You’ve read about browser control software, right?
You know. The kind that blocks ads or logs you out after you’ve procrastinated too long.
All fine and dandy, but not the solution. Here are some low-tech things to try instead:
Get The Important Stuff Done Before You Switch The DumbPhone On
“Yeah right,” I hear you say. “My computer IS the important stuff!”
Really? What about learning a language, or even just developing motivation for learning one? Believe it or not, people have learned languages for a long time without the aid of machines.
But even if you still need software, you can model what I’m doing for Mandarin Chinese. Technically, it still involves using a machine, but I use it like an ugly old Walkman.
Which leads us to:
Stop Carrying The Internet With You Everywhere
Sometimes I worry about becoming a Luddite. I do not have a single device that accesses the Internet unless I find wireless in a cafe. And even then, I’ve designed my life in a way that I rarely need it.
Friends and strangers alike ask me how I survive without it, a question that perplexes me. From ages four to twenty-four, I managed to meet people all over the world without having an email address or a cellphone.
Heck, I even used to arrange meetings by post.
The point being is that if you can’t figure out why you’re not achieving your goals, look to the roaming Internet first. And then consider the following life-changing activities:
* Use an app like Plain Text to write a book, blog post or article (like I’m doing right now) instead of scrolling through Facebook and clicking the Like button. That’s a fast path to nowhere.
But all wealth comes from writing, including social, intellectual and financial wealth. I guess the occasional “LOL” might add to the pool, but I’m certainly not counting on it.
* Create a mind map with (gasp!) pen and paper while using your spayed or neutered DumbPhone to listen to a podcast or lecture. You’ll remember more and come up with incredible ideas as you work.
* Meet a human being and have a conversation with no devices on or near the table. Switch it off so it doesn’t buzz, beep or otherwise bang its way into your attention from within a bag or pocket.
And above all, learn and love this phrase: “I’ll look it up later.” Then use your to-do list to create a Memory Palace that helps you do so.
Speaking of which:
If You Create Them, Use Them
Many people tell me they’ve created one or more Memory Palaces. They even send me excellent drawings that demonstrate substantial knowledge of the Magnetic Memory Method.
The only problem is … They never use them.
Regarding today’s topic, failing to use your inner mental technology opens you to more information pollution because you’re not spending time massaging the right stuff into your memory.
Stuff like:
* Facts that build general knowledge.
* Names and dates of historical figures and events that develop your understanding of how and why we got here.
* CriticalInformation from a textbook so that you can ace exams.
* Poems, quotes, plots and jokes so that you always have something interesting to say. Heck, if you’ve got good poems, stories or philosophical ideas memorized, you’ll always have something fascinating to think about even when you’re on your own.
* Passwords and credit card numbers so that you’re not pouring time down the drain looking stuff up.
Memorizing These Things Could Make The Difference Between Being A Mouse Or A Millionaire
But if you’re tootling your time away consuming and creating blasts of info pollution, good luck making it to the top.
But … How? How do we avoid all this nonsense and the digital amnesia it brings?
Frame Your Day With Time Boundaries
It’s not just about doing the important stuff before you switch on the computer. It’s about spacing out time across the day.
Luckily, this is easy to do. It’s called “setting a timer.” How it works is this:
1. Decide how long you want to work on a high margin task. When it comes to your memory work, that might mean the design, memorization or recall parts, as described in this video:
2. Set the timer.
3. Work until it rings.
4. Take a computer-free break to avoid noise pollution. Do push ups, take a walk or, dip into a Memory Palace.
If you can’t develop the discipline needed to do this on your own, find a co-working team. My friend Max Breckbill hosts the most amazing group sessions and serves as the MC. He starts and ends each session and manages a spreadsheet that lists the activities of each attendee to help create accountability.
Set Activity Boundaries And Hold To Them
At the beginning of 2016, I performed a life assessment with the help of my friend Jonathan Levi. One of the huge gaps I found involved the withering of my music life. Somehow I just wasn’t playing bass often enough anymore. Same thing with my language learning and memory experiments.
So then I did a severe time analysis and found that I’d unconsciously slid away from my tried and true time-tracking technique. Once I got that back on track, I quickly spotted the culprit.
Because blaming software, hardware and online platforms for siphoning our time amounts to technological determinism. The truth is that the machines don’t make us spend our time on them. We determine our own way onto them and into their forests of noise pollution all on our own.
And it’s tremendously exhausting both psychologically and physically. Those dopamine boosts feel good, but that’s just because there’s sugar on the blade. We’re oozing precious lifeblood each and every second we spend in states of media-induced excitement.
The solution?
Use The Simple Power Of Arithmetic Rules To Set Yourself Free
At the ThinkBuzan memory training I attended, Tony Buzan said something very important that applies to many things in life: “Rules set you free.” When it comes to eliminating information pollution to your life, try setting these into action:
Starting tomorrow, count the number of times you find yourself on Facebook. If you use browsers exclusively, you could use the history function at the end of the day, but if the FB app doesn’t track it, you’ll have to do it manually.
Yes, yes, I know that there are apps that show you graphs of where you spend your time. But I don’t think graphical readouts spit out by the same machine you’re trying to avoid will create quite the same shock ad awe as the graph you create on your own.
Once you know your numbers, set a rule. For example, you can cut the number in half and use a Memory Palace and the Major Method to track the number of times you’ve popped in.
Everybody Knows That The Dice Are Loaded
Or roll dice and subtract that number.
Better yet, go for broke and determine to visit your favorite noise pollution sites once a day. Maximum.
That’s ultimately how I got mounds of time back into my life. At first, I didn’t know what to do with it all, even after reinserting bass practice and language learning. But I soon found ways, such as reviving my passion for reading novels and even created my own coloring book so I could dive into a form of guided creativity so many of us have lost since childhood.
To seal the deal …
Journal Your Progress And Tell Others About Your Accomplishments
“Hell,” Sartre wrote, “is other people.” And when it comes to getting tied up in information pollution, this might be true. Especially when the excuse for multiple exposures comes down to not wanting to lose touch with friends.
Frankly, if you can’t keep up with friends by visiting Facebook just once a day and scanning their feeds, then you need to find a way to get paid for the labor of liking their posts.
Instead, use the power of mathematical rules to set yourself free and then report on the experience.
Encourage others to do the same.
Fight The Noise Pollution
Get your power back.
Learn, memorize and recall more.
Trust me, if you implement what you’ve read in this post, you’ll not only reduce the info pollution in your life. You’ll win back the time you spent reading it back in droves and become one of the smartest human beings on the planet.
You’ve read about browser control software, right?