Digital Minimalism - Cal Newport. Recommend reading!

[xXguitarsenXx]

You can check out my Animated Summary here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sVAIe8qtLo

 

Billions of dollars have been invested to make us addicted to technology. So what can we do about it?

Well in the book Digital Minimalism by Cal newport, we are given the following notion:

Digital Minimalism: "A philosophy of Technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimized activites that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else" - Cal Newport

 

Cal Newport then goes on to provide

Step by step instructions for the decluttering process:

Step 1: Identify high quality activities

after initiating the decluttering process, you'll find yourself with more time on your hands. as such, you should clarify what activities you'll spend your time on. Instead of scrolling Facebook mindlessly for an hour, you can spend that time learning to play the guitar.

Step 2:  Identify optional technologies.

Cal Newport says: "consider the technology optional unless its temporary removal would harm or significantly disrupt the daily operation of your professional or personal life."

But if you can't remove it, then make rules about how to use it, to minimize its impact. For example you could make a rule about only using social media for one hour in the evening.

Step 3: Do the 30-day declutter

Put your plan to work by eliminating the optional technologies and fill the remaining time with the high quality activites you've identified. Soon you'll discover the benefits of living in alignment with your values instead of consuming compulsively.

Step 4: Reintroduce technologies that support your deep values.

And to do this, you should ask yourself the following 3 questions about the technology:

    1 Does this technology support something I truly value?

    2 Is this technology the BEST way to support that value?

And if the answer was yes to both of these questions. Then ask yourself:

    3 How am I going to use the technology optimally?

Together these steps should put you on the right path to a better relationship with technology.

 

You can check out my Animated Summary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sVAIe8qtLo

[Sahil Pandit]

@xXguitarsenXx awesome!