I recently moved and have been surrounding myself with very different people from before. I am much happier this way, when I avoid people from before I moved. I imagine it is a bit like how recovering drug addicts should avoid their old friends (though that must be much worse than my situation).

My theory is that I will feel better if people from before don't contact me, and people from before are less likely to contact me if they forget about me, and it is easier for them to forget about me if they can't find me on the internet. Inconveniently, I used to be somewhat public on the internet. Also, sometimes it is most practical to contact people from before, and I need to keep track of the alternative identities.

I came up with some techniques for separating my selves, but I don't really know whether they work. Do you have ideas for people like me? I will present some of what I do and then invite discussion from other attendees.