The urge is strong.

It really hits me after sickness. Unable to think, I mindlessly binge-watch. So easy to do these days.

Such a trap.

Most addiction is habit related. Some - like caffeine - have external chemical components, but all have psychological factors - like internal chemical components. The mind wants to keep doing anything that releases certain hormones.

That's one reason why slot machines are so addictive.

After the third go, you almost have to lift yourself by the nape of the neck and relocate your body. Physical distance from the stimuli helps and eventually the body overcomes the urge. But with twenty-four hour access to anything virtual the distance is never more than a mouse-click.

That's why we have to be so vigilant.

One benefit of a single movie or book over a series is that it ends. That defined point allows the mind to stop and regroup. But like an all-you-can-eat buffet, with a series there's always more - just waiting for you to stuff yourself.

Half - maybe even most - of the time, what we're shoving down our throat or senses isn't even that good. At the point addiction hits us, we barely need to experience a high - or whatever hormone is being released - once every ten turns of the wheel. That's the slot machine effect. Win once, lose ten times. But we still come back.

Strangely enough, everyday routine is a tool against the addiction. Try this - instead of the morning caffeine hit, force yourself to have a glass of water.

Do that for a week.

Like many, you may well find that the coffee addiction wanes.

Sure there are pitfalls. Restarting an old addiction is far too easy. Have another coffee, enjoy it, then repeat the next day and you're back into it - but the routine can help you fight that.

Like right now. I binged-watched yesterday. Had to pull myself away after a few hours. But there's still more episodes - I feel the urge tugging at me. And yet today I'm well enough to write.

Writing is effortful. The urge is to revert to mindlessness - to procrastinate - is strong. The only thing stopping me is the routine.

Write three hundred words a day.

This article has saved me from addiction. I can still feel it there, tugging at the back of my mind. So easy to click the mouse and once again fall into a trance.

You have a mindlessness addiction too - what's yours?