I spend way too much time browsing Reddit, YouTube/Twitch, and Facebook. Thankfully, I never got into Insta or TikTok. I want to drastically reduce the amount of time I spend interacting with these sites, but they feel so deeply engrained into my psyche that it feels nearly impossible.
I've tried some of the simpler suggestions like configuring a Tampermonkey extension to limit access, or installing Cold Turkey (https://getcoldturkey.com/). The problem is that I know how to work around these things (you can just edit your clock time to mitigate Cold Turkey ...) and so, eventually, the cravings become enough that I do so even though it's not in my best interest.
Another issue is that sometimes sites have valuable information. For example, some subreddits have useful information related to programming, fitness, etc. and I'll encounter them through a Google search. If I'm prevented from accessing this information when doing legitimate research then I find that frustrating and wish there was an exception to the rule. I'm not sure how grounded that stance is, though.
In the physical world, I've had great success defeating habits by limiting physical access. I don't keep snacks at home and, if I must, I'll put them in a timed, locking container (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00E9J3MLM) such that I'm unable to open it when having a craving. This helped me with things like delicious toppings for salads which I wanted to keep on-hand, but not be tempted by 24/7.
The problem is more challenging when working with digital addictions. I'm wondering what my options are here? I assume something related to parental controls at/near the hardware level and a time-release password? Not sure if anything time-based is viable if I can just mess with my computer's clock time, but maybe if it dials out to a third-party server for timing info and I don't go so far as to MITM the response? I'd prefer solutions that I'm able to implement myself rather than relying on repeatedly handing passwords off to friends, but am understanding if that's a hard requirement.
Anyone had any success here? Thanks!