I'm a web developer.. takes me a while to get "in the zone" to do some programming, but once I'm there, I'm good to go! If I'm not, I tend to go on websites or randomly search Google for stuff which causes me to procrastinate. One of the websites is Facebook. I used to mindlessly get on Facebook and just scroll through my feed. It was the worst during the 2016 Presidential elections. Even though I really didn't care what was being said about either candidate, it was more fascinating to see how my friends were reacting. It was like watching a drama online with high school and college friends you used to have drama with back when you saw them everyday.

It got so bad that I was doing it at work and had to install software to block myself from Facebook. I give myself a little leisure, about 10 minutes a day or so, before it locks me out for the day. It takes me a few more minutes to be mindful of not typing in Facebook or whatever other sites I blocked myself from.

When I'm at home, if I hop on Facebook, I installed a button ( https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/hide-facebook-feed... ) that makes you click in order to see it. This makes me fully aware of my actions. This has reduced my time at home to very little on Facebook. Occasionally, I'll type in Facebook and see that button and I instantly become aware of what I am doing. I trained myself to get back to something more productive.

I think of it this way: For every minute I'm on Facebook and not being productive, that is a minute they are making money on me and I'm not making anything at all. It usually helps me get back to work. Why don't I just quit? Because I live across the country, away from my family, who I don't get to see. I do pick up the phone every few days and talk to them all and make sure they are okay. But I also feel Facebook helps me keep in touch with them. I also have lived in a few parts of the country, and I've met, befriended, and Facebook'd many of those people I like to call friends. I may not be close to them anymore, but I still like to think of it as the best way as a means to keeping in touch.

There are two types of people on the Internet and Facebook teaches it very well: You are either a consumer or a creator. Creators make money. Consumers give money. If you spend your time on Facebook, which one are you? If you are working on something productive, even if it may not make you money right away or at all, as long as you are doing something productive: you are a creator. When you justify all of your time on the Internet, and even deal with your addiction to the Internet, which one will you be? A consumer or a creator?

Facebook has some AI scripts in it to learn your behavior and show you the stuff you think is most important and the stuff you want to see. Every "Like" (or reaction) is not just a like, but it registers into a series of algorithms. For example, if you like a lot of a person's timeline, you're more likely to see their timeline. The more you interact with each other, the more you are likely to see each other's timeline. If you both have a lot of mutual friends, you are more likely to see their timeline. Facebook, like Google, is not just one giant database, but algorithms get created to do different things depending on your actions within the application. And if someone has a wedding or a baby, I see it, because Facebook has deemed this a very significant event, based on the reactions it has. The rest is just news or something someone is posting from a page you liked.

And I'm on here.. Hacker News, procrastinating, but answering questions is relaxing and actually does help me to begin my focus. These are just some ways I deal with my desire to procrastinate and stay focused.