How I use my computer and phone while minimizing distractions

In my last post, I talked about how social media is a threat to my psychological sovereignty. But while social media is the biggest cognitive hazard I’m exposed to when I use digital technology, it’s far from the only one. There are so many other pollutants in our information ecosystem that fracture our attention and manipulate our emotions for profit: news media in all its different forms, notifications from the apps on our phones and computers, telemarketing calls, addictive video games, and perhaps the most sinister pollutant: advertising.

I want to live my life intentionally and mindfully, with full agency over how I direct my attention. I don’t want to be distracted or manipulated for somebody’s financial or political gain. To that end, I take steps to ensure that my devices can only deliver information to me when I’m ready and willing to receive it, and that I’m never exposed to harmful information unless I deliberately seek it out.

Here is a non-exhaustive list of how I use my phone and computer to ensure that they answer to me, rather than me answering to them:

I browse the internet with an ad-blocker enabled. If a website asks me to disable my ad blocker to access their content, I close the browser tab and never visit that website again.
Whenever possible, I pay for ad-free versions of the apps and services I use. If a service does not offer a paid ad-free tier, I don’t use that service.
I use browser extensions to block out the most harmful parts of certain websites I can’t choose not to engage with. For example, I block comments, chat, and suggested videos on YouTube so that the only UI element I see on a video page is the video player itself. Additionally, I pay for YouTube Premium so I never have to see ads.
Wherever possible, I disable algorithmic feeds on the apps and services I engage with regularly. For example, I keep my YouTube watch history disabled so my YouTube homepage doesn’t show me any video suggestions.
I disable notifications from nearly all apps on my phone, with the exception of messaging apps. But even with messaging apps, I mute all notifications from groups and communities.
I only allow notifications from work-related apps (such as Slack and Linear) during work hours. Outside of work hours, I ensure that I can only be contacted via phone calls.
I use Freedom to block all social media, news websites, and major tech/gaming websites. If I find myself checking a website or app too often during moments of distraction, I add it to my Freedom blocklist.
If I get a phone call from an unknown number, I let it go to voicemail (unless I’m expecting a courier to call me for a delivery I’m awaiting).
When I’m sleeping, I enable Apple’s Sleep Focus on my phone to make sure I’m not woken up by notifications or phone calls.
At night, I charge my phone in the kitchen instead of the bedroom so that I’m not tempted to check it right after waking up (or worse, in the middle of the night). I have a HomePod in my bedroom to serve as an alarm clock, but otherwise my bedroom is free of electronic devices.
I don’t watch broadcast TV or radio. I pay for ad-free tiers of music and video streaming services. When streaming services (inevitably) start showing ads to paying customers, I will begrudgingly pay extra for the ad-free tiers, if available. If that’s not possible, I will resort to piracy.
I don’t read or watch the news in any form. If a news story is important enough, my friends and family tell me about it. If people neglect to tell me about something that happened, it’s probably not important enough.
I don’t play games on my phone or computer, and stay especially far away from addictive games that require daily checkins or have gacha mechanics. I do all my gaming on dedicated devices (Switch, Steam Deck, and previously a custom PC).
When I’m working, I enable Apple’s Work Focus on all my devices. This only allows my devices to receive notifications from a small set of work-related apps. Depending on how demanding my work is on any given day, I can spend between an hour to three hours completely disconnected from notifications while I’m writing or programming.
Focus modes are sacred. Only my immediate family and exactly one close friend are allowed to get through my focus modes.

These are workflows and habits I’ve built over fifteen years of computer and phone use. Like many others my age, I’ve lived through an era where my devices were pinging with a cacophony of notifications all the time, leaving my attention and mental health in tatters. Only after observing the effects of constant distraction and emotional agitation on my mind did I begin making slow, gradual changes to what I allow on my devices, ending up with the list you see above.

At first glance, this list might suggest that I live a quiet, dour, austere life. That’s not true—I watch TV and online video, listen to music, play video games, and engage with all the same media that other people in my life engage with. The only differences are:

I don’t see algorithmically recommended content, advertisements, or inflammatory content, and
I don’t have a constant stream of notifications jostling for my attention on my devices

I go through all this trouble not just to maintain my psychological sovereignty, but also to create space in my life for self-care, friendships, relationships, work, exercise, and daydreaming. If my thoughts are constantly being waylaid by distractions, if my mind is always saturated with some horrific news story of the day, I can’t possibly focus on the work, people, communities, and nature around me.

My relationship with my digital devices these days is partly adversarial. I sometimes think of them as hazardous materials. It’s sad that things have to be this way, but that’s the world we’ve built. If I want to continue reaping the benefits of modern technology, I have no choice but to actively minimize the harm it causes. Silicon Valley isn’t going to grow a conscience overnight, but I as a computer user still have a smidgeon of agency over at least a small part of my computing experience.

And as long as I have that agency, I will exercise it and protect myself. After that? Who knows. Maybe I’ll learn to fix typewriters.