When I was playing World of Warcraft too much, I decided that each time I saw a loading screen, I would do a small amount of pushups or sit ups. Nothing crazy. 5 or 10 or whatever. Less if I was tired, more if I was bored. It was a tiny physical barrier that made me think more cautiously about what it was that I was doing, and kind of "broke the loop" of the mindless activity I was doing.
Perhaps you could institute something similar. Each time you open a new tab, you do some sort of physical distraction that gets you out of your chair. If pushups and sit ups aren't your thing, it could be something as simple as "Get up from the computer and walk around the room for 20 seconds". If there are stairs in your house, you could walk up and down them once. If you don't have stairs, maybe you could put some resistance bands by a door in your house. You walk to that door, grab the bands, and do some resistance training for 5 to 10 seconds.
The thing that really helped it sink in for me was that it was something that was physically removing me from the computer. Moving away from the computer and then coming back helped to me see just how much time I was spending there. The soreness in my arms and core also helped reinforce how much energy was being devoted to the activity, too. It became a reminder that, "Yes, I have loaded into a lot of different zones today. What have I accomplished? In the game, I suppose I made a few gold or whatever, but for me the person outside of the game, what am I actually accomplishing? The point of the game is to have fun - am I still having fun? I started doing this workout stuff because I felt guilty about what I'm doing. Is that sense of guilt fun?"
When I was playing World of Warcraft too much, I decided that each time I saw a loading screen, I would do a small amount of pushups or sit ups. Nothing crazy. 5 or 10 or whatever. Less if I was tired, more if I was bored. It was a tiny physical barrier that made me think more cautiously about what it was that I was doing, and kind of "broke the loop" of the mindless activity I was doing.
Perhaps you could institute something similar. Each time you open a new tab, you do some sort of physical distraction that gets you out of your chair. If pushups and sit ups aren't your thing, it could be something as simple as "Get up from the computer and walk around the room for 20 seconds". If there are stairs in your house, you could walk up and down them once. If you don't have stairs, maybe you could put some resistance bands by a door in your house. You walk to that door, grab the bands, and do some resistance training for 5 to 10 seconds.
The thing that really helped it sink in for me was that it was something that was physically removing me from the computer. Moving away from the computer and then coming back helped to me see just how much time I was spending there. The soreness in my arms and core also helped reinforce how much energy was being devoted to the activity, too. It became a reminder that, "Yes, I have loaded into a lot of different zones today. What have I accomplished? In the game, I suppose I made a few gold or whatever, but for me the person outside of the game, what am I actually accomplishing? The point of the game is to have fun - am I still having fun? I started doing this workout stuff because I felt guilty about what I'm doing. Is that sense of guilt fun?"