Digital Minimalism Summary

There are three steps towards digital decluttering:

1. Define your technology rules

2. Take a thirty-day break from everything digital

3. Reintroduce digital products, one by one

Only after this cleansing and period of introspection will you truly figure out what parts of technology you deeply value and which are irrelevant to your life. After cherry-picking those select few services which will truly help you achieve your long-term goals, you also have to ponder on how you’re going to use it going forward to minimize its harms and maximize its values.

Seemingly small environmental factors can lead to big behavioral changes. And behavioral addictions - repeated, regular behaviors - are akin to substance addictions. We follow them subordinately and without much thought.

In order to prevent bad habits, we must fight our inner selves, or, as Plato’s chariot metaphor would say:

Our soul is a chariot reining two horses, our better nature and our baser impulses. We must strive to empower the former while subduing the latter.

Intermittent positive reinforcement revolves around receiving rewards at an inconsistent rate (think of a slot machine) rather than receiving them as a guaranteed result of certain actions (if I do my homework, I will get an A).

It plays a big role in developing a habit, as rewards delivered unpredictably are more enticing to us than those delivered based on a known pattern.

Digital Minimalism is not what standard technology articles suggest. Instead of a quick fix approach, digital minimalism should be a philosophy you live by. Specifically, a technology philosophy whereby you focus your online time on only a few crucial digital tools. Digital tools should not be used merely because they support something that a digital minimalist values. Instead, these tools must pass a tougher test. Is this tool the best way you can use technology to support your values?

Digital minimalism is an uncommon approach to technology. Minimalists do not just use technology whenever it provides any potential benefit, no matter how small. Minimalists are more concerned with protecting the large certainties in their lives. Sometimes technology might provide minor benefits but will impact our lives’ most critical things, e.g., face-to-face interactions. 

“How do you simplify your digital life?” became very quickly the question of our generation. Between packed calendars, fulled out E-Mail inboxes, and the constant pull of social media and news it can feel like you really can't control your online time.

There is a particular rapid process to help you break your online bad habits and values - the digital declutter.

1. Put aside a thirty-day period during which you will take a break from optional technologies in your life.
2. During this thirty-day break, explore and rediscover activites and behaviours that you find satisfying and meaningful.
3. At the end of the break, reintroduce optional technologies into your life, starting from a blank slate. For each technology you reintroduce, determine what value it serves in your life and how specifically you will use it so as to maximize this value.

The first step is defining which "new technologies" fall into this "optional" category.

Make sure to evaluate the right technologies. Text messaging, Instagram or Facebook are examples of the types of technologies you need to evaluate; your microwave, fridge are not.

After the evaluation decide which of them are sufficiently "optional" that you can take a break for 30 days during the declutter process.

Consider the technology optional unless its temporary removal could harm your professional or personal life.

Example: If you stop checking your work email, it would harm your career.

• Digital life can be exhausting and overwhelming
• Digital Sabbath suggests moderate approaches to digital usage, such as keeping phones away from the bed or turning off notifications
• Digital minimalism proposes spending less time using technology for a healthier relationship with it
• Early versions of Facebook and the iPhone had different functionalities compared to their present-day counterparts
• Smartphones and apps are designed to encourage prolonged use and attention engineering
• Addiction to technology is a behavioral addiction that is moderate in comparison to chemical dependencies

• Unpredictable rewards and social tagging can create a strong psychological pull to technology
• Rebuilding our relationship with technology based on our values is more effective than just using tips and tricks to limit our usage.

• Minimalists focus on a small number of carefully selected online activities that align with their values
• They prioritize large things that make their life good over small things they might miss out on
• Minimalists use hacks like replacing smartphones with basic flip phones, restricting digital information intake, and reducing social circles to optimize their online experience
• They use online magazines instead of Twitter and follow only a small number of inspiring accounts on Instagram
• The goal is to use technology in a way that enhances their life and doesn't detract from it

1.DON’T CLICK “LIKE” ‍

2.LEAVE YOUR PHONE AT HOME

3.TAKE LONG WALKS

4.CONSOLIDATE TEXTING ‍

5.HOLD CONVERSATION - OFFICE HOURS

6.DELETE SOCIAL MEDIA FROM YOUR PHONE

7.DUMB DOWN YOUR SMARTPHONE

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.

Digital minimalists recognize that cluttering their time and attention with too many devices, apps, and services creates an overall negative cost that can swamp the small benefits that each individual item provides in isolation.

This should not be a gradual process. Instead, a rapid transformation is a better process of digital decluttering. Here is the step-by-step process of decluttering provided by Cal Newport:

Put aside 30 days to take a break from technologies that are not essential.

Use these 30 days to learn new skills, activities and behaviors that you find meaningful.

At the end of the break, you can start reintroducing technologies by starting with your blank slate.

For each technology you reintroduce, you must determine the value it serves in your life and how you will maximize this value.

Do not view this period as a detox and nothing else. Instead, use this time to learn about yourself and your relationship with technology. Use it as a period to improve your relationship with the digital world.

Cal Newport explains that technology reduces the time you spend alone with your thoughts. Avoiding others’ minds intruding on your own is crucial for effective solitude. Solitude also requires you to move past reacting to information created by other people. Instead, you must focus on your own thoughts and experiences.

1. You will realize you are better able to establish new ideas

2. You will develop a better understanding of the self

3. You will obtain a closeness with others that you previously were unable to obtain.

I want to be happy without social media anymore

Như Blaise Pascal đã nói thẳng:

"Tất cả các vấn đề của nhân loại đều bắt nguồn từ việc con người không thể ngồi yên lặng trong phòng một mình."

Cung cấp cho bộ não của bạn những khoảng thời gian yên tĩnh; xen kẽ giữa một mình và kết nối, chúng ta cần cả hai để phát triển. Tốt nhất là thỉnh thoảng nên tránh xa công nghệ - thường xuyên đi bộ, một mình, không bị phân tâm.

Hoạt động yêu thích của Nietzsche là đi dạo:

"Chỉ những suy nghĩ đạt được bằng cách đi bộ mới có giá trị."

Một cách khác để tận hưởng chính mình và khám phá suy nghĩ của mình là viết thư cho chính mình hoặc ghi nhật ký.

Con người chúng ta là những sợi dây kết nối để thành xã hội .

Tuy nhiên, các nghiên cứu chỉ ra rằng chúng ta càng kết nối nhiều hơn trên mạng xã hội, chúng ta càng có nhiều khả năng cảm thấy cô đơn , vì chúng làm mất đi khả năng giao tiếp xã hội thực sự.

Cần có sự kết nối , thay vì chỉ trò chuyện. Một mẹo để cải thiện giao tiếp mặt đối mặt là chia sẻ rằng bạn sẽ đến văn phòng hoặc quán cà phê vào một ngày và giờ nhất định và cho mọi người biết rằng họ có thể theo dõi.

Thói quen cũng áp dụng cho thời đại số. Và trong lĩnh vực này, Cal tin vào triết lý sử dụng sau:

"Mỗi công cụ số phải có một mục đích nhất định để cho phép bạn sử dụng nó và chịu sự ràng buộc nhất định."

Thói quen chắt lọc các dịch vụ số này nảy sinh từ niềm tin rằng sự mất tập chung là tốn kém và rằng việc tối ưu hóa là quan trọng.