the weight of wasted time and pseudo relationships.
we need to be mindful of the impact they can have on users’ lives.
promote active, meaningful engagement rather
when the first iPhone was launched in 2007, nobody would’ve predicted that, sixteen years later, the average American would check their phone up to 352 times a day. This was never part of the plan.
it’s practical to some extent. But also overwhelming. Paralyzing. Terrifying.
It’s the anxiety-inducing loss of control that came with these possibilities. And so, the goal of digital minimalism, as Newport suggests, isn’t as much to elevate usefulness as to regain autonomy.
the cumulative cost of the noncrucial things we clutter our lives with can far outweigh the small benefits each individual piece of clutter promises.”
had garnered many stray connections all over the globe. This double bind of needing to position myself on the “career market” and staying in touch with friends had gotten me thinking: maybe social media can genuinely add value to my life. I had also become less shy. Maybe everything will change if I switch from being a passive user to an active one. Spoiler: it didn’t work.
30-day period in which you forgo optional technologies (“optional” meaning that abstaining from these outlets won’t cause major harm to your personal or professional life).
discover non-digital pastimes you find satisfying and meaningful.
Sometimes, I would manage to live without social media — just to relapse into complete mayhem.
Screen #3: Can I bind the technology to operating constraints that leave me in control of when and how I use it?
Screen #1: Does this technology not just offer shallow benefits, but does it actually serve something I deeply value in life? Screen #2: Is this technology the best way I can serve this value, and if not, how can I replace it with something better? Screen #3: Can I bind the technology to operating constraints that leave me in control of when and how I use it?
While I had a rough idea of how I would use Instagram (and other social media) after the declutter, my obsessive part was so desperate
Most of the people I interacted with were loose connections, strayed all over the globe, for whom I had no strong desire to deepen the relationship in real life.
Social media is about having relationships rather than being in relationships.
“In the end, I just accepted the fact that I would miss some events in their [the participant’s friends] lives, but that this was worthwhile for the mental energy it would save me to not be on social media.”
Contrary to popular belief, solitude doesn’t require being isolated from other people, not necessarily. Instead, Newport argues — based on a definition from the book Lead Yourself First — that solitude is simply this: “… a subjective state in which your mind is free from input from other minds.”
This “input from other minds” can obviously be a conversation, but it can also include more subtle things, like listening to music, reading a book, and, of course,
This “input from other minds” can obviously be a conversation, but it can also include more subtle things, like listening to music, reading a book, and, of course, scrolling through your social media feed.
By reading Digital Minimalism, I noticed that I had been killing boredom and solitude for years.
running, walking, or cycling, I would blast music or podcasts. I would do everything, in other words, to avoid my own thoughts.
While running, walking, or cycling, I would blast music or podcasts. I would do everything, in other words, to avoid my own thoughts.
The endless flow of technological input doesn’t just rob me of creative and emotional insight. It also sabotages my mental health.
In Digital Minimalism, Newport concludes: “Simply put, our brains are not wired to be constantly wired.”
Every day, I would walk to a cafe to do my writing. Thirty minutes to get there, thirty minutes back. Ever since, longer walks (without my phone) have been idea incubators and dissolvents of writer’s block.
I changed my mind after discovering the “Bennett Principle” in Digital Minimalism. This says that the value we gain from leisure is proportional to the effort we invest. In other words, engaging activities (creative hobbies, exercise) provide far more relaxation than passive pleasures (doomscrolling social media, binge-watching).
