Luckily, the exponential nature of addiction also works in reverse. As you ignore your compulsion, the circuits get rewired, and again repetition strengthen the connections within the newly configured circuitry. The old circuitry will never go away, but it becomes disused, like an overgrown railway track.
Beginning this wonderful upward spiral might sound easier said than done, especially considering the sweet sweet dopamine hit you are currently hooked on. Do not try to use willpower to overcome your compulsion. This is important. You are in control of your prefrontal cortex, which can exert a good measure of control over your limbic system. Your limbic system wants instant gratification. Your prefrontal cortex has the power to override that urge to a good degree, but not completely. Again, this is not about willpower. Hypothetically, if you were truly convinced that it would be better if you didn't read reddit as much, would you need willpower to stop yourself from doing it? It stands to reason that you would not, because you would feel a stronger pull towards the course of action that you believe benefits you the most. If you do not feel that pull strongly enough, you are simply not as convinced as you need to be to be able to change your behavior.
Luckily, it is relatively easy to convince yourself of something if you really want to. Here are some techniques for you to try:
List down all of the reasons why you use reddit. Then, next to each list item, write down why these reasons are ultimately the result of erroneous thinking or faulty logic. For example, reason: I use reddit because I believe it alleviates boredom, however I often find myself bored while browsing reddit. Further to that, boredom is merely a state of mind and there are many people who do not experience boredom despite never having used reddit.
Write down all the benefits of your desired behavior. Make sure they are logically rigorous. For example, I want to stop using reddit as often because it will give me more time to get things done, which will ultimately benefit my life.
Constantly remind yourself of these errors in your logic, and the benefits of your desired new behaviour. Rewrite and refine your arguments. Put them on sticky notes around your house. Politicians and marketeers use this tactic to get you to believe their claims, and it works.
Finally, and most importantly, do not get frustrated or berate yourself if and when, after all this, you still get the urge to use reddit. This is counterproductive. The very fact that you noticed the urge (regardless of whether or not you end up succumbing to it) is an immensely positive thing, so feeling bad about it only makes things more difficult. Noticing the urge means that you are bringing your automatic actions into the conscious realm of control. Once you get into the habit of noticing the urge, you can build upon it by beginning to dismiss those urges using the logical arguments you devised and memorized earlier. This is where the circuits get rewired and strengthened exponentially. You start out by dismissing maybe on in ten urges. Soon, without trying, you're dismissing one in two. Before you know it, this new behavior becomes just as unconscious as your previous behavior, and one day you wake up and realize you haven't had an urge to use reddit for a week.
All of this knowledge genuinely changed my life. I stopped smoking, I lost weight, I fixed my sleeping disorder, I became productive at work, I stopped my bad spending habits, I stopped using reddit, I stopped looking at my phone all day, I stopped feeling sorry for myself, and I cured my depression.
I hope it works for you. I don't want to come off as a shill so I won't mention any book titles in this post but if you PM me I'll send you some recommendations.
