I've spent a lot of time over the years tuning my levels of digital noise (more on this in existing post 'Noisedialling'). Most often, that's meant dialling down the number of notifications I receive and how strongly they're foregrounded (e.g. having messenger apps display notifications only in the notification area of my phone, meaning I have to actively go and fetch them rather than them interrupting me), or establishing rules for how I interact with 'noisy' digital systems like social media.
I've always found myself, though, reverting to a state of higher noise. This has often felt like a 'failure' relative to my more disciplined and healthy approaches. It also feels like somewhat of an inevitability, because, as I've come to realise, sometimes the higher noise state is just what I need and contributes to making me feel better, not worse.
Dialling down the noise, then, is not the best state in and of itself. The important thing for me is being critical about what I actually need and having mechanisms to move between the two. All of which amounts to intentionally considering the digital noise I am letting in and shutting out, and recognising when I actually need to shift states. The contrast between the states also helps me stick to the behaviour of each one.
Low Noise
- Notifications off for major messaging apps (for me that means Signal, WhatsApp, and Discord)
- Phone almost always in some kind of focus mode
- No Twitter on phone
- Use Tweetdeck on desktop, tuned for no retweets and only people I know personally
- Generally try to time-box or batch communications rather than being as ad hoc
- Avoid or minimise checking the news or other information firehoses
Obviously there need to be temporary exceptions -- e.g. if I'm due to meet someone who'll message me by WhatsApp, it's silly for me to be actively opening the app every few minutes to see if I've missed something.
It's also a lot about what it shows me in my own behaviour. All this isn't much good if I'm opening the apps every ten minutes. But being in 'low noise mode' helps give me a framework to remind myself that I'm trying to invest less ongoing attention in those things (right now), and push myself to, say, reading an article or book (or doing nothing!).
High Noise
- Notifications on for major messaging apps
- Phone in focus mode when working or needing quiet time, but otherwise open
- Twitter on phone is okay but still try to limit the doomscrolling
- Enjoy being more ad hoc and responsive with messages and communications
- Open to the information firehoses
If my brain feels like it's exploding or that there's just too much going on, that's a building signal that I should switch to Low Noise state. If I'm constantly checking messages anyway or reaching outwards for more stimulation or connection persistently, that's a sign to step it back up again. But I try to stick at the current 'footing' for meaningfully long periods.
(When I say that I overthinking everything and overengineer structures for myself, this is the sort of thing I'm talking about. And yes, is it really over-anything if it actually works for me? Who can say?)