Book review: Digital Minimalism
A timely and practical book on reclaiming our attention
This is a review (& book summary) of “Digital Minimalism — Choosing a Focused Life In a Noisy World” by Cal Newport.
I’ve never had a comfortable relationship with my phone. Social media, in particular, has amplified my anxiety and stress to a great extent. The distracting world of the internet pulled my attention constantly, leaving me unable to focus and out of control. Soon I was on my phone all the time, becoming an insatiable information addict. I felt utterly miserable most days and spent the past few years searching for ways to better handle my relationship with tech.
The first thing I noticed was that I wasn’t alone in my struggles. Many feel overwhelmed with the new hyperconnected world. Few want to spend so much time online, but tools like social media and apps have a way of cultivating behavioral addictions.
‘Sean Parker, the first president of Facebook, has called the platform a “social-validation feedback loop” built around “exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.” Tristan Harris, who worked as a “design ethicist” at Google, has said that smartphones are engineered to be addictive.’
This book is a must-read for anyone trying to take control of their digital life and become more productive.
What is ‘Digital Minimalism’
The core concept of minimalism is “living with less”. It’s about knowing how much is “enough” and getting rid of the excess. Applying to our online lives, Cal Newport says, when it comes to technology, less almost certainly is better. He defines Digital Minimalism as follows —
“It is 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.”
It’s not about rejecting tech or deleting apps from our phones. Instead, it’s about being mindful of our tech usage and figuring out what motivates us to use those tools so much in the first place.
Getting into the minimalist mindset
Evaluate the need for every digital tool/service in your life by asking yourself the following questions:
- Does the tool serve any purpose that I value?
- If it does, is it the best tool available for that purpose?
- How can I optimize the tool to make sure I extract most value while minimizing all the noise and “attention traps” it’s filled with?
These questions are worth exploring, even if you’re not ready for a radical change of philosophy in your life.
The 30 days digital declutter
Newport notes, “willpower, tips and vague resolutions are not sufficient by themselves to tame the ability of new technologies to invade your cognitive landscape.”
What he proposes instead is a “30 days digital declutter” program to snap out of the addiction cycles. The process is outlined as follows:
- Set aside a thirty-day period where you will take a break from optional technologies (don’t confuse “convenient” with “critical” — select wisely).
- During your break, rediscover hobbies or interests you find meaningful or fulfill you deeply.
- At the end of the break, carefully reintroduce a handful of technologies back into your life after evaluating how much value it adds to your life and how you will use it to maximize that value.
Newport also presents the declutter experiences of various people and summarises their conclusions. He also cautions us about various pitfalls that may hinder our experiment and offer planning tips.
Adapting the digital minimalist lifestyle
Spend time alone
There’s an entire chapter dedicated to this, and it’s one of my favorites. Newport discovers a slightly different definition for solitude, one that’s pertinent to the current times — “Solitude is a state where you’re completely free from inputs from any external sources”. The key here is to spend time alone with your thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
Reclaim your leisure time
When you manage to protect yourself from distractions, you’re left with an ample amount of time on your hands for leisure activities. The key here is to replace the time with meaningful activities, otherwise, it’s just the same. Newport suggests turning to more hands-on and physically demanding tasks when possible.
Join the ‘attention resistance’
“Extracting eyeball minutes, the key resource for companies like Google and Facebook, have become significantly more lucrative than extracting oil.” — Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism
Attention resistance is a movement that gained momentum in recent years. It advocates a ruthless commitment to avoiding exploitation by the attention economy. It’s core belief is — “only you get to decide what’s worthy of your attention”.
I’ve started my internet cleanse a few weeks ago and I can already see a visible improvement in my focus and attention. It feels good to experience an increasing sense of comfort and peace from within. Following Newport’s advice, I’ve also formulated a set of rules around tech usage to prevent me from falling back into my old habits. What I realized is, when it comes to online habits, there’s no right or wrong way of doing things, so let’s do whatever we gotta do to thrive in life.
