Effective Strategies to Improve Concentration and Overcome Internet Addiction

Hello sir,

I am a student, and these days I am addicted to Facebook. I spend at least 10 hours a day on it, but now I want to break this addiction, and I am finding it difficult to do so. How can I overcome this addictive behavior? As a student, this addiction is disrupting my studies.

Sir, please guide me.

Thanks in advance.

Dear Pawan,

Please stay away from computers and the internet for at least 21 days. During this time, visit an internet cafe to check your mail and then return promptly. Spend time outdoors with your friends, read books, and focus on your studies.

Your mind has immense power, which you must channel towards your personal development. If you allow your mind to wander, you may lose control and risk developing addictions.

You are capable of achieving this. Limit your computer usage to checking emails every other day, and only at the internet cafe.

All the best.

Good response, Bhaskar Sir. Thanks.

First of all, how long have you been on Facebook? 3 years, 4 years, not more than that. So, I don't understand how come people are addicted to it. On Facebook or Messenger, people worry about those who are far away, like in the USA, the Middle East, or other countries. But they don't know about their neighbors - whether they have had dinner, anyone in their family is fine or ill, or if they need any support. As good neighbors, we need to think about them first, not just faraway friends.

If anything happens in our homes, the first people to come for support are our neighbors, even before relatives. So, dear Pawan, Facebook is just a pastime, but your studies are your future. Leave it and concentrate on your future.

Thanks.

Hello Pawan Kumar, Bhaskar has given you good suggestions. Further to what he mentioned, please try any of the following:

1. If you are staying at home, ask anyone else to put a login password on your computer -- that way, you are prevented from even logging in when tempted -- until you get over the habit.

2. If you stay in a hostel, it would depend a lot on how your roommates cooperate. The same suggestion above could work. Else, if you own the computer, just dispose of it and put the money in an FD -- you can buy a new one with the amount later -- after you are confident that you are no longer addicted. Computer prices keep falling regularly anyway.

3. Give your contact number to those who you think are ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY to be in touch -- tell them you have been advised by the doctors (from CiteHR) to keep away from computers for some time. The reason for suggesting this reason is this: some friends have the habit of taunting for anything. You can thus ensure you don't fall into that trap and restart the habit BEFORE you are confident.

And finally, just don't make yourself free -- read your regular study books or any other material -- or anything else like gardening, watching news programs on TV, etc. The moment you find yourself free without any work, those will be the weakest moments that COULD drive you to the habit again.

All this UNTIL you are free from the habit. All the Best.

Regards, TS

Dear friend,

As mentioned by my senior friend, Mr. Bhaskar, it is suggested that you should follow a daily routine. My suggestion is that you should allocate some time each day for tasks such as reading, group study sessions, and other academic activities. By doing so, you will naturally reduce the time spent on idle chatting and other distractions.

Good luck.

Thanks & Regards,
E. Ramesh
Email: eramesh_82@yahoo.co.in

Hello Pawan Kumar,

If you really need internet, then I can see ONLY 2 options:

1. Build up your internal strength to avoid going towards Facebook when you are using the computer. OR
2. Assuming you don't know the internals of a computer from the System Admin perspective, please ask any technical friend to 'BLOCK' Facebook on your computer. He/she will know what this means and how it's done. You can't then access Facebook. But if you do know also about this, then you only have the Option (1) mentioned above.

Regards,
TS

I was addicted to social networking sites and emails; I used to spend 6 to 8 hours a day. Now, I spend only 30 minutes a day. It all started with not using the system for 7 days, thanks to my service provider as he blocked it for a week. I then started meeting people, reading, spending time with nature, listening to music, and, moreover, practicing 15 minutes of meditation. Now, I have perfect control over myself, spending only 30 minutes on these activities. Remember, if there is a will, there is a way.

Dear Pawan,

My good friend, no one gets addicted to Facebook for many; it is just a pastime because they may not have anything worth or important to do. Since you have enough to study and try to come up in life, you should have enough willpower not to waste your time. You are trying to go near Facebook; it is not coming to you. If your priorities are in order, there is no reason that you will not be able to concentrate on real-life issues. Best wishes.

Aspirations

Hi Pawan,

Why are you addicted to Facebook? What aspect of Facebook attracts you that you are so addicted? Are you looking for counseling?

Identify aspects of Facebook addiction and work on removing them. In this age of the internet, it's very difficult to stay away from it. The moment you have a computer and internet, you will go to Facebook. You also know that.

I absolutely agree with the wonderful suggestions presented by seniors and members here. They are effective only if you practice them.

But first, ask yourself, what causes you to get addicted to Facebook. If you want to share on this forum, you can, and we can suggest more options. There is a possibility that you are addicted to:

Playing online games with your friends on Facebook: Go out and play real sports. If you don't have friends, then go to the gym, join a club, go jogging to a park or track, join a dance class, join a music class, join a yoga class.

You like to upload your picture on Facebook and read the comments and enjoy the popularity of your postings: You are an attention seeker!! Develop your personality and sense of humor. Stay with real people, talk to real people, be a star in the real world, not the virtual.

Avoid clicking pictures from your cell phone or digicam. The more pictures you click, the more you want to upload, and the more you anticipate responses to those pictures. If you don't get desired responses, this causes you depression, low feelings, and you pursue this vicious cycle to pamper your ego.

Use a normal mode of email to communicate with your friends and family. Avoid passing messages on Facebook profiles.

Start texting your friends rather than posting on walls. If you coordinate any hangout or picnic, coordinate by calling and texting. Even if your friends are Facebook addicts, tell them to respond to you by text or call, and not to post responses on your Facebook profile. There may be confusion and misunderstandings once or twice, but with that, you will learn to coordinate in real life.

Stay outdoors most of the time, involve yourself in many activities. At home, watch TV or talk to family, friends, or roommates. Always remain occupied in someone's company until you start getting comfortable with yourself alone.

If you have a girlfriend or fiancée, spend time with her, talk to her, listen to her, sing to her, take her shopping, just hang out, but stay away from the computer or smartphones that can connect you to the internet.

If you don't have a girlfriend, then seek one. You can develop yourself in the pursuit of love. You will develop your personality and appearance to impress your prospect, and try this in real life rather than being a "copy-paste cool dude" in the virtual world.

If you are using a smartphone, sell it, lock it, gift it! and switch to a basic phone that doesn't give you net connectivity.

Increase your connectivity through a mobile number, get real, become real, talk, listen, touch, and feel the real essence of life, rather than seeing the world through computer screens!

Hope this was helpful! Get out, get active, don't end up a Facebook potato!

Internet addiction is something that's either laughed at or it's a serious problem. While not having the health effects of other types of dependencies, it can still be a problem if it gets in the way of work or social life. Don't be like a fly caught in the Web.

1. Recognize the problem: Do you check email incessantly when it is not entirely necessary? Do you go back to the same websites again and again? How many hours a day do you spend surfing the web?

2. Recognize the reasons. The Internet is always available and cheaper than alcohol addiction, and legal unlike drug addiction. It offers escape just like drugs and alcohol. Once you realize these reasons, you can pinpoint Internet addiction as a real problem and not something to be scoffed at as not being a "real" addiction.

3. Cut down on Internet use. This is, of course, easier said than done. You can't stop checking email any more than you can stop checking the mailbox. You can, however, stop checking it with the same frequency. Set the maximum amount you use the computer a day. This applies to chat rooms, games, online gambling, social networking sites (Myspace), and other sites that take up your time.

4. Take walks, go out to eat, leave your office or home – i.e., get away from the computer. Breaking away for a few hours can help clear the head. If you have wifi, don't take the computer with you.

As with any addiction, it is heartening to know that there are other people who suffer from the same problem. There are now support groups for this new and growing problem. Call people up on the phone who you normally correspond with via email. Set up a face-to-face meeting. As with any addiction, you must determine what you are trying to escape from. The addiction is the symptom, but you need to deal with the cause. If none of the above works, seek professional counseling. Internet addiction can be as debilitating as other types of addiction if left unchecked.

Internet addiction is something that's either laughed at or it's a serious problem. While not having the health effects of other types of dependencies, it can still be a problem if it gets in the way of work or social life. Don't be like a fly caught in the Web.

Recognize the problem: Do you check email incessantly when it is not entirely necessary? Do you go back to the same websites again and again? How many hours a day do you spend surfing the web?

Recognize the reasons. The Internet is always available and cheaper than alcohol addiction, and legal unlike drug addiction. It offers escape just like drugs and alcohol. Once you realize these reasons, you can pinpoint Internet addiction as a real problem and not something to be scoffed at as not being a "real" addiction.

Cut down on Internet use. This is, of course, easier said than done. You can't stop checking email any more than you can stop checking the mailbox. You can, however, stop checking it with the same frequency. Set the maximum amount you use the computer a day. This applies to chat rooms, games, online gambling, social networking sites (Myspace), and other sites that take up your time.

Take walks, go out to eat, leave your office or home - i.e. get away from the computer. Breaking away for a few hours can help clear the head. If you have wifi, don't take the computer with you.

As with any addiction, it is heartening to know that there are other people who suffer from the same problem. There are now support groups for this new and growing problem. Call people up on the phone who you normally correspond with via email. Set up a face-to-face meeting.

As with any addiction, you must determine what you are trying to escape from. The addiction is the symptom, but you need to deal with the cause.

If none of the above works, seek professional counseling. Internet addiction can be as debilitating as other types of addiction if left unchecked.

Hi, I am a business graduate and want to improve my writing skills to an advanced level. I know the basic rules. Please share some useful and practical tips. Waiting for good and quick responses :)
Regards,
Nasreen Fatima

Pawan Kumar,

You received a number of good pieces of advice, yet you still could not control your mind. In that case, please consider donating that computer to me and thereby save yourself :)

Dear Pawan,

First, you have to be aware of your thoughts just before you open Facebook. Make short-term goals for yourself; for example, in a day, you will open Facebook twice for ten minutes. Observe yourself for the same, maintain a diary, and record the timings. For achieving the goal, give yourself a positive reward, and for not doing it, give yourself negative punishment. Remember, you are the master of yourself.

You should follow it at least for a month. Let us know after a month.

Jayshri Maheshwari