Digital Minimalism

On Living Better with Less Technology

Cal Newport

information technology internet producitivity self help psychology

Book Description

The key to living well in a high tech world is to spend much less time using technology. In recent years, our culture's relationship with personal technology has transformed from something exciting into something darker. Innovations like smartphones and social media are useful, but many of us are increasingly troubled by how much control these tools seem to exert over our daily experiences – including how we spend our free time and how we feel about ourselves. In Digital Minimalism, Newport proposes a bold solution: a minimalist approach to technology use in which you radically reduce the time you spend online, focusing on a small set of carefully-selected activities while happily ignoring the rest.

Recap

Digital Minimalism, by Cal Newport, focused on applying the ideals of the minimalism moment to a chaotic, digital world. I picked this up as a continuation of my interest and focus on achieving a happier life. Cal would use the phrase "deep life." Digital minimalism isn't about technological luddite, so much as it is about spending our limited time on higher areas of return. This really further highlights that our time on this Earth and specifically our time is a zero sum game.

Through anecdotal experiences, and storytelling Cal explores both sides of the trade we've all made in giving up our time and attention to exist in a state of constant inter-connectivity. Digital Minimalism is not the cutting edge research nor is it meant to be a definitive how-to guide. It served much better as a thought provoking read, offering more of general direction and speed at which changes could yield a positive impact.

Takeaways

Moments of quiet reflection are important for deep, meaningful thought
- times of solitude should be embraced, not drowned out with smart phones
- "solitude is about what's happening in your brain, not the environment around you"
- this is why shower thoughts are likely a thing
introduces concepts of digital minimalism
- 1. clutter is costly
- 1. optimization is important
- 1. intentionality is satisfying
references a wonder article: Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation by from the Atlantic
Digitalism distracts us from being active
- "The sedentary life is the very sin against the Holy Spirit" - Nietzsche
downtime is important in process deep and social information
- restorative downtime is different than zoning out on a phone
being social is critical for a healthy, functioning human
- social media gives a faux approximation of social interactions
- social media tricks us into feeling social, while not engaging our brain as much as real social activity
- human evolved this way over millennium
- research has found a high correlation between social media use and the feeling of loneliness