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1:00

This is Optimal Living Daily, episode 3229. Set

1:04

your defaults by calling write

1:06

of exilelifestyle.com and I'm

1:08

your narrator Justin Molick, reading you blogs every

1:11

single day of the year, including holidays. We're

1:13

going to get right to today's post as

1:15

we optimize your life. Set

1:22

your defaults by calling write

1:24

of exilelifestyle.com Years

1:27

ago, I turned off the notifications on my

1:29

phone. Today, except for

1:31

rare moments when I'm waiting on a call

1:34

or have an alarm set so I don't miss a

1:36

flight, those notifications stay

1:39

turned off. We

1:41

don't recognize, I think, how much power

1:43

we have over the tools we use

1:45

every day. For many people over time, these

1:49

tools come to represent something other than what

1:52

they are. They cease

1:54

to be portals into a wider world,

1:56

connecting us with knowledge and people to

1:58

which we would otherwise be. be ignorant.

2:01

These pocketable supercomputers are

2:04

no longer thought of as always accessible

2:06

lines between us and our loved ones,

2:09

regardless of where we happen to be in the

2:11

world. Instead, they've

2:13

come to represent contracts

2:15

and responsibilities, the exchange

2:17

of our time for money, our

2:20

energy for money, our youth

2:22

for money. Phones and

2:25

computers and social networks and

2:27

the internet and all

2:29

the little bleeping, blooping devices that fill

2:31

our lives are opportunities.

2:34

They have the potential to empower, so

2:37

long as we're willing to see them

2:40

as amplifiers instead of anchors, dream

2:43

expanders, not dream

2:45

dampeners. The best

2:47

way to remind ourselves of this and

2:50

establish a healthy relationship with our technology

2:52

is to ask ourselves why. Why

2:56

are we using these little gizmos? What's

2:58

the purpose of our interactions with them?

3:01

For some, it's purely mercenary.

3:03

I have a phone

3:05

because work might call, a client

3:08

might call, some other commitment, be

3:10

it work or relationship related, might

3:12

call. For others, it

3:15

started out as magic and became

3:17

something else entirely. We

3:20

nearly wept with joy when modern technology

3:22

became what it is, with

3:24

intuitive interfaces and it just

3:26

works connectivity. For many

3:29

though, even those who once

3:31

took pleasure in using these interfaces, these

3:33

tools are no longer marvelous,

3:35

they simply are. They're convenient

3:38

things that can entertain us when we

3:40

might otherwise have to interact with our

3:42

environments, things that connect us

3:44

to a wider network certainly, but

3:47

a network we fail to make use of beyond

3:50

what we're forced into. The

3:52

expected exchange of likes, swiping our

3:54

judgment of people left or right,

3:57

sending DMs and pings and

3:59

emotions. G-enhanced words to those

4:01

outside our network, hoping to

4:03

make a connection, struggling to

4:05

regain some semblance of the magic

4:07

we once experienced while plugged into

4:09

this globe-straddling network of wonders that

4:12

is now perceived as a

4:14

little more than a public utility. I

4:16

think it's wonderful that these tools

4:19

have become in many societies so

4:21

ubiquitous that we can afford to take

4:23

them for granted. I also

4:25

think it's remarkable that they've become such an

4:27

integral part of social interactions that

4:30

it's difficult to draw a line

4:32

between real-world relationships and those

4:34

that exist online, in-app,

4:37

on-platform. These tools

4:40

give us powers if we

4:42

choose to acknowledge them as such. But

4:45

in order to fully benefit from

4:47

these heightened abilities, we have to

4:49

lay out guidelines, set

4:51

limits. Like any good

4:53

relationship, we have to notice the

4:55

big picture, take a good long look

4:58

at ourselves and be honest about what

5:00

we need and what we don't want. We

5:03

have to identify which aspects of this

5:05

cybernetic future make sense for our goals,

5:08

for our next steps, and

5:10

which are just gimmicks that keep us

5:12

engaged in measurable ways so that

5:15

some business entity can make more

5:17

advertising revenue from your attention. In

5:20

practice, this means identifying how

5:23

you're currently interacting with technology

5:25

and working through your options. Chances

5:28

are, your devices have

5:31

all kinds of notification silencers and app-specific

5:34

switches you've never flipped.

5:37

On your phone, on your computer, on

5:39

your tablet, on your smartwatch, explore

5:42

these options. Throw some

5:44

digital levers. If you're

5:47

anything like me, you'll find at least one

5:49

that stops your device from doing that annoying

5:51

thing you've always felt too busy to figure

5:53

out how to stop. You

5:55

can play with other knobs and buttons while

5:57

you're there to see what options you have.

6:00

that you never considered before. Change

6:02

your ringtone. Turn it off maybe.

6:05

Set a time period each day for it to be

6:07

absolutely silent. The

6:09

robots haven't taken over yet. Exercise

6:13

your authority over them while you

6:15

can. This is also

6:17

a good time to assess what your gadgets

6:19

could be doing for you that they currently

6:21

aren't. Your devices can

6:23

serve as gatekeepers for your attention

6:26

if you let them. Figure out

6:28

which means of communication is the

6:30

most practical and the least stressful

6:32

for your day and demeanor, and

6:35

make that the most ideal option for

6:37

others to use. I

6:39

hate receiving phone calls, for instance. One

6:42

way to keep people from calling you is to set

6:45

up a voicemail box that makes it

6:47

clear that you're far more likely to respond

6:49

to email in a timely fashion. Set

6:52

your defaults and limits to something ideal,

6:55

then allow the world to reshape itself

6:57

around you and your needs rather

6:59

than the other way around. It's

7:02

important not to let this sit

7:04

by the wayside undone. We

7:06

have all of this power, much of it

7:08

unused, and many of us are

7:11

allowing it to eat us alive. We

7:14

allow these augmented relationships we have

7:16

with each other, with the world,

7:18

with the whole of human knowledge, to

7:21

shape us in ways that leave

7:23

us rattled and scattered and worried

7:26

that we'll miss an important notification

7:28

about whatever. In

7:31

almost every case, these notifications

7:34

are not important. They don't

7:36

warrant the stress we've allotted them.

7:39

Do this now, or make

7:41

it part of a larger plan to reset to

7:43

zero if you have to. Either

7:46

way, make yourself aware of

7:48

your vast powers, assess which

7:50

of your needs are not being served, and

7:53

embrace the full scope of

7:55

your cybernetic capabilities. Utilize

7:58

your customization might. There's

8:00

no reason these tools should be using you. Retake

8:04

control of your digital life, and be

8:06

a serf no longer to the authoritarian

8:09

pings that have come to negatively sway

8:11

your day. You

8:17

just listened to the post titled, Set

8:19

Your Defaults, by calling right

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of exilelifestyle.com, and I'll

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be right back with my commentary. When

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