User:Doug/Digital mindfulness

If security is the lock on your door, and privacy is the curtains on your window, mindfulness begins by getting the clowns and vampires out of your apartment and continues by removing the ads from your town.

If you begin to feel bored, you're doing it right.

Hardware

There was a time where people had a calculator, camera, radio, watch, alarm, timer, etc. Then came the Device Singularity: the smartphone. One device to rule them all! We all know how easy it is to go to your phone for "one thing" and end up scrolling somewhere: consider returning to some of these single-function devices.

• watch: e.g. Casio F-91W. Be on time, even without your phone.
• alarm clock: e.g. Casio F-91W. Now your phone can sleep while you are, and your whole cyborg self can rest. (How long can you get through the day without switching it on?) Even if you don't turn it off, keeping it out of the room you sleep is a Good Idea.[citation desired]
• smartcards: some services offer cards for authentication, for example, the LVB offer one for the Deutschlandticket. Now you can travel without your phone—what an adventure!

Software

Browser

This is written from a Firefox-on-desktop perspective. Sadly Chrome on desktop and mobile browsers don't support all the following:

• new tab page options: toggle off "Recommended stories", "Recent Activity", "Shortcuts", etc.
• settings: toggle off "Open previous windows and tabs" on startup (⚠️ Radical! Tab-Zero!)
• add-ons/extensions
  • uBlock Origin
    • https://github.com/gorhill/uBlock#ublock-origin
    • go into settings and enable all the stuff
    • use the element picker to prevent attention-stealing website section from loading (e.g. youtube comments section)
  • specific to youtube:
    • https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-recommended-vpanelideos/ add-on for hiding recommended videos section
    • https://dearrow.ajay.app/ replaces click-bait video titles and thumbnails with crowd-sourced alternatives
    • https://sponsor.ajay.app/ identifies and skips sponsor sections inside videos
    • https://freetubeapp.io/ desktop youtube client with increased privacy, which has dearrow and sponsorblock integrated

Smartphone

• radically consider which notifications you actually want to receive
  • in app settings, you can often set default setting for e.g. all new groups you join
  • do you really want to get any notifications about anything that isn't a direct message from someone you know?
• enable "Do Not Disturb" by default
• play around with "Black and white" mode
• consider de-installing your most addictive apps

Social

We don't need to do this alone! Alienation is part of the problem. The first thing is to be able to talk about this stuff: share stories about when you didn't have a phone, be vulnerable about things you don't like about your use, etc.

What norms do you have with your friends? Are phones switched on and on the table, or are they off and/or away?

Sign the petition against Digitalzwang ("Digital coercion").

Posts I've made about this

• https://mastodon.xyz/@douginamug/113786548428519849