Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
“I’ve become convinced that what you need instead is a full-fledged philosophy of technology use... I call it digital minimalism, and it applies the belief that less can be more to our relationship with digital tools.”
Rating: 4/5
How many times have you mindlessly scrolled through your favourite social media platform only to look up and realize that half an hour has flown by without any comprehension of time?
How many times have you compulsively checked your phone while in the presence of other people?
How often do you find yourself on your phone while out for supper with your spouse or with friends?
If your answer to these is, “Not often,” then you are a far better person than I am.
Cal Newport advocates for a new philosophy of technology use, one that he calls digital minimalism. In an age of mind-shattering technological advances, a philosophy on just how to use these technologies is called for. We are also in a “minimalist” era, in which most people (arguably, most millennials) have realized that owning more stuff isn’t actually the path to happiness.
Now take what you know about minimalism and apply it to digital technology.
That’s what Newport is after.
I don’t know about you, but I long for the days of face-to-face connection without the distraction of devices. Granted, since reading this book about a year ago, I’ve noticed a trend among my friends: more and more people that I know (of the millennial demographic) are discontinuing social media use or are leaving their phones behind when interacting with others.
I have a theory. My theory is that the millennial generation (born from 1981 to 1996) longs to return to pre-smart-technology days.
Why?
We remember the days before the technology and internet boom of the 2000s. We remember our childhoods that were free of mind-numbing screens. Yes, we still had TV, but our screen time was limited to the Family channel or CBC. We remember family vacations devoid of screens, playing physical board games with our siblings, running in the sunshine or snow, and playing truth or dare by flashlight during sleepovers.
We remember. As a result, many of us are longing for a return to simpler times, pre-smartphones. We are nostalgic for the social interactions of our past.
The problem is that a smartphone is necessary for everything in 2022.
Need a grocery store coupon? It’s on the app.
Garage sales? Check Facebook Marketplace.
Calculator? No need to buy one! It’s built right into your phone.
Email? Your Dell laptop is obsolete when you can check your email with two swipes.
Messaging? Choose any one of five (ten?) platforms to chat with your friends and be sure to check all of them every five minutes.
Maps? Wow, travelling got so much easier with Google Maps!
Restaurant menu? Scan your QR code for the paperless, contact-free menu!
And so on.
The other day, I intended to go phone-free for the afternoon. All I wanted was some quiet prayer time with God. But then I remembered that my prayer app is on my phone.
I can’t even get away from my phone for prayer!
We all need a little digital decluttering.
Newport walks us through the technology trends of the past twenty years. He outlines the “smartphone addiction” and how to kick this nasty habit. The book is practical and simple as it describes practices by which we can rid ourselves of the loathsome weight of technology, particularly smartphone overuse.
Smartphone technology is arguably necessary in 2022. You can’t get away from it. The COVID-19 pandemic has ensured it. And yes, technology does make your life easier on many accounts! But Newport makes a case for optimization and intentionality in digital technology use.
Here are Newport’s three steps to digital decluttering:
Define your technology rules. Take a break from “optional technologies” in your life. This may include limiting app use to certain times of the day or deleting certain apps altogether. It may mean limiting or eliminating streaming time. Rid yourself of technologies that are convenient but not critical (e.g., if you use email for your job, don’t shut down your inbox for a month). Whatever it is, you choose the rules… but then stick with them!
Take a thirty-day break. It’s a detox. Like all detoxes, this is an uncomfortable time. A year ago, I removed myself from social media for six months. It was weird at first. I sheepishly realized how robotic I had become when the app that I defaulted to was no longer there. After a while, I realized that not knowing everything about everyone that I’ve ever met is not that bad. The world keeps turning, even if I wasn’t on social media, and it was okay.
You can do it too! We’re all afraid of missing out, but what about the things and people that we’re missing out on when we’re staring at our phones?
During this time, cultivate new experiences. Find other things to occupy your time - things like learning a new hobby or meeting up with a friend for a face-to-face chat rather than through messaging. The key is to find high-quality activities to fill that void left by the absence of technology.
Reintroduce technology. Don’t reintroduce all of what you had before; reintroduce that which supports your life in the direction you want. Be careful about it. Be intentional.
I summarize these three principles here because I think this is something that everyone should, at some time in their life, do for their own mental and social health. The book is 254 pages long and backed by fifteen pages of references. It’s well-written and far more detailed than I outlined here. It also includes many practical tips for those who are on the digital minimalism journey.
But for the person who doesn’t want to read the entire thing, I hope my summary will suffice.
Let’s reclaim an analog, face-to-face life. If there is anything that the pandemic taught us, it’s that screentime is no substitute for real-life, in-person interaction.
Use technology. Don’t let it use you.
You can buy Digital Minimalism on Amazon and you can check out other reviews on the book on Goodreads!
“If we trust that God is intimately concerned with who we are and who we are becoming, then we can have tremendous hope that the foundational chapters of our lives, as well as those to come, are intended for our maturity.”