The 10 Commandments to Deal with "Digital Noise"

Noise in all forms, whether due to honking, or loud music or people shouting all the time or televisions blaring throughout the day, affects our health adversely.

One form of noise that most of us are not even conscious of, has become such an integral part of our lives that it significantly affects our mental equilibrium, partly because we just handle it so badly. “Digital noise” includes the constant ping of notifications on all our devices, the bombardment of WhatsApp messages, the never-ending tweets and Facebook posts and scrolls, the shrill voices of the “breaking news” television anchors and the constant emails that just don’t seem to stop…add to this the doom scrolling and doom surfing that has ramped up in recent months and no wonder people feel mentally exhausted and spent at the end of the day with increasing bouts of anxiety and the feeling that time is just passing us by, leaving us unmoored and unanchored, without any control over what we do and how we spend our days, in our never-ending quest to keep up with all the stuff our devices throw at us, running to stay in the same place and never managing to get on top of things.

These 10 commandments may help you regain some sanity and control…and are aimed at those between the ages of 45 and 75. I don’t understand those younger than 30 and if you are between 30 and 45…I can only imagine what you are going through. If you are 75 and older, I know you can't do without WhatsApp, but please stop believing everything you read on social media.

Here are the commandments.

You can listen to the audio/podcast hosted on Soundcloud by clicking the Play button below within the browser itself. You can click here to access directly from your email.

1. Stop all notifications.

You don’t need to know instantly who is messaging you. There are no emergencies on social media and rarely any in real life as well. Half your digital stress will disappear if your devices stop making noises that beckon you to them like a pretty siren trying to ensare you in her grasp.

2. Exit all high volume WhatsApp groups.

It’s fine if people feel bad that you have left. You are more important to yourself and they will get over it by tomorrow and forget you the day after. If you suffer from FOMO, then you need to get over that too, because FOMO cannot be a reason to waste your time scrolling through stupid forwards and jokes and birthday wishes. Unless…you are one of those high volume messagers and forwarders…in which case….stop, for heaven’s sake. Schedule a time to see messages, perhaps just 2-3 times a day. You don’t need to respond to every message immediately. Disable “Read Receipts” - you don’t need to know whether your message has been read and you don’t need others to know whether and when you have read their messages…this eliminates all the rubbish of green and blue ticks and the stress they cause. Also, delete all your messages either once a day or weekly to start with a clean slate each time.

3. Block incessant forwarders and toxic people…

…whether on WhatsApp or other media…assuming you are not one of them, who truly believes you are God’s gift to mankind and that everyone is just waiting with bated breath for the next joke or piece of information that you just throw into every group you belong to, irrespective of the ongoing conversation that you may land up disrupting. If you don’t want to block them, then tell them politely not to forward anything to you…they will usually remove you from their “lists”. If they don’t agree, block them.

4. Don’t add to the noise.

The world does not need to know your private life in granular detail, or how many grand-children you have and their cute dimples and the exotic places you have been to or are on your way to, or the number of friends you are partying with and where or what food you are eating, or the time of day you have reached the airport to catch a flight. Do you need validation for everything you do in your life? Remember…validation is only for parking. You don’t need to advertise every second of your life.

5. Use DND (Do Not Disturb) liberally.

I put my phone and iPAD on DND half to one hour before bed time, after which only my parents and children can get through, in case there is a real, dire emergency.  There are no other emergencies, unless you are on call as a doctor or are someone who deals with emergencies. This will give you respite and some “me-time” and help you sleep better.

6. Don’t watch television news channels.

Don’t watch breaking news. Nothing happens if you wait the next morning to read the news, either online or preferably in print. It is a rare occasion when the city is drowning or there is sudden war or the everything around you is collapsing because of an earthquake…in which case you would know anyway.

7. Silence unknown callers…

…unless your business depends on it. If it is important, they will message. Most unknown callers are spammers and scammers, or want to lend you money that you don’t want, or are from some social service organization wanting your money for some cause or the other. In the bargain, you may miss some calls from the Swiggy or Zomato delivery people who can’t find your house…but if they can’t get through to you, they will anyway get to your address by hook or by crook and deliver.

8. Subscribe to the Government / TRAI DND…

…to avoid spam messages. Don’t allow businesses to connect with you on WhatsApp. This helps eliminate SMSs by about half.

9. Don’t look at your phone each time you are “vela” (slang for idle).

Keep a book around you to pick up and read. I now have a book in each room and in the car and just start reading when I have free time. If reflexively (I am still not that evolved…), I make the mistake of picking up my phone, the next thing I know, 10-15 minutes have just passed by, checking messages, replying to them, looking at updates, etc.

10.  Don’t argue with people online.

Don’t get sucked into unnecessary discussions. You can’t change people's minds and you will manage nothing but to raise your own stress levels. If you really think you want to show the other person they are wrong and you are right…invite them over for a cup of coffee and do it face to face…chances are you might also get convinced you are wrong or both of you may agree to meet halfway. Of course, if you are Jain or a quantum physicist, then you already know that everyone can be right and wrong at the same time and that there is no absolute truth…and it is all about perspectives and multiple Universes.

I don’t have an observational or randomised control trial to back any of these statements unlike the rest of the articles on atmasvasth…but neither did Moses when he came down from the mountain with his tablets…which were incidentally made of stone and not by Apple.

You should re-examine the digital noise in your life. We should be the ones controlling our devices, not the other way around…we can’t again be slaves.

The only way to lead a fruitful life is to eliminate everything that is irrelevant, which most of our social media and WhatsApp groups are, and regain control of your life…with some sanity.

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