Ctrl + Alt + Del

I recently watched a YouTube video and came across the Ctrl + Alt + Del framework. It helped me to see Ctrl + Alt + Del outside of the computer world. And here are my thoughts on this framework and how I approach it in 2026.

Control what you consume

The surefire way to gain followers, fame and money in 2025 was to create ‘Rage Bait’ content. Even Kapwing’s research validates the rise in consumption due to brain rot videos. From kids to adults, everyone was updated with the current rage bait reels.

I have used two techniques to overcome this. Firstly, I have enabled screen time for Instagram and the app blocks itself after 15 minutes. And lastly, I have enabled greyscale mode on my phone to strip away all the colours and reduce mindless consumption. These small changes have reduced the cognitive load.

Now I either watch long-form infotainment content or totally avoid watching anything. So the algorithm no longer owns me.

Alter your preferences

Have you ever opened Instagram for 5 minutes and then ended up scrolling for an hour? You are trying to game the algorithm written by the best engineers. But they have way more resources than you do.

You can take on the role of a Feed Curator whose main purpose is to customise your feeds to your liking. By giving positive and negative feedback to the algorithm, you can completely change the content you will eventually see.

Think of the algorithm as a hamster on a wheel. Positive feedback makes it run harder, negative feedback makes it ease off. Try it and see.

Delete what’s stopping you

Everybody loves adding things to their life. But the most difficult part is to subtract, replace or delete something that no longer serves its purpose. Homo Sapiens tend to hoard things for future stability. But you forget that you can order anything in an instant and no longer need to hoard things.

Let’s do a small exercise. Open your phone’s app drawer and recollect when was the last time you accessed the apps. Most of the apps are there either for edge-case utility or due to memetic desires. But if there is a storage constraint, they will be the first to be deleted.

Then why don’t you follow the same principles for your beliefs, investments and relationships? If something is not making sense anymore, why do you still entertain them?

It’s time to clear the storage and redirect the cognitive load to build that side-project you skipped in 2025.