7 ways to protect your brain from information noise

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Politics, advertising, annoying people - how to protect yourself from all this information noise? This article contains 7 technical solutions on how to do it fully automatically.

Our brain is in danger!

On the one hand, there is politics, which is already pouring out perhaps not from every toaster. On the other hand - advertising of all kinds of scams.

You say: info diet, info diet … But this is easier said than done!

This article contains seven technical solutions to stop information noise in your head.

Everything is automatic. You don't need willpower!

Why is it important?

Did you happen to hear the "news" on the radio?

You immediately start thinking about her, without wanting to.

You think. Drive away. Thinking again. Get mad and drive away again. Bad mood. Stress.

All this confuses the working spirit. You start thinking about things that you cannot influence.

Info diet is not an option

It almost always requires willpower. And willpower is a limited resource.

Solution? We need to automate everything! Not willpower, but tools and environment - that's what will help us!

Solution # 1: pull out the TV antenna

What is a TV for?

Watch some movies? And download a movie from the Internet, no?

News, weather, TV shows - the same.

Moreover, on the Internet you have the most important thing - CHOICE. You can listen to different programs, different people, different points of view.

In the most extreme case, there is always Internet broadcasting of the same TV channels.

But you will stop listening to the box in the background. And you won't be able to turn it on reflexively …

Solution # 2: cut ads

I am using AdBlock.

He cuts not only ads, but also hated news teasers. And then how it happens: I went to see the weather, and woke up 15 minutes later on the other end of the Internet))

For example, this is how I cut out the news block on the Gismeteo website:

No willpower! We just don't see these news links. This means there is no distraction.

Likewise, you can cut anything from the page. Cut once - forgotten for a long time!

Plus YouTube no ads.

Solution # 3: block sites

You can also block entirely:

• social networks;
• YouTube;
• news sites;
• sports sites.

Browser plugins will help us with this:

• StayFocusd for Google Chrome;
• LeechBlock for Firefox.

Or, you can block access at the system level. Check out these programs:

• K9 for Windows and Mac;
• SelfControl for Mac.

My friend Vadim told me that, they say, there will be no sense from these programs and plug-ins. A person can turn them off in 1-5 minutes and continue to procrastinate.

Maybe so. But often a person is distracted unconsciously. In these cases, this blocking will work.

Plus, the more obstacles to distraction, the better. You will just be too lazy to be lazy))

Solution # 4: turn off notifications on your smartphone

Now every program, from an alarm clock to a flashlight, shoots you with notifications: rate, share …

I turned off almost all notifications on my smartphone.

In Android, it's simple: Settings ⇒ General ⇒ Application ⇒ Show notification.

Solution # 5: silent phone mode

I already wrote on Lifehacker that my phone does not make any sounds.

Try it - you'll love it.

Solution # 6: unsubscribe from unnecessary emails

Nobody likes SPAM. But thanks to powerful email filters, SPAM doesn't reach us. We ourselves have agreed to receive almost all junk letters.

It can be fixed. Fiercely unsubscribe from everything unnecessary!

Often it is enough to click on "Unsubscribe" or Unsubscribe at the very bottom of the letter. Sometimes - disable notifications in your personal account (Facebook, VKontakte, Twitter). As a last resort, we add impudent people to the black list (for Yandex. Mail) or filter (for Gmail).

Result: a neat mailbox, letters only on business.

Solution # 7: earplugs if all else fails

Sometimes it is simply impossible to stop the information noise. For example, your boss is listening to the radio loudly.

For such cases, earplugs are indispensable. I choose silicone earplugs (similar to plasticine):

They are good at dampening noise and at the same time inexpensive. They are always with me, in a special container.

Total

Informational pressure has grown exponentially lately. The usual information diet can no longer cope.

It's good that you can technically suppress the information noise.

Protect yourself!

Write in the comments

How do you deal with information overload? Write your recipe!