In before TV and/or movies are said to be a "waste of time". Everything in moderation, in my honest opinion. I've been passionate about good movies and television for a long time in my life. It wasn't until my brain and dick burned out from porn that I realized that I can't concentrate on these two forms of entertainment that are passionate to me. I always reach for that smartphone, not for porn but for mindless stimulation for youtubing or twitter. (again, not porn). This is hard. It's like my ADHD mind is at work here. I wish that I could get into a good movie or television show again. The last time was The Walking Dead Season 4, when I was very much emotionally invested in the characters, story, plot, etc. Very good show (at the time, not much anymore). It may be the low dopamine signaling in my brain that's doing this to me due to my awful porn addiction. What do you think? Anyone else understand what I'm going through at all?
Hey man. I have exactly the same problem . I'd be suprised if we all do. I blame smartphones personally. I'm not saying im cured. Im a big formula one fan, and im watching the japanese grand prix right now. But i keep looking at my phone. I have read up on it though. Concentration is a muscle to be exercised. From what I have read there are a couple exercises to be done out there. 1) Reading - reading apparently exercises your brain far more than tv or computers. It uses more of your brain. 2) Counting the words - find a book that you dont really care for and count the words on a page. Then the next day set yourself the goal of counting more words. Im half and half anout this exercises. But i can see how doong something monotonous will test your concentration when you want to turnaway but need to stick to the goal. 3) Download Forest for Apple and Android. O have this app. Its good fun. You plant a digital tree and set a specific amount of time. It then locks your phone and if you pick it up it shows you the tree. But if you exit that and start browsing, it kills that tree. Your days garden then has a dead tree in it. If you achieve your goal, you develop a nicr garden. 4) I went out the other week to a party. My phone was out of battery so I left it home. I felt fantastic at the end because i didnt have it as a distraction. I can only imagine doing this benefits the brain. I'm intruiged to find out what you and other people find to be beneficial.
In my opinion the next "big thing" aside from porn will be smartphone addiction if it's not already the case. Try to use your phone as less as possible. Just when you have to. I never heard of this app need to try that one I'll let you know how it went.
Case in point. Im watching the tv and writing that message. Im not looking at the grammer or spelling mistakes. Forest App - https://www.forestapp.cc/en/ Enjoy
Do you have a meditation habit? Do you drink often? I find when I limit my alcohol consumption and meditate regularly I can concentrate much better.
I just started yoga four days ago...? I just did it and I feel much better. I drink coffee, never alcohol.
Trash TV is especially. But not all of TV, unless it's a good quality television show with nature or a drama.
Focus on successful days with No PMO. After a couple of successful weeks or months come back and ask again. I guess that question will be already answered by progress and disappear.
I actually had a streak of 30 days w/o an orgasm to porn but masturbated w/o porn on my 30th day (which was yesterday) and reset my streak. I plan to continue to abstain. Sorry, I should have replied with a comment saying I reset as of yesterday. Still, what you said holds up regardless. Thanks!
Im currently on a Sober month for alcohol. I did it only once before and one of the things that people identified was that i was more with it when conversing. So i do believe theres something to it. I think Nofap too, broadens the mind, as resisting such urges for such a period of time is a major mental exercise.
Since I work in IT, I had a hard time sitting down and watching a movie because I was always 'plugged in' and it can be very draining. What I've had to do is set boundaries for myself. 3 hours before bedtime: no more food. 2 hours before bedtime: no more work. 1 hour before bedtime: shut off ALL electronics to start winding down (I read, do crosswords, talk with my wife...anything that doesn't involve electronics). During this time before bed, I'll usually write out what I want to do the next day. I essentially do a brain dump to get all of my thoughts on paper so 1.) I don't forget and 2.) So I don't have to worry about anything because it's out of my head and on paper. It will take some time to get into a routine, but I will say that after setting this up for myself, I am now able to enjoy a movie every now and again and not feel like I am wasting my time. I like to be entertained just like anyone else.
I struggled with this same problem about 6 months ago, however my sweet spot was video games, not TV. During my earlier theaters in this war, I found out that porn numbed any and every aspect of my life that I enjoyed: family, video games, outside time, you name it. So among the first things I did was to restore some interest in the other fields. When I wasn't watching porn on my device, I simply waited out my "dead" period by further killing my already dying brain watching stupid videos on YouTube. So, to curtail this, I would make myself go outside, talk to my family, etc. I even got interested in a whole new level of gaming, which pulled me away from my phone during the dead period. Although it did not fully stop my addiction, it certainly helped me to see the other side of the fence and begin to seriously fight against the addiction. Hoped this helped.