How to Eliminate the “Noise” of Life
Despite the crazy times we live in, the world doesn’t stop. If you’re not intentional in how you’re living your life, the tumultuous news cycles, social media, and every other facet of life will drive you crazy.
The good news is, you can become intentional about eliminating the chatter and “noise” of life and live a peaceful, purposeful existence.
If you’re sick of the “noise” and want to live a more intentional life, I’ve got you. Let’s discuss how to eliminate the “noise” of life.
How to Eliminate the “Noise” of Life
The News
Back before the inception of social media and smart phones, and even further back, before the internet, if you wanted to access the news, you had to pick up a newspaper or turn on your local television station during the hour they aired the news.
Those were the days. News wasn’t a 24/7 stream you had access to in the palm of your hand (your smartphone). You also didn’t have to deal with the constant chatter surrounding the news on social media and blog commenters.
You could just read or watch the news, formulate your own opinion on it, and carry on. Any conversation had about current events had to be done face-to-face with other people.
Nowadays, you can’t even tap your smartphone screen without seeing news alerts, or opening social media apps without the opinions and commentary of your social media following (and we’ll get into more regarding social media next).
But the news isn’t going anywhere, and it takes intentional action to block, or at least subdue, the “noise” of this 24/7 news stream we now live in.
Now, don’t mistake me here-I think blocking out the news entirely and simply not caring what is going on in the world is an ignorant choice. Current events do matter and they impact our lives greatly, to say the least.
What I’m suggesting is you find a way to consume the news without letting it create non-stop chatter in your brain. This chatter serves as distraction that keeps you from intentional, purposeful living.
For example, I tend to consume the news from just a few sources-mostly podcasts-but I avoid local news station social media pages. If I want to seek out a specific piece of news locally I will, but otherwise I generally avoid local news programming because it’s generally about events out of my control and commenters arguing back and forth, which is a huge waste of time.
Access the news via a few outlets, but then nip the rest in the bud. The goal is to be informed, but not inundated, with the news.
Related:
- How to Manage Your Media Consumption
- Using Selectivity to Transform Your Life
- How to Make Better Decisions
Social Media
There are pros and cons to social media. Staying in touch with friends and family has never been easier.
When I was in middle school and my best friend moved to Texas, we’d write each other letters or talk on the phone to stay connected. This was back in the mid-90’s before the internet took off.
All this to say, there are definite benefactors to social media. Unfortunately, the majority of people are addicted to social media whether they realize it or not.
It is considered normal to tag yourself at the restaurant you’re at and post a picture of your food (while ignoring your dinner guest), upload pictures of yourself on the regular, and post about your every little annoyance.
And then there’s the people who share their dirty laundry and drama. The people who are constantly starting arguments over politics and the news (see above!). And those who are unfulfilled in their personal life or hiding the truth of their life, so they post how “happy” they are to try to justify to the public all is well in an attempt to create an image based on a lie.
Here are some rules I live by regarding social media:
First off, I never check my social media accounts in the morning. I used to, but I don’t anymore. Why? Because what kind of tone does that set for your day when you immediately jump into the lives of others and all that chatter? All the negativity and drama? It’s overwhelming, and it’s not the way you want to start your day.
Instead, I follow through with my morning routine which involves no contact with other people (other than my husband) until I log in for work. Eventually, later on in the day I’ll open my social media accounts and check notifications.
Which leads me to the next rule I follow: I’ve had my social media notification pop-ups disabled for years. I can’t recommend this enough. You’ll eliminate some of the urge to open your apps just by disabling notification pop-ups.
I also am very particular in the content I post and the frequency of posting. As I write this, I haven’t posted anything on Facebook in nearly two months, and prior to this I was posting just a few times a month. Usually when I post it is to share pets available for adoption, a funny, non-offensive meme, or inspirational content meant to lift others up.
Understanding you don’t need to use social media to justify your life or document your every thought or experience is to have evolved and elevated your life.
I urge you to practice living “off the grid” and living in the moment instead of having to document every facet of your life. Practice not opening your social media apps first thing in the morning. Maybe you need to practice not opening them at all until you break the habit of mindlessly doing so. I promise you, breaking your addiction to social media will greatly improve your life.
Related:
- Bad Social Media Habits You Need to Stop
- 5 Ways to Unplug from Social Media
- How to Create an Awesome Day
Purposeless, Unfulfilling Anything
Anything you don’t find purpose, fulfillment, and joy in needs to go.
This applies to extra-curricular activities, obligations, relationships, habits, media consumption, and more.
If you find yourself engaged in activities or relationships that don’t elevate the quality of your life, why are you wasting your time on them?
This is why I strongly advocate for using a paper planner or digital calendar. When you schedule out how you’re spending your time, you can audit each activity and if it’s truly serving you or bringing purpose to your life.
Life is too short not to engage in purposeful and fulfilling experiences!
That bake sale you felt guilted into helping out at is adding unnecessary “noise” to your life, as is spending time with that old friend from college you grew apart from who you only see out of a sense of obligation.
But these are just a few of many possible examples.
On the other hand, maybe at one point a certain relationship or experience did bring you purpose, but it no longer does.
I listen to several podcasts, and I recently unfollowed a few of them after being a loyal listener the last several years. Why? I just didn’t feel they served me anymore, and to continue listening to them just added noise and clutter to my mind.
Another personal example of mine is I was a part of a local community for several years, and a few years ago, I’d reached a place in life where the community no longer served me, so I decided to quietly part ways while pursing a different community that fulfilled the purpose the other community used to.
The goal of all this is to seek out experiences, relationships, and moments that don’t add “noise” and distraction to your life but instead give every day purpose.
Related:
- How to Create New Beliefs Using Your Calendar
- 11 Habits that Make You Unhappy
- How to Say No to People and Yes to Your Life
Before You Go
You don’t have to live your life a victim of the news, social media, or experiences and relationships that no longer serve you.
It’s time to start living an intentional life.
Life is too short to allow the chatter and “noise” of the world to impact the quality of your life.