Digital Hygiene: The Two-Hour rule in action

I assume that my reader is aware of social media toxicity, changes in the brain that they cause, memory problems, how toxic influence they have, how they lock you in echo chambers and the whole catalog of negative phenomena that Internet and social media cause if you throw yourself into this element without a life jacket. I also assume that you’re not a productivity maniac and the knowledge from recent studies has reached you that multitasking and sculpting AI scripts combined with automation that allows you 24/7 to realize beautiful illusion of not your thoughts has been exposed by you as well. If so, I invite you to read on.

Today I would like to show you how I implement digital hygiene in my life. I note that I don’t read any guides. All ideas are elements of my own research and tests. I started somewhere after COVID, so I can boast several years of experience.

Professional Context

I work on a computer and due to my business, I practically need to be online non-stop. I need internet access and can’t turn off my phone for, say, a day. However, I note that I’ve made a selection of clients, removing those who created problem tsunamis or, despite charging premium rates for work outside office hours, assigned tasks at night. I had periods when the tsunami of problems was really overwhelming, but self-respect and clients’ respect for you are two elements that provide ground for healthy digital life. If you don’t have such a foundation, I would suggest fixing this element.

My goal is to maximize the reduction of digital device use to the absolute necessary minimum. I intend to spend the remaining time reading on Kindle or paper books, listening to music, playing guitar, creative boredom… Potentially, I would also like to limit the negative impact of technology on memory problems or social relationships in old age.

Computer - Hygiene

On my Windows computer, I took the easy route and purchased the COLD TURKEY application, which blocks access to selected sites and applications (either according to schedule or on demand) when using Windows. I have no intention of measuring productivity or checking how many hours I spend on what, because that’s ridiculous. It’s enough to work on a task basis and allocate time for it, but for that and not multitasking.

Cold Turkey works in such a way that until I enter an extremely difficult password (I can also send the password to a friend so they won’t give it to me except in emergencies), there’s no possibility of watching YouTube, gaming, reading tvn24.pl, Facebook, Instagram, etc. Just work. There’s also an option for absolute blocking, but I prefer to have the possibility of unblocking just in case.

On Linux, I don’t have such a problem because the environment I set up is specifically “Amish-like” and limited to the bare necessities. I even had a period when most applications I used were only in the terminal, so it’s quite possible I’ll go a step further soon…

Phone - Hygiene

I used to have a simple rule: work phone during work hours, and private phone after work (usually a top model). The work phone was usually a BlackBerry, on which most applications required by civilized humans either didn’t work or worked so poorly that it discouraged use. Unfortunately, for over a year, I’ve had a dual SIM on S23 Ultra, which means I practically have both private and work phones with me constantly with a full package of applications. That was definitely a mistake. I can confirm that having a phone with no applications and only basic functions has a radical impact on reducing the time we waste on it.

Regarding the unfortunate mobile I currently have - of course, I always divided contacts, creating rules for possible contact and adding time ranges when people simply can’t call me. However, that wasn’t enough. Six months ago, I threw out the Facebook application (used only for neighborhood activism) and Messenger, which I consider a real time devourer. Removing just these two applications saves not only lots of time but also battery life. I’ll note that I previously installed these two applications only in moments of greatest urgency and need for action. I practically didn’t use them for private purposes, more for local community matters.

On Android, using the Digital Wellbeing application, I decided to implement limits. However, these limits didn’t work well. I was informed that in such and such week I used the phone less, but used a particular application a lot… I bent the rules because there was always something important. Taking advantage of the holiday spirit, I decided to go a step further. I set a 2-hour limit for using specific applications (browsers, communicators, Bluesky, Nostr, Pleroma/Fediverse). Let me tell you, it’s a radical change.

Initially, I was shocked because nothing could be done. At some point, however, I had to optimize time, not doing scrolling and mindless news browsing, which caused time drain and quick limit consumption. For example, today I used all 2 hours by 10 AM - simply lying in bed searching for a product to buy. Since then, I can’t do anything. For instance, my wife asked me to buy a movie on apple.tv, and I couldn’t confirm the login through the browser. I admit it leads to amusing situations, but it’s a matter of getting used to it. You also start to respect the time you have for research and entertainment.

You’ll say it’s a failure and misunderstanding. Well, but it causes optimization of your device usage and your brain switches to maximum utilization of the available device. You’re no longer in zombie mode. If you can’t understand this, you’ll always change 2h to 4h, and later to 6h because what’s the difference, right? This causes constant bending of game rules and changing principles, but it’s the principles that are supposed to change your pathological behavior in using technology (see goal above). Let’s remember that behaviorally, devices and applications are designed to maximally retain the user and create addiction. Therefore, just like with any addiction, only strict rules give results.

Work Hygiene, Free Wednesday and Phone-Free Wednesday

I’ve always had the hygiene of working only during work hours. I don’t understand and don’t accept the rule that you work evenings or on Saturday. This means that you’re badly managing your work. You wake up in the morning, start the job. You handle topics and problems, and after 4 or 5 PM you close down the company until next working day. Recently, I introduced free Wednesdays, where I not only try not to work, meaning I work on other days to have this free… but I also try to make Wednesdays phone-free. With this phone-free Wednesday and work, it varies because sometimes there’s simply an incident. However, I never queue work for that day.

Work Space

I know it’s easier for me to separate work from private sphere because I have an office in the basement and upstairs, which is separated from other rooms that are for relaxation or daily matters. Thus, I’m aware of limitations, e.g., space-related ones. I’ve always tried to separate the world of work from the private world also at home, and since I’ve had home office mode since 2010 and remote work, what hit others during Covid-19, I had many years earlier and could prepare for it appropriately.

Router - Hygiene

On my router, I’ve implemented domain blocks and DNS with security measures. This means that not only can’t I access specific domains, but I won’t be able to open, for example, facebook.com at certain hours, and it also enforces complete blocking at night, e.g., between 2 and 6 AM. Which means that during sleepless nights, I’m more likely to lie and stare at the ceiling than listen to a podcast. This has enormous significance for brain and memory regeneration.

Fediverse - The Illusion of Non-Toxicity

For 2 years, I’ve been using only the Fediverse for my private social media functioning. It’s kind of funny functioning because there are no real friends there. The promise of a better and more ethical feed in the Fediverse, whether from Mastodon, Pleroma, or other applications, is somewhat exaggerated, as it’s a perfect echo chamber with toxic and closed environments. It’s also a potential time devourer, infinite scrolling, and contains, I repeat, toxic elements. It’s worth mentioning because many people try to escape from the rain under the gutter looking for a better world in alternative and supposedly more ethical solutions.

Conclusions and Effects

The effects are immediately visible. For example, by throwing out Messenger and Facebook where de facto I rather followed certain situations and observed from the sidelines rather than actively participated in social life, it still takes up a lot of time. Many things appear according to the algorithm under your personality profile, and what was shown to me absorbed my attention and emotions even more - essentially endless scrolling and engagement in problem-solving is possible because the world is so extensive that META will provide you with enough information and posts to spend maximum time there.

I believe that by cutting off from this sludge, I gained a fresh perspective in evaluating certain phenomena. Messenger, in turn, caused constant persistent notifications, which even with blocks and tuning really bothered me. I don’t recommend completely giving up Facebook, which I’ll describe in a separate post, but I log in there once a week or once every few weeks, review friends’ statuses, and log out.

Better focus on important things at work. I complete topics, work by solving introduced tickets and incidents or projects according to the established plan, so practically solving a task is solving a certain stage. I had a huge problem with productivity in case of too many distractions. The more you cut yourself off from the world of endless possibilities, the more real productivity you’ll have.

Implementing the 2h method along with other techniques made it so that I can focus more and be more creative. My thoughts are more organized and fresh. I don’t have the feeling of wasting time. I believe that observing floating dust or a sleeping dog is more creative than doom scrolling. I also derive much more pleasure from music.

As of today, I believe that only radical actions, such as the above 2h method, give real effects. Everything else is hypocrisy and moving principles so that eventually you return to what was before.

Another good principle is what my wife wants to implement - leaving digital devices outside the bedroom. Unfortunately, due to various alarms and notifications, this isn’t possible in my case. Who knows, maybe in a few years I’ll turn into an Amish and leave my phone in the broom closet?

I note one more thing. I’m over 40 years old. Most of my friends don’t have Facebook accounts, don’t use social media. Therefore, I have sporadic rather than constant contact with them. I don’t have family on Facebook either; I believe that if they want to keep in touch with me, we can do it in the real world. It’s worth noting because the specifics of my approach may not work for people who actively maintain contact with friends through Discord, WhatsApp, Messenger, or Facebook.

• Digital Hygiene