# I put a gatekeeper at the door

- Author: Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz (@mfurkanyilmazzz)
- Canonical: https://furkanmind.com/en/mind/gatekeeper-at-the-door
- Status: Testing (testing)
- Topic: Focus and attention (https://furkanmind.com/en/topics/odak-ve-dikkat)
- Published: 2026-10-11
- Updated: 2026-10-11
- Language: en (translated from tr)
- License: CC BY 4.0
- Note: AI translation of Furkan's Turkish original (Claude via MCP) — not yet reviewed.

## Thesis

Running away from technology doesn't last. Focus isn't about fighting what distracts you, it's about deciding who stands at the door.

## Summary

## From shutting the door to posting a gatekeeper

In 2014 I sold my smartphone, switched to a keypad phone and closed all my social media accounts. I was 19. I'll admit part of it was trying to be a bit marginal. People found it very strange back then.

Two books had influenced me: Guy Debord's **The Society of the Spectacle** (1967) and Neil Postman's **Technopoly** (1992). Both described how a culture was built through television and managed through specific perceptions. They were written without knowing today, yet they fit the phone in my hand perfectly. After reading them I realised I couldn't develop my own thinking. I was sliding deeper into a copied system of thought.

After giving up the phone I started building face-to-face relationships. I met my wife in that period too, face to face, five or six months after I quit the phone.

## Running away didn't last

At the end of 2015 I had to go back to a smartphone for work. I didn't reopen my personal accounts until 2018. Running away completely worked, but it didn't last. Especially in a big city, cutting yourself off from technology isn't possible.

The real problem is that the war is invisible. There is no one in front of you forcing you to do anything. There is a system saying "give me all your focus". It is an occupation of focus, an occupation of the mind.

## 2019: I stopped following the news

I haven't followed the news since 2019. The news makes you feel part of a group, and at the same time it makes you feel you have lots of problems that aren't yours. It keeps the mind in fight-or-flight mode all the time. If something actually concerns me, my wife, Kemal or my brother tells me anyway.

## Today: the gatekeeper at the door

- Every morning at 09:00 a bulletin arrives, prepared in Turkish by AI on topics I chose (AI, sociology, philosophy, parenting…). I read it in 15-20 minutes. I don't miss what's happening, and I'm not run by it either.
- Most of my notifications are off. On social media only Threads replies are on.
- While working, my phone is fully on Do Not Disturb.
- I write down everything that comes to mind: paper, Notes, or a WhatsApp message to myself.

Instead of shutting the door, I put a gatekeeper at the door.

## Distributions

- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aE4zbX7AaE — views 0, likes 0, replies 0
- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_d5iaZk3wVc — views 0, likes 0, replies 0
- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xonBX9fYTkQ — views 0, likes 0, replies 0
- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfUB0xSrZQc — views 0, likes 0, replies 0
- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcfaORraMjE — views 0, likes 0, replies 0
- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qF31bjkEXQ — views 0, likes 0, replies 0
- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj92IrqtlKo — views 0, likes 0, replies 0
- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFqBnB4MTQ8 — views 0, likes 0, replies 0
- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9S6MslEe2o — views 0, likes 0, replies 0
- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PktqTEqqJLk — views 0, likes 0, replies 0
- YouTube @Muhammed Furkan Yılmaz: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei3mP-wosyI — views 3, likes 1, replies 0

## Linked nodes

- → related → Open tabs: the focus disease of the AI era (acik-sekmeler-yapay-zeka-caginin-odak-hastaligi): Running five or six jobs at once with AI feels like power, but it turns into being inside none of them, while the thing that actually adds value is depth. — https://furkanmind.com/en/mind/open-tabs-the-focus-disease-of-the-ai-era
- → related → Boredom therapy: 626 minutes of doing nothing (sikilma-terapisi-626-dakika-hicbir-sey-yapmamak): When I sit long enough to get bored, with no outside input at all, my mind first cleans up, then it produces. — https://furkanmind.com/en/mind/boredom-therapy-626-minutes-of-doing-nothing