Addiction by Distraction

I've written before that we, as a populace, are addicted to entertainment. Constantly looking at our phones, the TV, anything but ourselves. After further reflection, I think that is untrue. We are not addicted to entertainment, because much of what we are doing isn't actually entertaining us at all. What we're addicted to is distraction. We're constantly in search of something to distract us from, well, ourselves mostly. On Joe Rogan's podcast, Dan Harris and Sam Harris were noting that there was a study where people indicated they would rather receive some sort of discomfort (I believe it was an electric shock or something) than be alone with their thoughts.
What are we so afraid of? Why do we need to be distracted?
Are we afraid of confronting the reality of ourselves? What we are, and what we could be? Or is it, at this point, a habitual psychological addiction, in which are simply addicted to the act of finding distraction? I'm more inclined to believe it's the former, though undoubtedly it is a mix of the two.
As with anything, reversing the trend requires introspection (that, ironically, we are loathe to do and therefore unlikely to undertake) and confronting the reality of addiction that has taken hold. Only then can we reverse the momentum and begin to steer the ship in the appropriate direction toward fixing the issue.
Start small. Take 10 minutes out of your day (preferably in early, on the off chance that it kick-starts the habit for the rest of the day) to remove distractions. Put your phone somewhere you can't see it, turn the TV and radio off. And just be. You don't have to meditate. You don't have to think about anything in particular. But do your best not to be taken in by other, non-technological distractions (food, chores, "work", etc.) that may do their best to take your focus away from yourself.
If you listen to music, watch TV, or in some other way multi-task while doing work that matters, do what you can to reduce it. Forget trying to be good at multi-tasking. Get really good at mono-tasking. You will likely find you accomplish more than you have before.
What are you waiting for?