Thank you for that 💚
Got this video whilst scrolling through youtube painfully bored and overstimulated. This is just what I needed. Thank you :)
Already feeling better, thank you so much :)
+I have to point out that I absolutely loved that the video was made as one cut (or at least seemed to be), it made it feel like a genuine conversation and added a sense of calmness to it
you give off this feeling of fresh air in a space filled with toxic waste. its just so human the way you talk to the camera; thank you for helping me regain some of that self-control.
Thank you. I feel more in control after a socail media overstimulation binge left me feeling overwhelmed this morning. I will now go on a walk
Watching this made me feel safe, secure and like I’m able to change. Thank you from England 🌺🌼⭐️
I have PTSD because I've experienced sexual harassment in my past workplace. I've escaped from the horrible feeling I get through endless scrolling on social media for about 6 months now. This video reached me at the right moment, I needed it so much. Thank you.
im so sorry. feeling what you need to feel instead of numbing it with social media is a great first step. It was not your fault, I hope you're able to heal
@@looofa6528 thank you, my psychologist said that most of the work I need to do is regulate my nervous system and I'll be ok. It isn't easy but I'm proud of myself, I've been handling everything so well, even the toughest parts 😊
A needed video! For the last couple weeks Ive been off social media. It took me awhile to get the courage to delete them but I am so happy now that I did. I had an epiphany while scrolling and realized that everything posted was just to show off. Show off the things you're doing the things you have, etc. Although I know that it's not all of it, it's painstakingly most of the media that is fed to me. Everything felt curated and hand picked for me as a consumer. It was a jarring feeling. After that I deleted instagram, it had been making me feel like my life wasn't what it was supposed to be. But who gets to decide how my life should be? It sure won't be the normality of everyone. Ive spent more time working on myself, keeping up with hygiene, drinking water, and spending time on things I actually want to do. Even though some times in the past weeks I have sat down and went on RUclips to scroll endlessly on the shorts which Im not proud of. I have become a stronger person. Although your video was not the inspiration for my change I hope it inspires others in the same situation to see that the world can be a beautiful and vast place of experience that you can't get on a phone. 💙💙💙
It’s so great to see videos like this, I’m so glad more and more people are waking up to this
2am and you’ve been showing up on my yt feed for a few weeks by now and finally gave one of your videos a shot, should’ve done it earlier! this year i started playing more narrative-driven videogames and i feel like it does the job in redirecting my attention, with that im also getting better at reading articles online and books, i feel almost ready for crime and punishment
Dude you're gonna be doing some real genuine fuckin wonders for a lot of people. My absolute props to you for helping others!
I woke up from the fog, the confusion, and the mundane everyday life. Thank you for this practical and empathetic content!
thank you so so much for your videos. i cant even begin to explain how much they help me return to my senses in a way. i got very overstimulated today again, didn't know what to do, thought "ain't no way a video will help me when im feeling this bad", decided to watch a video of yours nonetheless, because they have helped before - and i already feel so much better than i had 20 minutes prior. really, honestly, from the bottom of my heart, thank you
//non-native speaker, sorry if the comment is worded weirdly
Inspired by other comments in this comment section I want to share what my body is feeling.
My body is tired. He is tired for years now. I actively looked at screens since I was 11 years old starting to play Minecraft & watch media in form of videos. In the Pandemic it really got worse, I was so overstimulated that often I played games, talked to a friend and watched videos at the same time because I got used to the stimulation of “just” one of those things.
This year I graduated and I started critically thinking about the way I consume media (a friend of mine gave me a hint and I spiraled a bit). I deleted my games for weeks at a time to get away from my computer and set me limits for apps like Instagram, RUclips etc. but nothing really helped because I wanted to do it all at the same time and on top of that I just felt guilty which was my motivator.
This video really helped me think about the way of my consumption. The part that hit me the most was the meaninglessness. Something in my body actively reacted to that point and the more I think about it the more I can see how I need to find a purpose to help me strive. The whole video for me was really helpful and it is so different to the videos I consume otherwise - so much calmer and without so many stimuli that I get a headache in the end.
What my body is telling me right now is that I need to get away from my normal area, outside into nature where I can just sit and think about my life without my phone in my hand - without distractions - just sitting there and rearranging the way I live with sounds of nature in the backround to calm my brain. I want to do stuff I am really interested in and spend my time more wisely. Thank you for the video! I try to work on myself. I’ll keep some updates under this comment hopefully - if I forget yall can ask for sure if interested haha
You've got this man! We're here for you.
this was so wholesome to watch 🤍 thank you for this, your voice is lovely and this was so calming to listen to - an amazing podcast!
wow, you mentioned all the phases I went through since last year with social media, it's like my brain knew it needed less time scrolling and more time consuming meaningful content. I can say my levels of anxiety decreased and I feel I have more power or control over my free time. turning off notifications is key, as well, it helps a lot. great video btw!
You have no idea how much you help. I needed to hear this, it’s helped me understand why i scroll even though it makes me feel rubbish, and makes me motivated to change that
This made me cry, I needed to hear it.
Also your tone of voice is very genuine and comforting.