I have a love hate relationship with technology. Sure, I can’t get enough of it but I really despise it intruding and interrupting me.
I feel like the biggest shift over the past ~15 years is the amount of research made towards keeping us scrolling in the name of revenue. Side note: fuck ads. I block them when possible (uBlock on desktop, AdGuard on mobile, PiHole network wide, pay for ad-free services when possible). I think I’m pretty optimized on minimizing exposure to them. The one place they sneak through is Instagram.
Now sure ads suck but that’s only part of my problem with IG. All this optimization and skipping/looking away from ads doesn’t help if I’m not immune to the pathetic dopamine loop of doomscrolling. So what steps can I take to stop myself from getting sucked in? Screen time, limiting notifications & a special number 3.
The two entries into IG are: mindless opening it for no reason & DMs.
IG is a bit of an anomaly in my apps of doomscrolling. I couldn’t set a time limit because I wanted to be able to answer people that DM me there. Now not all DMs are important, some are just gonna be a meme or whatever. But we can’t differentiate, and a quick swipe from that one message and you’re stuck.
Enter, Beeper.
What if we can separate DMs from the rest of IG? Yes even that one meme can come in as a single message with no way to scroll to the next reel. It’s amazing. I set Beeper up both for IG & FB messenger to knock out another app I’d occasionally check too.
With Beeper, I can fully disable IG notifications & never get pulled into the app because of someones DM. Because even with follow / like / all notifications off, when you open IG, you get that little red heart with all that temptation. “Come here Amjad, come look at what I have for you. Aren’t you curious?????” No, please, leave me alone. Get out of my life.
Now when I get a message, I reply, maybe laugh at a reel, and close away knowing there’s no black hole into the next, and the next, and the next.
General technology rules I have
Notifications
- Disable notifications as much as possible.
- Demote to notification center when possible- you only see them if you were checking your phone anyways- lock screen/watch notifications only for important things.
Screen Time
Set a time limit for those trash apps. YouTube, Reddit & IG are my worst. Set a passcode, lock it away in your notes & forget that code. If you actually really really really really need it, it’s in there. Otherwise you’re locked out with a smile on your face. Read a book.
Bonus Email Rant
- Never allow email notifications.
- Unsubscribe as often as possible.
- Fuck inbox zero. Skim through those subjects. Go live.