Many studies demonstrate that we cannot rely on mere ‘willpower’ to govern our attention.

Willpower is an individualistic myth. The study of ego-depletion demonstrates that we have a limited cognitive reserve.

“Willpower is for people who are still uncertain about what they want to do.” — Helia

Instead, like all creatures, we must curate our environment to support our objectives.

In my case, this happens in the digital world more than in the physical world. In the physical world, my necessities are very simple — somewhere to eat, sleep, wash, clean my clothes, house reading material, suitable lighting and furniture, with enough floorspace to stretch out and storage for single-use possessions (admittedly a challenge in London).

However, in the digital world I need to govern my environment more carefully. As Matthew Crawford in the New York Times memorably wrote in 2015:

Our self-appointed disrupters have opened up a new frontier of capitalism, complete with its own frontier ethic: to boldly dig up and monetize every bit of private head space by appropriating our collective attention. In the process, we’ve sacrificed silence — the condition of not being addressed. And just as clean air makes it possible to breathe, silence makes it possible to think.

Whilst I continue to despair over the appropriation of our attention spaces in the physical environment (the subject of Crawford’s article), I’m not sure people are aware of the availability of tools which allow us to govern our attention more carefully on the web.

We are entering into a world where it is inadvisable to withdraw entirely from using these services, as the majority of the services we depend upon are relocated online. We are left with few desirable options. Do you retreat to the wilderness, or do you structure your environment to better support your objectives?

Dark Patterns

After working formerly as a web developer, I am grateful to have entered the digital world with an understanding of ‘Dark Patterns’.

Digital design is somewhat different from static/print design in that users navigate the page using more than just their eyes. Unlike print, where users eyes move in a relatively straightforward, zigzagging manner, users of the web move in a non-linear capacity, dropping and out through relevant links. Savvy web users will take the first step of managing their attention carefully: staying on a landing page and clicking links into new tabs, to be read later. However, this is but a toe in the water towards managing your attention carefully on the internet.

‘Dark patterns’ are tricks used in digital design to trick users into doing things. One researcher, Harry Brignull, created a site devoted to explaining these user interfaces. There remains an active chronicle on Twitter devoted to shaming these practices.

However, I’ve developed a few techniques which allow me to get around these deceptive experiences. Google is one of the largest purveyors of these patterns, and where possible I use alternative products. However, there are some products which have amassed such ubiquity that they are difficult to avoid.

Websites are layers of elements, which can, with a little skill, be manipulated to a user’s will. As soon as you understand this, you’ll realise where those distracting elements are, and remove them permanently. You will give yourself back your time and control your environment.

Stripping away dark patterns with adblockers

Now, you might say, “I’ve heard of adblockers. I have one installed”.

Yes, but have you ever taught the adblocker to recognize an ad? Adblockers are like ‘HTML chisels’ — they can be taught to strip out whatever you like.

Stripping away ‘dark patterns’ within web services is an intelligent way of preserving your attention. The trick is to recognize the moments when you are habitually led astray. Much in the same way that you put something that distracts you on top of the cupboard when you don’t want it to be in easy reach, you can very simply ensure that you are not lulled into the dark patterns of the web which suit opportunistic business models, but waste your time and energy.

Some may dispute the ethics of adblockers. I will not engage in a media revenue generation discussion here — that’s for another article — but it is worth consideration that at this point there are currently no ad-free options to the services I’ve listed here. Moreover, I am not talking specifically about stripping ads — I’m talking about stripping away the doorways and highways to distracting content which robs us of our time.

The Rabbit Hole

Let us take Youtube as an example. Here’s my Youtube homepage, logged in, with my customised feed and distractions abound.

It appears to be comedy and news that I’m a sucker for [along with classic Al Pacino]. Comedy is of course primed for video distraction — it releases immediate, discernible endorphins, and we’re all prone to needing a pick-me-up in the middle of the day. The majority of the time, I’ve logged onto YouTube with the best intentions, for an instruction video or something similarly constructive. I’m not a binger by nature [hence my writing of this post], but we are all made weaker by dubious ‘related’ content. Like many I’m forever astonished and appalled at my ceaseless appetite for ‘input.’

Input

Of course, you can turn on an adblocker which will remove that enormous Mercedes video ad from the top of the page. But what about all the other distractions? Inevitably, I’m going to be attracted to one of the algorithmic recommendations listed. “Just one”, I’ll say. Bit-by-bit, my time will be gone.

Instead, I’ve stripped out the feed entirely:

The result is a distraction-free page. Oddly, it resembles Google. A search bar and nothing more, serving me results on demand.

Consider this: if you walked up to a friend with a question or request, and before you opened your mouth, they began rapidly listing suggestions that you might want to hear about, would you consider them helpful? Or life-enhancing? I once had friends like this. They’re no longer my friends.*

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Many adblockers facilitate this service, but my personal choice is uBlock as it seems to be the most straightforward and uncompromised by commercial interest. After installing the extension, you right-click and select Block element . Normally, you can select the element you want to destroy, and it will go away.

This element was particularly difficult. Youtube carefully ensures that divs (boxes in which web content is delivered) are grouped to make this painful; in the end I got there. Here’s the selector that you want:

www.youtube.com###page-manager > .ytd-page-manager.style-scope:nth-of-type(1) > .ytd-browse.style-scope:nth-of-type(1)

IMPORTANT: By default, uBlock will only apply the block to that particular page. However, by going into Settings > My filters, and deleting everything after .com/ and replacing it with .com/* , you will force it on every page.

I achieved this by running through the dropdown boxes (uBlock helpfully lists the hierarchy of elements on the page) to find the offending divs, and previewing as I went. By supplying you with the above code I’ve saved you the time so you don’t have to go through that. Fret not — your search results will return just as they always did.

An even greater offender, where it is possible to lose the majority of a users time, is on the video pages themselves. Google recently made ‘Autoplay’ a default setting, and I’m going to assume that if you’re concerned about your attention enough to read this, you’ve already switched it off.

But the bigger offenders sit on the right-hand side — the ‘related’ videos which, in our moments of weakness, we cannot ignore.

They have to go.

I’ve also stripped out the comments. Often I am merely despairing at the dregs of humanity which vomit out their diatribes; but they also are grounds for distraction. People do make positive or thoughtful contributions in Youtube comments. But whilst doing this I asked myself — “what are the 5 greatest Youtube comments you’ve ever read?”

I couldn’t name any.

https://www.youtube.com/* www.youtube.com###comments

https://www.youtube.com/* www.youtube.com###items

And they’re gone.

“Oh no” you say — “but the video will end, and then I will be served 12 more relevant videos, and my journey down the rabbit hole will continue”.

Well, I have an answer to that too.

https://www.youtube.com/* www.youtube.com##.ytp-endscreen-content

I have successfully governed my user journey on Youtube to Search > Results > Video > Done. Each and every time, I am suggested nothing during the video as a form of a diversion.

I leave the site a free man, my sense of purpose intact.