Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Over the last months I have made a few fundamental changes in the way I consume my media.

• I now filter constantly — remove ruthless
• I simplified my channels — reduce the # of channels

Media consumption

I was getting tired of all the different places I ‘had’ to read stuff. Twitter, Facebook, news sites, blogs, email newsletters.

My solution? I removed rigorously.

Lousy newsletter, unsubscribe. Junk Twitter feed, unfollow. By constantly removing things that waste your time you filter the noise.

It’s hard to know what’s good for us but it’s easy to understand what’s bad for us. Removing these bits will make you more focused. By constantly tweaking the things you see, you keep your consumption streams relevant. There is so much information to digest. So you better at least optimize for the things you see. By removing the junk, you will end up with better consumption. What you ignore is every bit as important as to what you know.

Socials

I applied the same tactics to my other social channels. Somewhere last year I changed my habits on Instagram and Facebook.

There is so much junk and the truth is: you really only want to see the stuff from real friends. Brands are only there to let you make impulse buys, that hot girl you follow is not falling in love with you through a screen and do you really care if your old fake high school friend is posting a new picture?

Declutter

I definitely believe in the purpose of these channels, but personally, they don’t make me a happier person. Thus, I removed the Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook app from my phone and I started to unfollow (not unfriend) people and channels.

The power of Facebook lies in the network. For me, that is still an important aspect and I highly value that. What I do not value is seeing my Facebook friends liking stupid cat videos.

Removing people was painful, but mostly very refreshing. The beginning will feel strange and the FOMO will be there. I often caught myself going to the folder where those apps used to be. But slowly I learned how to get less dependent. Sure, you will have drawbacks and sometimes it is just nice to watch some ‘dumb’ shit. But by limiting yourself to usage, you get your control back.

Out of sight is out of mind.