As we move in to an age of increasingly more connectedness, our personal space becomes much more sacred.  I have an abundance of digital “help,” from the smart security cameras at my house to my Google Home to my Hue lights to all of the various apps I use on a daily basis.  I’ve admittedly given up a percentage of my privacy in exchange for convenience, and that exchange opens me up to more and more advertising every day.

Pop ups, Facebook ads, YouTube videos, clickbait, and the lot – it’s almost an assault on my digital life, and it is all the direct result of me choosing to exist online.

I get it.

But I don’t have to participate in it.

So I’ve drawn a bit of a line in the sand, and I encourage you to do the same.

The other day a friend shared a link on Facebook to an “article” about a guy who built an 87-square-foot home.  I was curious because minimalism intrigues me. The link led to one of those slideshows that tells you the story piece by piece.

IT WAS 79 SLIDES LONG!

Seventy-nine clicks.

To see a house.

The size of a closet.

I finished it so I could write about it, and then I made a vow.

Now I have a pact with myself that I will not participate in such nonsense.  You are not allowed that much of my life in exchange for anything so trivial.  I’ve fallen in love with saying no to these new digital gods.

If you can’t tell the story on one page, I’m out. A YouTube commercial that doesn’t have a “Skip” option? Bye. Sign up to read this article? Kick rocks.  I don’t stand in Black Friday lines for the same reason.

Things have to earn my time and participation.  The next few days, pay attention to the invasive tendencies of the internet.  Practice saying no. Smile when you click the X at the top of the page.  You won’t miss whatever was there in the long run, and you can reclaim a bit of your time that they never earned in the first place.

Take what you save and spend it browsing flights with your favorite airline. Sure, they’re selling stuff too, but at least you’ll get your own story out of it.