Dear Manoush: The Advice Episode

You send us a lot of questions about managing tech-life. This week, Manoush has the answers.  

Is there a secret to managing the overload of information coming at us every day? What about all those random accounts you’ve signed up for over the years - can we EVER make them go away? And how do we stay plugged in with friends and family if we decide to break up with social media? It’s the first-ever Note to Self advice show.

WE HAVE LINKS

While researching this show we compiled a list of tools to help you manage information overload and your digital privacy, and ditch FOMO for JOMO.

Setting an information goal.

Manoush has some tips for resetting how you read, post, and browse online. No need to feel icky about Instagram. But when discipline and diligence don’t work out, it’s okay to seek help. Our favorites: airplane mode (sorry), Moment for iOS, Freedom, and Self Control. Also, try some DIY adjustments to your app permissions - turn off your cellular data for Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and you can’t browse when you’re out and about. Oh, also check out Infomagical - a week’s worth of challenges, with Manoush’s moral support, to help you manage infomania.

Bonus: Manoush recommends some of her favorite newsletters in the show. What makes it past her info-management threshold? The Ann Friedman Weekly, Axios, Quartzy, REDEF, and Dave Pell’s Next Draft.

Reclaiming your digital self.

Digital privacy matters - even if you don’t have something to hide. That’s why we dedicated a whole project to it last year: The Privacy Paradox. Good for first timers, and even worth a refresher.

Other things the team loves:

from the EFF, a tool to help you track what’s tracking you online
Deseat.me, to delete the random accounts you’ve accumulated over the years
DeleteMe, a service you can pay to opt you out of data brokers
Julia Angwin’s DIY guide/report on opting out of over 200 data brokers
and JustDelete.me, to find the cancellation pages for the services you’ve signed up for.

Bonuses: our friend Mike Rogers, the developer we mention in the show, made a Chrome extension for JustDelete.me, and it’s open source. We also found this page, where Facebook lists the data brokers it buys from and provides their opt-out pages. Pretty helpful.    

Also, we mention the quest for a perfect oatmeal cookie recipe in this episode, and how opening your phone for that can send you down a rabbit hole. So, to save you that one hunt, here.

Is there a secret solution to information overload? Can random accounts ever truly be erased? How do I stay connected if I break up with social media? It’s Manoush’s brain, distilled into actionable pearls of wisdom. Plus, meet the woman behind the Note to Self inbox.

Read the full list of tips and services we discuss in the episode. Including Manoush's favorite newsletters, and a killer oatmeal cookie recipe.

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