How do you solve the problem of addiction please? (It is hard for me to concentrate on my 3D workflow)

Hmm ... I haven't read that comment by @adrian2301 that you quote above - anyway, I couldn't disagree with its sentiment more. I have published a lot of my work (I am not an artist but more of a tech guy) on YT and Vimeo and have had a very, very small amount of nice experience from it - but mostly, people called me an asshole (for not publishing my tools for free for everyone to use), a dick, a German nazi etc. 

So I removed way over 500 tutorials, how-tos, documentaries etc. And since I did that my life has gotten a lot easier, calmer. I am in contact with NICE people now instead of the typical Facebook-generation.

Needless to say, I have never ever been on Facebook, Twitter or the likes and I don't intend to join any of these platforms. I don't use them.

"Addiction" to me is a health-issue, not a personal distraction-thing. I take health issues seriously and do what I can to resolve them. If I ever got addicted to anything internet-ish, I'd know where my network hub is. Honestly, the web isn't worth risking your health (or progress) for it.

malbrecht , thank you for sharing your sincere opinion! I feel sad to hear your ordeal by using social media.

For your question about reading the comment by adrian2301,

posting this in someone else's Blender Progress Workbook, is not the place for this. 

If you have not read the above comment by @adrian2301 ,  that is because this comment was sent to me through CGCookie email system after my opinion was deleted.  

@adrian2301 ,  as a moderator, is able to post his or her opinion freely on someone else's Blender Progress Workbook; whereas I, as an ordinary user, is partially forbidden to post my opinion on someone else's Blender Progress Workbook. There is no equal right here.

However, you can read all other comment by @adrian2301 on the following thread:

https://cgcookie.com/questions/15226-my-blender-progress-workbook#answer-58153

or the following screenshot:

  Using this forum is posing a risk to my health. After the deletion of my post happened, I had lost my sleep on that night! But I appreciate that this thread has not been deleted yet.  

Also, the notification system is distracting my attention from watching CGCookie course videos. Everytime when a notification is popped out, the dopamine in my brain starts to fire! 

nnaiad  I think everybody has different tolerance levels for distractions.

It can be really easy to spend a ton of time on the Gallery, worrying about feedback on one's projects, etc.

If possible it may make sense to carve out a time when you'll be on whatever forums warrant your time, and that's it.

Maybe it's 1/2 an hour.  Maybe an hour.  You do whatever you need to in that time, then close the browser.  For myself I only look via the browser.  I'm not "subscribed" to anything.  I don't get notifications.

It probably also makes sense to ask why you're on the forums or galleries.

   Just to be social?

   To give feedback to others?

   To get general "likes" for your projects, or specific technical / critical feedback?

   I haven't read the bit about a Progress Workbook, but I imagine only looking at it and/or updating it during that slice of time could work just as much as only browsing the web during a specific time.  (I'm not THAT disciplined.  If I've put in a fair bit of work, and my mind's starting to feel sluggish, I may take a break, but I try to keep work time and play time separate.)

As you pointed out, it's not that different from being on social media, or plugged into news feeds, or anything else like that.  For me, I don't turn notifications on at all.  If notifications are important to you, I'd turn them off when you switch to "work mode".  I can pose my question or provide feedback to others during whatever time I've decided to spend on the web, and if I don't have an answer in that time frame it can wait until I get back.

If you don't have the discipline for that, it may make sense not to participate.  It'd be similar to somebody who never brings Oreo Cookies or other snacks home because if they'll be eaten in an evening or two.  If it's not there. . . then there's nothing to binge on.  It's kind of a severe way of handling things, but if you find you can't stop munching on those Oreos. . . maybe having Oreos around just isn't the right move for you.

Edit: Sent to wrong person initially

For me, I don't turn notifications on at all.  

wardred , thank you for this excellent advice! Now I have turned them all off, as below.

You have made me think about the problem in a different way - maybe I call this as "The Trade-off Way", in which it start to ask myself for two questions:

1) What is the most important to me? Getting timely notification or 100% concentration on watching CGCookie course videos?

2) If 100% concentration is much more important to me than getting notification, then would I like to make a trade-off by sacrificing my ability to get any future notification? (Note that, by sacrificing future notification, I may miss some important updates on my questions posted on the forum and updates on CGCookie.)

My answers to the questions:

1) 100% concentration is the most important to me.

2) Yes, I'd like to sacrifice anything to get 100% concentration on my work. 

I believe that by following "The Trade-off Way", completely turning off all notifications is the only logical step to solve the problem. 

If I've put in a fair bit of work, and my mind's starting to feel sluggish, I may take a break,

Yes, I feel in the same way. And, when my mind starts to feel sluggish, my self-discipline gets lower so that I am more inclined to find things, like social media or forum, to get instant gratification. 

It can be really easy to spend a ton of time on the Gallery

Our future is unknown, but I want to make a promise that from now on, I will no longer post any of my works on the Gallery. I find that putting work into Gallery is not wise during my learning process, and it will make my mind sluggish. 

maybe having Oreos around just isn't the right move for you.

Oreo cookies. :D 

Yes, food addiction is widely spread in our modern society.

By the way, I want to add that "The Trade-off Way" to tackle the distraction problem may be suitable to those people with low self-discipline, such as me. There is no good reason to make any trade-off for highly self-disciplined individuals, because they do not get addicted or distracted into anything.

Moreover, I want to use the Gallery update as an example to further illustrate "The Trade-off Way", in which I can ask myself similar questions:

1) What is the most important to me? Getting feedback from Gallery or 100% concentration on course videos?

2) If 100% concentration is much more important to me than the feedback from Gallery, then would I like to make a trade-off by sacrificing the feedback from Gallery (i.e. not posting anything in Gallery)?

So, under these questions, two groups of people have different answers:

(A) For low self-discipline, such as me, my brain can only do one thing at a time, so I completely give up the feedback from Gallery, but stick to the most important thing - 100% concentration.

(B) For highly self-disciplined individuals, their brain can be good at multi-tasking, so no trade-off is needed and they get feedback from Gallery and 100% concentration at the same time.

Thank you again, wardred !

Social media can indeed be very addictive. To begin to deal with this or any addictive situation it's good to understand the underlying mechanics. Ideally one would speak to a professional but sometimes it takes awhile to get to that point or, for various reasons, it's not a viable course of action.

I happened across this video on YT awhile ago and while I thought I had a pretty good understanding of the dopamine response seeing it discussed like this - placed on real world, human situations - made things "click" for me a bit better. https://youtu.be/9QiE-M1LrZk

I did further reading and found that there are some pretty bad ways to "dopamine fast" so if you do decide to do something like this ensure you do so in a healthy fashion. And don't kick yourself if you end up "cheating" on whatever method you chose. Baby steps are better than no steps.

Also, no matter what anyone says, don't ever feel like you must use social media. It's not for everyone. Even if you can balance your time spent there is always the issue of the toxicity that exists in such spaces which presents another challenge to our mental health.

a pretty good understanding of the dopamine response seeing it discussed like this 

coyohti

Thank you for your link to the educational video! 

Coincidentally, I also happened across that video on YT awhile ago (due to YT algorithm recommendation),  and yes, it also improved my understanding about the dopamine. Moreover, it did have me rethink my daily schedule. For example, the video suggests that the low dopamine activities should be done before engaging in any high dopamine activities. I think that this is the most helpful and practical tip from that video. 

However, in practice, I have to be a little careful, because if the high dopamine activities are postponed in the later of the day, then it is also entirely possible that I decide to postpone my sleep due to my indulgence in the high dopamine activities in the later of the day. Sleep loss could make my second day in a worse position to fight against distraction, because sleep is one of the best weapons against distraction or addiction. 

I believe that you are also very interested in the scientific research of addiction in general as I do, then the following video you must watch if you haven't: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY9DcIMGxMs 

This video has revolutionized my understanding about the nature of addiction. It has actually shown to me the best way to fight against addiction is to change my surroundings or build my connections.  Yes, people usually believe that you need to change yourself (such as changing your bad habit) to overcome addiction, but his speech shows that changing your surroundings is much more effective - for example, improving your social circle by making more flesh and blood friends with face-to-face interaction (instead of making "friends" on social media).  

Nonetheless, modern people (including myself) are willing to spend much more time online than offline. I find that it is almost impossible to make any flesh and blood friend to me. 

But, except making real friends, I am able to change my other surroundings. For example, deleting all my social media is one significant and effective step to change my other surroundings.  

Today, I also received a Christmas message from Poliigon's CEO Andrew Price, who wrote:

With so much going on I actually think one of the most valuable skills for artists today is being able to focus. Honing your skills takes time and patience, which is difficult against the instant gratification of social media.

nnaiad, 

   You're welcome.  I hope you find, (or found, it's been a few days since you posted), a balance that works for you.

   I think simply turning the notifications off and checking in when you have a moment can make a huge difference.

   Cheers!

Every time when I watched a course video on CGCookie, I subconsciously and periodically look at the notification bell on the top-right of my screen, and anticipate some "surprising notification" or "rewarding gift", which is nothing but a release of dopamine in my brain, so that checking notification become an addictive and high dopamine activity, which is similar to some people who get addicted in checking their email boxes or Facebook accounts after every 15 minutes. 

This is also similar to Pavlovian conditioning.

Yes, turning the notification off is an effective strategy to fight against this obsession. I find that another way which works to me is to simply decrease my interaction between CGCookie and me - so the only interaction I have with CGCookie is to just watch course videos quietly. This makes my mind calm and peaceful.