Spend Time AloneĪccording to the research Newport describes, our society has vastly increased its anxiety as solitude decreases.Īn entire chapter is spent describing the benefits and practices around solitude (I’m a big fan - I spent much of last summer’s weekends solo hiking and wandering around the woods and I never slept better or had more time to think deeply). For the majority, it was either a failure to plan how to spend their free time, or a lack of creating a mindset of making a permanent change. Those who failed to complete the 30 days had implementation problems, writes Newport. After 30 days, reintroduce optional technologies intentionally (this step reminded me of the reintroduction phase of Whole30, or any elimination diet). Rediscover hobbies, activities, and behaviors you enjoy and find meaningful.ģ. Spend 30 days on a break from optional technologies in your life to find the optional tech in your life, “consider the technology optional unless its temporary removal would harm or significantly disrupt the daily operation of your professional or personal life.”Ģ. The digital declutter as Newport puts it has three steps.ġ. In the second chapter, you’ll find the first step on the path to digital minimalism. Step Away from the Phone (aka Digital Detox) And, the constant capturing pulls me out of the moment and makes me feel compulsive-and act-compulsive. I just have to snag a picture of the poke bowl in front of me, or the funny sign I walked by, or the person carrying a belly-up sleeping bulldog on the train.Īt the end of the day, what am I building? A disappearing timeline of trivial events instead of a meaningful body of work or closer friendships. When I’m using the app a lot, I whip my phone out an embarrassing number of times. And, we have to consider the other downsides of Instagram. ![]() Spending time together, whether in person or with a phone call fosters a closer friendship (and has all the positive hormones associated with human interaction). Newport would argue I’m substituting true connection with quick hits of social satisfaction from likes and comments.Īnd I would mostly agree. If I claim to use Instagram because I feel connected to my friends when we comment on each other’s posts or send messages after viewing Instastories, then this particular app is OK to use, right? Instead of swearing off of Instagram just because, Newport says you should follow a philosophy.īecause if you tie your philosophy to your values, it’s easier to see why you should change certain behaviors if they don’t align. Follow a Philosophyĭigital Minimalism: A philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimized activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else.īy arguing technology use requires a philosophy, Newport is at odds with the majority of tech writers-who he uses as examples-who treat social media and tech usage as something to hack. social media is a crappy substitute for actual friendship, which Newport defines (with research to back him up) as a bond fostered through real, human interaction (including phone calls, but not text messages). Which means, you end up with a fragmented, unsatisfied life.Īnd p.s. No mental space = limited creativity and minimal deep thinking.Ī lack of deep thinking = limited personal growth Our phones and apps are, by design, addictive attention-suckers.Īnxiety and social media use go hand-in-hand.īy filling our in-between time, like commutes or in conversation pauses, or while waiting in line at the store, with burying our faces in our phones, we lose the ability to be alone with our thoughts. ![]() The gist, which you won’t find surprising if you read The New York Times or any other major publication, is that: ![]() That said, I enjoyed the reminder to be wary of technology, and the additional research and philosophy Digital Minimalism provided. I simply have followed this beat for too long. As someone who teeters on the cusp of chucking technology out the window and retreating to the woods to live like Anne LaBastille, I didn’t find many fresh takes in Cal Newport’s writing.
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