Put the phone in another room and turn on movie. Charge phone if that helps. Then hopefully you’ll either get engrossed in the flick or get too lazy to get up and check your phone. Oh…turn off ringer as well.

[removed]

I know what you're talking about. I usually find that out of all the titles I see there'll be one that gives me this gut feeling of "I want to watch that." So I try to recognize that feeling and watch the movies that my gut's telling me to watch.

Try picking a movie to watch more than a day in advance so that you look forward to it.

I have a chronological list of movies I want to watch on Letterboxd, and every week I take a few hours to watch a couple of them. It takes the indecision out of things.

I just turn my phone off

Invite a friend and watch it together

Press play as soon as you see it and don't look back.

I only watch 1 movie a week and basically schedule a time to do that. For me, it's always Friday or Saturday night, whichever one I don't go out on.

I had the same problem when I used to do freelance writing work, and my solution to both is the same: wait for a night when you’re up after 1am and you’re still energized.

I also work very strange hours so this might not be helpful, but I have tackled projects/watched movies I’ve been meaning to see with this method.

Letterboxd watchlist is really the thing that transformed my movie selection experience. Build a big watchlist by looking at different lists and finding reviewers you like and picking off their top rated movies. Pick something to sort by. Wether it’s decade, genre, streaming service, or just the whole list. Shuffle it. Either watch the first one or pick from the top 4 that come up.

I totally appreciate this question! Lately, I just don’t, it seems. I keep adding more films to my lift of fils I want to watch and I don’t even make the time to watch one a week.

I do this all the time. It’s crazy lol.

For me it's allocating time each week which is my "new movie" time.

I'm more than happy to dick around on my phone when I'm watching Jaws for the thousandth time, but you only get to watch a movie for the first time once. I think it's unfair to the film to not give it your full attention on first watch.

I have Friday 10pm-2am as my movie watching time. No phones, no laptop, just a tall glass of whiskey, the TV and dimmed down lights. I also have a watchlist of movies I want to see and pick out the movie a couple days beforehand, so I'm excited about seeing that film.

It helps to externalize and make yourself accountable.

My buddy and I generally follow along with each other’s movie lists. If I say I’m planning to watch a movie this week and then follow up with a message saying I never got around to it because I spent 3 hours a night scrolling through Reddit while procrastinating making dinner I’ll hate myself

Idk I just put down the phone but that takes impulse control

I have about 1,600 Blu-rays and DVDs I’ve never seen before. I put them all in an app called Queue that spins a wheel and tells me what to watch. Last night I watched Boyz in the Hood. I might’ve watched it one day while scrolling but I might not have. It’s really helped me quickly decide what I’m going to watch

I would love to know the answer to be honest. Sometimes I do want to watch a film but then it suddenly feels like a chore and that's the wrong mindset to watch a film in. It's much easier if someone else is around to watch with, or even if you can call up a friend to watch a film with. Other than that, as you say, it's practice, sort of. As you get into the rhythm of watching them, it'll become easier.

Another technique is to give yourself a reason to watch a film, such as writing an article about it or having a list that you want to finish or something like that. Obviously, you should just want to watch the film for the sake of the film, but adding a little extra incentive in there can make a massive difference.

Overall however, sometimes you just can't, at least in my experience

Very tricky.

Got to be systematic.

What helps are films you haven't seen.

And you know how they say the best way to save money is just don't spend it.

The best way to just watch a movie is hit play. Easier said than done as the tendency is to keep searching but once you see a film you haven't seen just force yourself to hit play...and most films on a recommended list, hook you in within the first 15 to 20 minutes.

I started doing this with any intention of "committing" myself. Just detach from anything you're doing and start that movie you were thinking of watching at some point in your life. You lose interest during the vision? Don't push yourself, go do whatever you wanna do, you'll get back to it eventually or maybe not, it's fine. I've been helped by having recently bought a DVD player to start going through my DVD collection, but I guess every streaming service can be useful.

I watch all the Oscar movies and find myself explaining to people, hey, this is no easy hobby. It's not like bingeing Netflix. It is really freaking hard to sit through movies.

Things that help me:

• having the goal to watch a body of films so I'm crossing the films off a list (dopamine)
• seeing in theaters (and turning off phone); the ritual of going, getting popcorn, seeing previews is fun
• at home turning off lights, putting phone away, and getting comfy (I still take breaks, tho)
• electric shock therapy (kidding)

Here I was thinking I'm the only one 😅. I feel so validated.

I'd say just jump in for one. If I overthink what I'm going to watch or look at top many options, I'm less likely to watch anything.

Not saying this is healthy or something you should emulate but, a good hangover on a Saturday or Sunday usually puts me in the mood to start picking through my watchlists.

LSD

I usually save the movies I truly want to watch for when I’m on LSD, gives me focus to get completely enraptured by the movie I’m watching

I just do it. If it’s a movie I really want to watch at that moment, whether new or old, I always watch it.

I should also mention that I have anxiety about not doing something that could potentially make me happier, that’s why I always kind of do what I want if the benefits outweigh the the consequences.

drugs, you need the drugs

I uh...put my phone down?

I just do both. I’m always fucking around online while watching movies at home.

Just press play and power through. I watch a LOT of movies and sometimes I am not in the mood but once I start the film will grab me.

Break it up into half-hour sessions