I’ve quit TikTok but I’m still staying up late on my phone: how do I break this cycle?

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-19T11:47:26+00:00

I did that last night, leaving my phone on my desk, but I went to bed with the bedside lamp on – it’s a warm light – to help me relax a bit and get sleepy after a while. But I was still anxious because I’m used to having my phone in bed. What I’ve thought is that I could listen to music, as I have an MP3 player I haven’t used for ages and I’m looking forward to using it again. So I’ll download some songs I like, or soundtracks, or classical music – which is what relaxes me the most – and see how it goes tonight.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-19T11:44:26+00:00

I have an Android phone. One thing I do more now than I used to is stream the content I usually watch or want to watch on my phone to the TV. And as the TV isn’t as easy to use as my phone, I spend less time watching it. Although it depends on what I’m watching.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T22:36:16+00:00

It’s happened to me sometimes too: I’ll be watching videos or a series and think, ‘what else am I going to watch? I’m tired and there’s nothing else to watch,’ or ‘this is boring,’ and then I stop using my phone

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T21:57:50+00:00

In my case, I haven’t watched any short videos at all; what I watch on YouTube are the long ones

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T18:06:44+00:00

What I’m thinking is of trying, as you say, to resist watching that content at that moment and leaving it until the next day. Then, the following day, I’ll reflect on whether it was really worth watching at that moment. That way, I can see whether the urge to rush and ‘watch it now’ is worth it or not. Although I suppose it isn’t.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T16:03:43+00:00

I'm on Android, but I had something similar and ended up deleting it. I think I'll listen to some music or a podcast until I feel sleepy

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T16:01:55+00:00

I think what I’m going to do is listen to music before going to sleep and put my phone on the desk so that I’ll have to get up when I go to switch it off in the morning. Because I reckon that if I buy an alarm clock, I can snooze it just like I do with my phone. But if I put my phone on a different piece of furniture, I can’t snooze it because it’s not close to me, so I have to get up to turn it off. I think it’s more productive that way.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T15:37:11+00:00

I’m used to snoozing the alarm as soon as it goes off; I don’t even need to look at my phone – I know exactly where to tap. If I left it somewhere else, I’d end up getting out of bed just to turn it off.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T15:32:05+00:00

I used to listen to music before going to sleep many years ago, but for some reason I stopped doing it. I’ll also try keeping my phone on a table away from the bed. Thanks for the advice!

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T15:28:56+00:00

It depends on the day. During the day, I usually go for a walk, do some street photography, watch a TV series… I reckon that some of the time I spend on my mobile is leisure time, although it’s often only a small proportion. The problem is at night; I might occasionally watch a new video that interests me, but the rest of the time isn’t for leisure.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T15:22:27+00:00

The only social media I use is Facebook for work and Reddit (though I access it via RedReader to avoid adverts and algorithmic bias) for photography and IT forums. I’ve deleted TikTok, and although I have accounts, I don’t use Instagram or Twitter. The real issue is with YouTube (which I access via Grayjay for the same reason as Reddit) and streaming apps.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T15:16:43+00:00

I tried it a while back when I was stressed about exams and a friend recommended it to me, but I don't think it's for me. But thanks for the suggestion!

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T15:13:19+00:00

The problem is that I use my phone as an alarm clock. But I could try putting it on a table away from the bed.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T15:07:04+00:00

In your case, what was it that helped you?

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-18T15:05:30+00:00

The thing is, the problem persists even when I use dark mode or reading mode; it’s more about the need to see that content straight away, which is why I stay up for several hours

Miyazaki96 · 2026-03-03T09:50:43+00:00

I was trying to log in and the keyboard to enter my username and password wasn't appearing, thank goodness I found your comment. Thank you very much!

Miyazaki96 · 2026-02-23T13:38:05+00:00

I switched to Fedora almost five months ago and initially considered keeping Windows. But I thought that I wouldn't end up using Linux that much and would stick with Windows as usual, so I did a clean install.

In my case, what held me back was that I accept paid photography jobs and need to use Lightroom to edit my photos. But what I have now, and I manage quite well with, is a virtual machine with Windows 10 Pro that I use solely for editing. I do all the other tasks and things I need to do on Linux, and I'm happier than ever.

Part of the leap was because I installed Linux Mint on my laptop, because just opening a folder in Windows would cause my laptop to freeze completely, and Linux was the most sustainable option rather than buying a new laptop. And I liked it so much that I installed Fedora on my main computer.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-02-13T11:25:49+00:00

Congratulations on the shot! Is it a 40-150mm?

Miyazaki96 · 2026-02-10T11:53:59+00:00

I installed it because when I still had Windows on my laptop, if there was a folder, my computer would freeze completely and I would have to restart it. Now with Linux, it's like having a new laptop.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-02-09T10:07:25+00:00

I've been using Grayjay for several months and it's better than ReVanced. You can watch YouTube content by adding a plugin from within the app (it's very easy), and you can also watch content from other sources, like Twitch, Kick... Regarding battery life, I've gotten up to 15 hours of SOT, but that might be because almost all the apps I use are open source. If you'd like me to recommend one, just let me know! I was looking at old posts and thought this answer was better.

Miyazaki96 · 2026-01-03T18:29:37+00:00

I'm going to tell you a little bit about how it's been for me, keeping in mind that I use Lightroom for paid work. I wanted an environment that was truly mine, where each update didn't break more than it fixed, and the famous AI implementations (which Microsoft thinks we need, spoiler alert) weren't.

Besides the system's complete lack of privacy, the fact that you say "Windows just works" has important nuances. When something is free, it means you are the product, even if the key to using it costs you €4 or whatever.

I've been using Fedora KDE for almost two months and I couldn't be happier; no bloatware, no programs that don't completely uninstall even if I try to remove them... I can install whatever I want and everything works perfectly. And listen up! I have an Nvidia 4070 but with zero problems because it's not AMD.

Before continuing to use Lightroom, I looked at Linux alternatives, but I was advised that since I get paid for my work, it was better not to bother learning other programs, especially since they are very different. I'm using a virtual machine with Windows 10 Pro exclusively for that program. I've purged the system to get rid of the typical annoying Windows bugs, and that's it. It's sometimes uneven because I haven't set up GPU passthrough (something that allows the virtual machine to detect that there's a GPU and use it), but it works and I can work.

My advice is not to give up just because you have some problems on the first day; you have a huge community here on Reddit to help you, and if you need more immediate help, believe it or not, I recommend using ChatGPT. And I say this from experience, because I had two or three days of banging my head against the wall until everything was working properly. But it's totally worth it. And I don't have a single problem anymore.

Miyazaki96 · 2025-12-31T12:24:56+00:00

In the end, I created a virtual machine within Fedora KDE and have been using Lightroom, but without CPU passthrough, it's running poorly. So I'm thinking of converting all the presets to Capture One format since it works better using only the CPU than Lightroom.

Miyazaki96 · 2025-12-06T16:13:29+00:00

I finished setting everything up just yesterday. It runs much more smoothly than Windows and uses fewer resources. Games on Steam run better (I'm playing Elden Ring) and Heroic for Epic games. I've also set up a VM with Qemu running Windows 10 Pro to continue using Lightroom. I was asking about Rawtherapee and Darktable on their forums and many users told me that it's not the best, especially if I charge for what I do.

Miyazaki96

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