Habits

I whole heartly endorse the James Clear book Atomic Habits. Instinctually I knew it was best to develop good habits and shed bad ones. On of the best pieces of advice I ever received was from a friend in high school who said that if you did something for 21 days straight it became a habit. I still believe that's true.

A few years ago I did a little experiment where I took some of my worse habits and gave each up for a month. I went without alcohol, then playing Keno, then smoking pot. then caffeine, and finally porn,  I was successful in giving each up for the month except porn (which I'm not sure says more about me or men in general). I did find that my use of all these were greatly reduced and many eliminated completely for long stretches.

As far as cable TV, newspapers, or network news - I gave them up decades ago and don't miss them in the least. If any of these are one of your "crutches" - try giving them up for a month. You may find you do better without them.