Unfuck Your Habitat

shamefulneglect:

Hi there. I have a problem. Maybe Team UFYH can help?

Last night I showered. The last time I showered before that was probably over a week ago. I just can’t seem to shower regularly. Why? Well, I can’t shower in the morning because I don’t wake up in time to do more than eat before going to work/class.

Why can’t I wake up earlier? Because I stay up late on the internet forever - incidentally, this is the reason I have trouble showering at night regularly, too. By the time I drag myself off the computer, it’s way too late to shower. (I’m a little afraid of the dark, even if it’s safely outside the window.)

I try to make myself get off the computer earlier, but. When I’m using something like Strict Pomodoro, I stop restarting the work timer more often than not. If I tried to install internet-use-policing software, I suspect I would just turn it off once my internet WANT became stronger than my desire to be virtuous and not act addictively towards the internet.

Plus, I have a completion problem: if I open my tumblr dash, you better believe I’m reading the whole damn thing. This is what makes me stay on the internet for three hours longer than I’d meant to, usually - I started this thing and now I must finish it, unless I get so sick of it I just close the tab without dealing with it.

I have trouble following the rules I set for myself, probably because they’re a little all-or-nothing. I can’t do just a little of getting off the internet. I can’t do just a little of tumblr because then I’d miss stuff and never see it again. Even though I don’t really get much of value from Tumblr.

I don’t know. I have infinite excuses, and almost as infinite reasons, and am no closer to a solution than before.

halp?

OK, I’m setting the rules for you, then.

This:

I can’t do just a little of tumblr because then I’d miss stuff and never see it again. Even though I don’t really get much of value from Tumblr.

tells me lots. You’re caught up in momentum. You’re already ON the computer, so it’s just easier to STAY on the computer. Nope. No good.

For the next week, and forgive me for being arbitrary, but I don’t know your life or your schedule, at 11 p.m., you shut your computer down. No excuses. No reasons. Shut it completely off, and, if it’s a laptop, put it in another room. I want you to make a post every night and tag me in it and tell me that you’re shutting your computer down. For a week.

Instruction/demand #2: shower when you get home from work/class. Immediately when you walk in the door. Before you turn your computer on.

Your computer is just a tool. Your tools don’t tell you how to live your life, they help you do so. On your terms. You need to set your terms, and since you came to me for help, I’m doing it for you.