Digital Hygiene

Photo by Rodion Kutsaev on Unsplash

I am struck by how much time and energy, how much focus and productivity I have gained by following a few simple steps in digital hygiene; (steps inspired by Seth Godin’s Five steps to digital hygiene and by my interactions with my altMBA alumni in the 30 Day Challenge alumni channel). 

There are three main ideas I have put in place that I have found to be instrumental in freeing up time and mental energy:

1. Turn off all notifications except for calls, texts, chats, and calendar notifications.
2. Quit social media and gaming on your phone — no more Facebook or Twitter, no more Signing Monsters or Bomb Beach.
3. Ignore all of the negative energy — quit reading negative comments and exchanges on the internet.

It took me a while to follow Seth’s first step — turning off email and social media notifications on my phone. At first when I turned it off, I found myself jonesing for a fix of attention, looking at my phone wanting to “check-in,” to “interact,” longing for the constant stimulus I had grown so accustomed to.

Even after turning these notifications off, I still found myself checking in on Twitter and Facebook, often; I found myself spending hours enthralled in emotional battles with people I have never met and never will — battling back and forth with no real result other then more and more virtually inspired vitriol. 

Fast forward a few months, I am interacting with the altMBA alumni community, expressing my desire to make time for writing, time to interact in positive manners online, and in person with my family. So I decided in November of 2017, a few weeks after the presidential election, to quit social media. I uninstalled Twitter and Facebook from my cell phone. I stopped checking in online all together.

At first, as with the notifications being turned off, I still was looking to fill the space left by the absence of these interactions. I found myself spending more time on slack and LinkedIn. After a while though I felt satisfied without these interactions. I found more time in my hands. I started writing more and spending more time present with my family.

The difference now in how I interpret notifications on my phone is striking. I don’t feel a need to constantly be interacting, to be connected to any virtual stimulus. Emotionally I feel lighter and clearer. I am no longer embroiled in online battles of “wit” or anger infused tweets and comments. My digital hygiene is much improved.

I encourage you to examine your digital hygiene. Are your online interactions as fruitful and emotionally balanced as you would like them to be? What need or part of you are the conversations and interactions you are involved with satisfying? Is your cell phone enhancing your life or interrupting it? Or both? It’s up to you. It’s your turn to decide and act.