I spent the day offline yesterday. My phone was left languishing in the charging cupboard upstairs, while I purposed to be fully present and live twenty four hours of life uninterrupted by beeps and distractions.
This digital day off was prompted by Cal Newport’s “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World“. If you haven’t read it, stop reading this, and go get yourself a copy. Seriously. I highlighted most of it, and haven’t been able to look at my phone in the same way since.
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“Digital Minimalism” is a compelling, research-driven journey into the impact constant connectivity is having on our quality of life, and the technological milestones and methodologies that have led us to our current state of affairs. Newport calls a spade a spade, arguing that we are not digital users, but digital slaves shackled to technologies that demand more of our time, engagement and interaction than is healthy or necessary. He makes a compelling case for digital minimalism, i.e. being ruthlessly intentional about our relationships with technology, and ultimately, for prioritising and making more space and time for the life-giving activities that are important to us.
The five key things I learned from reading Newports book are:
- There is a science of addiction that informs and shapes much of our digital life. He argues, “Extracting eyeball minutes, the key resource for companies like Google and Facebook, has become significantly more lucrative than extracting oil.”
- There is a very real cost to be paid for constant connectivity – our time. Referencing the work of Henry David Thoreau, he writes, “He (Thoreau) asks us to treat the minutes of our life as a concrete and valuable substance – arguably the most valuable substance we possess – and to always reckon with how much of this life we trade for the various activities we allow to claim our time.”
- Digital clutter diminishes our quality of life: “ More often than not, the cumulative cost of the noncrucial things we clutter our lives with can far outweigh the small benefits each individual piece of clutter promises.”
- Solitude deprivation is dangerous, but sadly ubiquitous: Said deprivation is “a state in which you spend close to zero time alone with your own thoughts and free from input from other minds“. Newport traces the unprecedented anxieties and mental health challenges being faced by the hyper-connected generation of (young people born after 1995) back to their constantly being connected via their phones. “The smartphone provided a new technique to banish these remaining slivers of solitude: the quick glance. At the slightest hint of boredom, you can now surreptitiously glance at any number of apps or mobile-adapted websites that have been optimized to provide you an immediate and satisfying dose of input from other minds.”
- It is possible to rewire our relationship with technology, reclaim meaningful leisure through what Newport describes as Digital Minimalism, i.e. “a philosophy of technology use in which you focus online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimised activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else”.
This prompted a lot of self reflection:
- I would argue that I am both pretty vigilant about my phone use and a fierce protector of my (short but very sweet) early morning window of solitude already.
- I learned a lot from Andy Crouch, Rachel Macy Stratford and Jessica N. Turner on the importance of keeping technology in its place and prioritising rest, leisure and real life interactions.
- I have use a few simple parameters to help me manage (and minimise!) how and when I use my phone and social media (which I share with people who subscribe to my newsletter).
- However, Newports’s narrative caused me to question (yet again!):
- “Is my phone serving me, or am I serving my phone?”
- “Am I addicted to Instagram?” (sadly, I think I am) as well as “Am I spending too much time playing the social media slot machine (by posting pictures and carefully crafted captions) and constantly checking for social approval (likes and comments).”
- Ultimately, the book helped me realise that my my online creative outlet has unhealthy leanings. Despite my best efforts, I still feel shackled to my phone. Addicted even. That is not a happy conclusion for me to come to.
As I grappled with the many revelations the book triggered, I felt less inclined to be online, less pressured to post. Then George Floyd was killed. The impact and implications reverberated across the internet and social spaces, causing me to confront both my lack of awareness about white privilege and racism as well as the pain of those who confront it on a regular basis. I felt overwhelmed. So I put my pen down, and took a virtual step back, mainly from Instagram, the platform I engage with mostly. And stepping back has been good, for so many reasons.
It’s been two weeks. I’ve yet to post a post, or share a story. My phone has been on Do Not Disturb Mode for the most part, and spends most of the morning in the charging cupboard upstairs. I‘ve been reading more than usual, and checking in on outside events via my screen a lot less.
The feeling of being untethered is utterly liberating.
I think it is time to take things one step further using the principles Newport suggests. Two weeks of dipping in and out less have been fine and reaped decent rewards already. I’m curious to see what a full blow declutter will accomplish.
Newport advocates going cold turkey on tech with a thirty day digital declutter.
“The problem is that small changes are not enough to solve our big issues with new technologies. The underlying behaviours we hope to fix are ingrained in our culture, and as I argued in the previous chapter, they’re backed by a powerful psychological forces that empower our basic instincts. To re-establish control, we need to move beyond tweaks and instead rebuild our relationship with technology from scratch, using our deeply held values as a foundation.”
Cal Newport, “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World“
I just wrote a piece called The Power of Small, in which I argue that overnight overhauls are harder to sustain than small incremental changes. Yet I resonate with his reasoning and see sense in his strategy. For if this is an addiction, it needs treating accordingly. I guess it takes discernment to work out when to go slow, and when to pull out all the stops.
I’m aware I need to balance my need for a better relationship with technology with my desire to write and connect with people. So that’s the challenge going forwards. Ultimately, my goal is to repurpose time salvaged to read more, write more, and finish a few sewing projects. Most importantly, to be more present around my husband and four children.
In terms of next steps, I’ll continue to write and engage with the spaces I’ve carved out for myself with my blog (including my newsletter, which you can sign up for here) but I’ll stick to guidelines around the how’s and when’s. I won’t bore you with the details (yet!). Other than that, I’m going to go cold turkey on technology as much as I can. There’s heaps of ideas in Newport’s book if you are interested in taking on this sort of challenge yourself.
It might seem radical, but I think it is radically important to steward the time that we have to the best of our abilities. And if addiction, rather than intentional planning, is driving my relationship with technology, it is definitely time for an overhaul.
Watch this space, I’ll show and tell when I’m done!
See you on the other side!
Lindsay x
PS: If you enjoy my writing, you can sign up to my newsletter here!
Other resources you might enjoy:
- The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place (Andy Crouch)
- Hands Free Mama: A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To-Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters! (Rachel Macy Stratford)
- The Fringe Hours: Making Time for You (Jessica N. Turner)