Addiction to Puzzles and Multitasking Distraction

There are many sites and apps to play puzzles. I mainly use these:

• nonograms.org
• minesweeper.online
• solitaired.io
• str8ts.com
• (tetr.io not really a puzzle, but also a problem for me)

I also loved to do mahjong and this one pokemon mahjong connect game, I also have paper sudoku, binary and tectonic puzzles. For me these puzzles turn of my brain and make me completely focused on the puzzle. The satisfaction comes from finishing something, fixing something that is not complete. This distracts me from actually finishing something in my life, something worthwhile. I do think puzzles can be good for you, but they need to be done in moderation, not everyday (that’s an addiction). And they need to be challenging not easy.

Another big part that keeps me obsessed is how my progress is being saved on my account. I can see how I have made 2800 nonograms and have all these achievement in minesweeper. I've tried to stop by deleting my accounts on minesweeper and nonograms. But I still play the daily str8t and continue to search for nonograms. I'm really frustrated because it doesn't help me, I'm just going through an algorithm I set up in my brain to fix the puzzle. To finish something as quick as possible. 

I've noticed that more people have this problem. For me and many others this online puzzle addiction comes from the pandemic times, like many other things linger from that time. Most people do puzzles on their phone, but I've moved my screen addiction from my phone to my laptop unfortunately. Like everything else in life there's ups and downs with trying to stop completely and then coming back anyway. But I do try every time and hopefully it will work out soon enough. Maybe writing and doing research about it will actually help me. I've heard of this method that if you rethink about your addiction and make it boring in you head, it will help to reduce it. 

It went from watching a youtube video while doing schoolwork, which obviously doesn't work and is not efficient at all, to making puzzles and having a ytvid playing in miniplayer next to it. I tricked myself into thinking that puzzles are good for your brain, but I am sure it's not healthy when not kept in moderation. I don't do jigsaw puzzles, but I have done a few in the past and I can finish them in one sitting. Even if it's a 1000 piece puzzle.

I read this article to read some more about addiction, but it's kind off stupid. Connecting with other people through doing nytimes puzzles everyday? Because everyone is doing the same puzzle and you can really feel how some person made this puzzle? That's bullshit.

I can't really find any other non-ai, don't-have-to-make-an-account articles about this. But I did find this qoute from 17 years ago on a random forum I really relate to: "If I start, I have a very hard time stopping. If I lose, I want to "make up" for the loss and win. If I win, I want to keep winning."

Can any of you relate to this? What are your experiences with puzzles?

ps: i did try to read this article put the way it's written pisses me off.