Brief Summary:Digital Minimalism starts with the premise that the devices meant to make your life better are actually making it worse.
Therefore, Cal Newport proposes a paradigm shift to remove or reduce technology that takes more than it gives.
Favorite Quote from Cal Newport
Digital Minimalism And The “Attention Resistance” Movement
Newport sets Digital Minimalism in the context of “Attention Resistance,” a larger cultural movement based on the idea that big tech companies are now in the “attention business.”
Much like newspapers used to do, they capture the attention of an audience and then sell that attention to advertisers. The more attention they capture, the greater the potential for profit.
As such, social media tycoons are being called out for intentionally making their products addictive.
The generation born between 1995 and 2012 (aka the “iGen”) never knew life without smartphones. They spend an average of nine hours a day checking them and have exhibited an alarming spike in anxiety, depression, and other mood disorders.
Frequent users of app-driven technology experience “solitude deprivation” — a lack of the quiet time necessary to process emotions.
Since the human brain wasn’t designed to process a Facebook “like” or texted Emoji as a meaningful social interaction, frequent users of social media paradoxically exhibit greater feelings of loneliness.
The cost of those products to mental health prompted Bill Maher in 2017 to refer to them as “the new Big Tobacco.”
Supporters of “Attention Resistance” respond by choosing outdated phones without app technology and restricting the functions of their PCs with blocking software like Freedom. Digital Minimalism builds on that idea.
3 Principles of Digital Minimalism
Digital Minimalism is grounded in three principles:
- clutter is costly
- optimization is important
- intentionality is satisfying
Newport views clutter through the lens of the Law of Diminishing Returns.
Two or three extra inputs from technology might enhance your life. Piling on ten or twenty more might give a little extra benefit while increasing the complexity of your life to unmanageable levels.
After all, these tools wouldn’t be popular if they didn’t serve a purpose.
The idea isn’t to get reactionary and burn every post-2009 piece of tech on principle. You just need to cut away what doesn’t serve you, and use what does in an intentional and manageable way.
There is an interesting comparison to the Amish. Supposed to be tech-phobic, the Amish are actually not opposed to technology. They carefully consider technological advances and embrace those that bolster their values, rejecting tech that undermines their values.
How To Implement Digital Minimalism
In that spirit, start a thirty-day digital declutter. This is not a tech “detox” with the intention to return, but a permanent reorganization of habits.
Based on the three principles of Digital Minimalism, each piece of technology in your life should be subjected to three questions.
Three Questions for an effective Digital Declutter
1. Does this technology support what I truly value in life?
If the answer is no, take steps to remove that technology.
If the answer is yes, move on to the second question:
2. Could some other technology or practice support that value better?
Maybe a phone call to a loved one instead of trading likes on Instagram? If the answer is still yes, move on to the third question:
3. How can I use this tool in a way that maximizes value and minimizes harm?
If Twitter is a necessary career tool, for example, maybe usage could be restricted to certain hours in a day.
1,600 participants in a thirty-day study of Digital Minimalism practices like these reported having more time for quality activities such as reading, exercise, learning, and face time with loved ones.
Digital Minimalism Summary Review
I was struck by how gradually and insidiously phone-addiction manifested. None of this was inevitable or part of a master plan.
Back in 2007, Steve Jobs voiced no aspirations for the iPhone other than to make the best iPod ever — one that you could make a phone call from.
He mocked at the idea of third-party apps.
By tapping into the deep human need for approval, social media companies slowly created a massive profit engine by hooking people on input from small screens, heedless of a growing list of harmful side effects.
With Netflix or Spotify constantly playing in the background and several social media checks per day, I am just as hooked to the noise as anyone.
Some opponents of this trend favor “fighting the power” in some big blockbusting way. Instead, Newport proposes with “Digital Minimalism” a roadmap by which individuals can gradually reclaim their attention, quiet time, and devotion to enriching habits.
Digital Minimalism Summary: Personal Takeaway
Start questioning the value each technology adds to your life and act accordingly to remove or reduce technology that takes more than it gives. Then, you’ll find the path back to stillness, time-abundance, and fulfilling relationships.
Details: Kindle Edition, 302 pages | 4.07 average rating on Good Reads
