This is not an easy task.

I myself, like many others, face internet addiction and struggle in battles
each day. An advantage, and probably one that may turn the outcome around is the fact that we
are aware of our problems. Like any participant of an AA meeting, the first thing that needs to
be done is to be honest to yourself, and admit the problem. Most of us have it, why not be brave
enough to say it. A helpful partner in this decision may be a test started by the Net Addiction
center, which can help users realize more about their habit.

Internet Addiction Disorder Signs

Internet addiction disorder, or as scientists call, IAD, has a few signs that may help people
realize they are addicted:

 Spending useless time – if you are planning to relax a couple of minutes online by
watching a video or two and end up wasting countless hours, it may be a serious sign of
internet addiction.
 Irritability – another decisive sign can be seen in the mode of someone who’s being
interrupted from its online “work”. Whether Blizzard’s server is down, the connection is
laggy or a video is not accessible, being mad at something like that may indicate IAD.
 Isolation – people who tend to spend a lot of time on the internet have less time for their
family / friends and slowly, they choose to ignore the offline sector more every day.
 Feeling guilty – those who feel guilty after a long session of browsing are definitely
attracted to the internet more than normally, but they have the advantage of realizing their
deeds. Often, this sense of guilt is compensated with a couple more hours spent online.
 Ignoring tasks – whenever people ignore daily tasks, like household chores, job-related
duties or school matters, it’s a radical sign of online addiction. This syndrome also affects
sleeping and other important matters, like socializing or creating new bonds.

How to cure Addiction

The second step stands into dissecting the problem, and realizing which form of internet
addiction are you suffering of. Although suffering may be seen as a tough word, this is the
perfect situation and medicine is probably the best science that we can compare this syndrome
with. As with any treatment, it is essentially to understand the underlying causes of the addiction
and act according to their needs.

For instance, some people may be addicted to the internet as a whole, a problem which usually
manifests by infinite browsing through dozens of websites, jumping from one another just for
amusement or, for searching something amazing. The life of some may not be as interesting as it
should and thus, looking for something of note or, amusing, may become an endless habit.

One person, for example, can suffer from low-esteem which leads them to create
an onlinepersona instead of interacting like the rest of the people, offline. In this case, the
treatment may actually have to extend in the daily life, with a certified psychologist, which will
help them increase self-esteem.

Others can rely to online gaming because they receive rewards that are harder to encounter in
their daily life. In this case, they should find other activities in the offline word which gives
them the same rewards, or, even more. Although all of these may sound hard to track, going into
the right direction, step by step, is not that hard.
Best Practices

 Record the time – probably the first step that needs to be done is realizing how grave the
problem is. While spending time online, like you usually do, try to record how much time
you waste by starting a timer when you arrive at the computer and by stopping it when
you’re off. For those who work online this will be a bit more complicated, because the
timer must be paused each time useful tasks are done. Although a few hours may seem
harmless, adding up that amount each day may lead to huge numbers.
 Realize the problem – now that you have tracked down the amount of time spent on
useless stuff, picture what could you have accomplished in that hours. I’m talking here
about hobbies (watching movies, reading old books, playing football, etc.), working out at
the local gym, running in the park, earning money from a 2nd job and that sort of stuff.
Traveling is another good bet.
 Acknowledge the guilt – as we’ve said in the beginning of this piece, feeling guilty is not
as bad as it may seem and we rather refer it as a good start. Guilt is one of the feelings
that will push you out of this addiction, and make you realize that being addicted to the
internet is not that good. Usually, guilt transforms into ambition of doing better things.
 Find triggers – for some people, there are certain events that push them into the online
world. Be it boringness, the need to be amused or the lack of something interesting, all
these feeling can be sufficed by something in the real world. For instance, depression can
be overwhelmed if you do something good for another person, and being bored can be
cured by going outside with your friends.
 Spending extra time – some people simply have too much time on their hands, time
which may pass by if not invested in something useful. While many resort to the internet
when it comes to spending this time, you can try to find more noble purposes and make a
better person of yourself. Try new hobbies or build yourself a small business, even
though it’s also based on the online world.
 Turn off extra tech – when doing something specific, like a school home-work or a job
task, turn off any needless technology like the computer or, the internet connection on
your mobile phone. This will help you focus into accomplishing the task, which will give
a relieving feeling at end.
 Set healthy goals – aspire to something wonderful, something great. Set a couple of
goals that you should accomplish in the following months, like raising a specific amount
of money for a car, dropping off a few pounds or gathering enough resources to travel to a
exquisite location. This will keep you focus on your daily tasks and strain you from
wasting time.
 Feed the monster – last but not least, do not shut your addiction completely as it will
come back after a while. From my own experience, administrating small and regular
dozes of internet fun will actually increase efficiency in other tasks. Just make sure you
don’t cross the line, as you will be lying to yourself.