Get out of the house. Pick up new hobbies and meet new people. I don’t know how old you are, but you sound young. Now is the chance to build the future you, with a wide variety of interest and experiences, and strong friendships. You won’t get any of these from passive consumption of media.

How did you even find a 20 pack of Coke? All I can find are 10, 12, and 24 packs.

From what I’ve seen, it’s CRT televisions that are sought after by vintage gamers, not out-of-date computer monitors. There were so many truly awful CRT computer monitors out there before LCDs came around. I’m aware that there were plenty of cheap, low-quality LCDs, too, I just want to drive home the point about all the awful, .41 dot-pitch, flickering SVGA monitors with inconsistent, blotchy color that roamed the earth in the before times (i.e. the 90s).

I strongly recommend that you focus on maximizing time doing anything and everything real and tangible, preferably with other people. It’s really easy for games and social media to mess with your brain’s reward system, leading up worse personal outcomes.

I fully recognize the irony of me writing this to you online, btw. In my defense, I’m meeting with friends in two hours and going to do yard work right now. ;-)

Things like the 40 year old computer monitors have a negative value, unless they’re something special like a 21" Trinitron or an IBM T220/221.

Unless the furniture and furnishings are of a sought-after style (e.g. Art Deco), they’re basically worthless.

I sold most of my belongings back in 2009. Furniture and beds had basically zero value. A solid wood table retained decent value. Electronics were worthless unless they were vintage collectable (e.g. Rotel amplifier). eBay was the best place to sell things because people are committed. Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are a huge time-suck because you get so many flakes, low-ballers, and tire-kickers.

Oh, and another thing: if you’re reluctant to do something, such as reading, cleaning up, going for a walk, etc, then set a timer for 10 - 30 minutes and commit to it. A human can withstand quite a lot for 15 or 20 minutes. It’s how I was able to get through brutal HIIT cardio routines and feel good for the rest of the day. The Pomodoro technique works well for this sort of time and task management, at least for me.

You might want to read up on (or find some videos on the topic, haha) dopamine addiction. It’s not a real term, per se, but it will get you results about the problem you have.

I think that watching the videos 1) distracts you from reality and 2) gives you a little reward, either though little dopamine spikes (e.g. a funny segment, or some tidbit of knowledge), or through a false feeling of accomplishment.

Personally, I would recommend whittling down a short list of favorite YouTubers. Set aside a few afternoons per week to watch the videos, and try to pare the time back further over the course of months. Focus on real-world hobbies and interests. Leave your phone at home, go to a coffee shop, and read a book for an hour.

On the subject of reading and attention spans (which is often a core issue here), I read about a study a long time ago. They had students read from a book every night. They were to read for as long as they felt like it, and then read one more page. At the end of the study, the students reported that they were reading far more per sitting, and that their attention span improved.

There’s also a lot of recent information out there about dopamine resets, where people cut out technology and take walks while focusing on the world around them. This would probably benefit you, too.

The 2025 US GDP was $30 trillion. The US economy is 70% consumer driven. Advertising allows organizations to shave a miniscule slice of that off for themselves, which is still a sizable amount of money.

Before Chick-fil-A built a restaurant in this area, they had a food truck that passed through every week. It was fantastic. Delicious, hot, efficient, and the employees all seemed pretty happy.

After they built a location here, and after the long lines died down, I tried it. The sandwich was barely warm. I spent the weekend with food poisoning, unable to leave the house because I was pooping constantly.

I tried again at a location in California, on a road trip. I again got a sandwich that felt like it had been sitting out, cooling for a long time. No food poisoning that time, but that’s the last time I went. Now I buy a few bottles of their sauce when it’s on sale and make my own chicken sandwiches.

Nothing cuts weight like Flight Milk!