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Why would one crave pleasure, food and entertainment when they should be productive and how does one go about stopping it? (lemmy.ml)

submitted 10 months ago by Subject6051@lemmy.ml to c/asklemmy@lemmy.ml

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I should be studying right now, but everytime I sit to study, I can't sit there long enough, I want food even though I am not hungry, I want to watch TV/youtube, self-pleasure... etc...

No matter what productive work I want to do, I will try to not do that and do something which gives me momentary pleasure. I want to masturbate, eat lots of food even though I am not hungry while watching TV/Youtube and I don't seem to be able to break the cycle and it's destroying me. How can I break the cycle and do something good for a change instead of pleasuring myself in the moment meaninglessly?

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[–] BadWolf@kbin.social 13 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is a fantastic answer. The things that trigger the reward center in your brain should not be the common input. I fully agree with the suggestion to remove the temptation beforehand and set goals. Personally, I also suggest that you make the reward less frequent over time so that the completion of the work becomes the desired result; rather than just a means to attain the reward.

[–] intensely_human@lemm.ee 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

It’s most effective for long term behavioral modification if your reinforcement drops off steadily, and becomes randomized (as in, may or may not appear, randomly selected each time according to a decaying probability curve).

[–] CallumWells@lemmy.ml 1 points 10 months ago

Oh, like in gacha games? ;P