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 ideas2. You will develop a better understanding of the self3. You will obtain a closeness with others that you previously were unable to obtain.

Master solitude

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.

How to declutter your digital belongings

<ol><li>Leave your phone at home</li><li>Take long walks</li><li>Write letters to yourself</li><li>Reclaim your conversations </li><li>Consolidate texting (always keep your phone on do not disturb and allocate certain times of day for texting)</li><li>Reclaim leisure </li></ol>

Practices to adopt 

Seek activities that require real-world social interactions – Cal Newport describes the interaction between the internet and leisure as a renaissance. Every individual has more leisure options at their disposal than ever before. The internet can be a positive thing if used to find genuine social interaction in the physical world.Digital technology should be present but subordinated to a support role.

How to reclaim enjoyment without technology 

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.

What to do during your digital detox

this book is perfect if you're like me and want to spend more time in the real world again :)

A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestseller "Newport is making a bid to be the Marie Kondo of technology: someone with an actual plan for helping you realize the digital pursuits that do, and don't, bring value to your life."--Ezra Klein, Vox Minimalism is the art of knowing how much is just enough. Digital minimalism applies this idea to our personal technology. It's the key to living a focused life in an increasingly noisy world. In this timely and enlightening book, the bestselling author of Deep Work introduces a philosophy for technology use that has already improved countless lives. Digital minimalists are all around us. They're the calm, happy people who can hold long conversations without furtive glances at their phones. They can get lost in a good book, a woodworking project, or a leisurely morning run. They can have fun with friends and family without the obsessive urge to document the experience. They stay informed about the news of the day, but don't feel overwhelmed by it. They don't experience "fear of missing out" because they already know which activities provide them meaning and satisfaction. Now, Newport gives us a name for this quiet movement, and makes a persuasive case for its urgency in our tech-saturated world. Common sense tips, like turning off notifications, or occasional rituals like observing a digital sabbath, don't go far enough in helping us take back control of our technological lives, and attempts to unplug completely are complicated by the demands of family, friends and work. What we need instead is a thoughtful method to decide what tools to use, for what purposes, and under what conditions. Drawing on a diverse array of real-life examples, from Amish farmers to harried parents to Silicon Valley programmers, Newport identifies the common practices of digital minimalists and the ideas that underpin them. He shows how digital minimalists are rethinking their relationship to social media, rediscovering the pleasures of the offline world, and reconnecting with their inner selves through regular periods of solitude. He then shares strategies for integrating these practices into your life, starting with a thirty-day "digital declutter" process that has already helped thousands feel less overwhelmed and more in control. Technology is intrinsically neither good nor bad. The key is using it to support your goals and values, rather than letting it use you. This book shows the way.

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Personal Development

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Technology & The Future

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Books

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Society, Arts & Culture

A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestseller "Newport is making a bid to be the Marie Kondo of technology: someone with an actual plan for helping you realize the digital pursuits that do, and don't, bring value to your life."--Ezra Klein, Vox Minimalism is the art of knowing how much is just enough. Digital minimalism applies this idea to our personal technology. It's the key to living a focused life in an increasingly noisy world. In this timely and enlightening book, the bestselling author of Deep Work introduces a philosophy for technology use that has already improved countless lives. Digital minimalists are all around us. They're the calm, happy people who can hold long conversations without furtive glances at their phones. They can get lost in a good book, a woodworking project, or a leisurely morning run. They can have fun with friends and family without the obsessive urge to document the experience. They stay informed about the news of the day, but don't feel overwhelmed by it. They don't experience "fear of missing out" because they already know which activities provide them meaning and satisfaction. Now, Newport gives us a name for this quiet movement, and makes a persuasive case for its urgency in our tech-saturated world. Common sense tips, like turning off notifications, or occasional rituals like observing a digital sabbath, don't go far enough in helping us take back control of our technological lives, and attempts to unplug completely are complicated by the demands of family, friends and work. What we need instead is a thoughtful method to decide what tools to use, for what purposes, and under what conditions. Drawing on a diverse array of real-life examples, from Amish farmers to harried parents to Silicon Valley programmers, Newport identifies the common practices of digital minimalists and the ideas that underpin them. He shows how digital minimalists are rethinking their relationship to social media, rediscovering the pleasures of the offline world, and reconnecting with their inner selves through regular periods of solitude. He then shares strategies for integrating these practices into your life, starting with a thirty-day "digital declutter" process that has already helped thousands feel less overwhelmed and more in control. Technology is intrinsically neither good nor bad. The key is using it to support your goals and values, rather than letting it use you. This book shows the way.

Cal Newport is Provost’s Distinguished Professor of Computer Science at Georgetown University, and the author of seven books. His ideas and writing are frequently featured in major publications and on TV and radio.From his website: "I write about the intersection of digital technology and culture. I’m particularly interested in our struggle to deploy these tools in ways that support instead of subvert the things we care about in both our personal and professional lives."

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