7 ways to find your frequency in a world full of noise
From endless life hacks to repetitive algorithmic recommendations, the internet has never been louder. But what's worth tuning into?
Words by Tiarna
Looks-maxxing. Dopamine detoxing. Microdosing. There’s never been a better time to become your “best self”, apparently. The path to ultimate self-optimisation seems to be coming at us from all directions. You’ll just need to get through the five-step nighttime routine, a 2% retinoid, protein-packed everything, a droning self-help podcast, a Baltic cold-plunge, and it’s practically within reach. On the other side beckons your final form, with a bone-broth-produced glow, a screen time measured in minutes and a perfectly reset nervous system.
The internet has become an oversubscribed forum for unsolicited life advice. Some of it promises a better body, better relationships and even better taste. We’re told what hot new series to watch, which bakeries we should join the queue for, and which underground artist is “up next”. Visit a new city and your feed is immediately flooded with “hidden gems”. Watch a film and you’re expected to have a take posted up online before the credits have finished rolling. There seems to be a cultural obsession with having everything recommended, ranked and reviewed.
None of this is bad in itself. Some of the best discoveries come from exactly this kind of thing. The internet deserves some kudos for its ability to put us on to our next favourite thing. But when everyone else is shouting directions, it's hard to know which route you actually wanted to take in the first place.
Throwing your phone into the abyss, wiping your social grid, moving to Australia and touching grass probably isn't the answer either. The problem isn't the internet itself, it's feeling like you have to keep up with all of it. That’s what Wet Leg's Rhian Teasdale explores in our latest Not A Passenger campaign: how do you stay connected to yourself when there are so many other voices telling you what to be?
1. Find your own corner of the internet
The internet doesn’t have to be an endless stream of whatever the algorithm thinks will keep you scrolling. (The ‘Not Interested’ function is your best friend here). Find the corners of the internet that actually speak to you: follow the local-scene music blog with outdated graphics, the content creator with <1000 subs or the niche shitposting accounts. It can be cliché to use the word community these days, but the internet is full of it. You can be more connected than ever with people who finished the same book as you, you can find a million edits of the same two footballers you’re obsessed with or connect with someone going solo to a rave. Once you realise the internet is a massive chasm, and we’re all focused on a pit of slop, it becomes more of a challenge to climb out of it.
2. Self-optimisation is a bottomless pit
There will always be another habit to stack onto your morning, another supplement to order or another podcast promising to unlock a better version of yourself. While self improvement can be a good thing, treating yourself like a never-ending project is a quick route to never feeling finished. There’s always another level to reach, another thing to optimise. Repeat after me: we are not beta versions.
3. Make room for boredom
We didn’t want to bring brain rot into this, but sometimes the problem really is that damn phone. Not every moment of your time needs to be filled. It’s easy to be constantly transfixed on a screen (or two) for most of your day. Making room for boredom in your life gives room for your own thoughts, and this is needed if you want creativity to surface. So raw dog a bus ride every so often or stand in a queue without scrolling. Sometimes the best ideas arrive when you’re not consuming anything at all.
4. Learn to listen
Streaming has made it easier than ever to listen to anything, but it's also made it easier to skip everything. Instead of jumping to whatever the algorithm has lined up next, sit with an album from start to finish. Give things time to happen before deciding whether they're worth your attention. The same goes for any media. Not everything needs a hook that grabs you immediately to be worth staying with.
5. Do something and don’t tell anyone about it
Not everything needs to become content. Pick up a hobby because you enjoy it, not because
it could become a side project, a streak or something to post. Go climbing, draw badly, pick
up an instrument. We’re living in a moment where experiences often feel incomplete until
they’ve been documented. Read a book without adding it to Goodreads. Go for a run without uploading it to Strava. Watch a film without immediately rating it on Letterboxd. Some things become more enjoyable when they stay yours. Not everything needs proof that it happened.
6. Stop chasing the next thing
There’s a cultural pressure to always be ahead. To find the new restaurant before it gets unbookable, the underground artist before they blow up, the trend before everyone else catches on. But constantly chasing the next thing can make everything feel disposable real quick. You don’t have to be the first person to discover something, and you definitely don’t have to wait until it comes back around in twenty years to enjoy it again.
7. Own your world
Before algorithms, trends and recommendations started shaping our tastes, you already had your own instincts. This isn’t a call to reject everything the internet has to suggest, it’s about knowing what deserves your attention. Owning your world means staying in the driver's seat instead of becoming a passenger princess to every opinion, trend or recommendation that comes your way.