The Anti-Rot Protocol
- 2 hours ago
- 2 min read
At the start of the year, I began a mission to de-rot and de-slop my life.
With our attention being pulled in a million different directions, it’s easier than ever to resort to the default habit of consuming meaningless content for hours on end.
With so much of my time being pissed away scrolling on Instagram, watching garbage on Netflix, or – even worse – just staring into space, I decided that enough was enough.
It was time to make a change.
The Changes
I treated it like a small rebellion against the default mode I was living in. I made a plan that intentionally avoided the default habits I’d fallen into.
Create Each Day: Often this focuses on writing, but I’ve been trying to learn how to create pixel art. It’s fun! Every time I make something, it feels like I’ve rejected the always-consume culture we have.
Journal: We have tens of thousands of thoughts each day. If those aren’t expressed or expunged from our heads, they begin to clutter us up, making it so we can’t focus. Half an hour of journaling in the evening has changed the game.
Twenty Mins of Social Media a Day: No more endless scrolling. After twenty minutes, all the apps get auto-blocked. It’s surprising how long 24 hours feels when five of them aren’t spent looking at nonsense on social media.
Notifications - Off: Looking at one message on your phone soon morphs into looking at “one or two” reels on Instagram, and before you know it, an hour has passed. No notifications except messages/calls from family and friends.
Mindful Media Watching: Instead of watching any old shite I see on Netflix or YouTube, I’m mindful about what I spend my time on. What you watch/read/listen to shapes how you see the world. Adjust accordingly.
Right now, the world is full of algorithms fighting for the chance to show you as much AI-slop as possible. Your attention is being hijacked by things that don’t contribute to your life.
You can cut it all out. It’s not easy, and it’ll take a lot of changes, but it is possible.
And more importantly, it’s SO worth it.