I would like to start this article by letting you know that digital minimalism, while super cool for many reasons, isn’t necessarily a philosophy that will definitely make you a better person. I say this because I don’t want to tell you that you suck for doing something you enjoy because then I’d be doing exactly what I criticise loads of digital media of already doing; playing on your insecurities.
But what I will say is that too much of anything has its consequences and there is some data to suggest that an increasing addiction to your phone can lead to increasing feelings of anxiety. Just like any addiction. If this applies to you, and you think you may be wanting to move toward emboldening the values of deeper focus, self-awareness and control, then digital minimalism may be for you.
The Value of Intention
The idea that social media is sometimes bad for us isn’t news. Nonetheless, it probably features in your life daily. Much like regular minimalism, digital minimalism asks if this is out of an intentional choice, or out of a desire to fill a void that can’t really be filled in this way. The major problem with the things we consume online though, as opposed to actual things is that our online platforms are specifically designed to distract you and take you away from your intentional use of time.
The designers of Instagram know that if they space out the more exciting and more relevant-to-you content, then you’re more likely to keep scrolling for that anticipated dopamine release and get more addicted.
Twitter is designed in a way in which you have to get in everything you want to say in a short amount of time. When more complex topics such as politics and society come onto the scene, opinions become emotionally charged, and this fuels divisiveness.
And Facebook, who I’m sure you’ve all heard of, know that shocking and negative stories draw in more eyeballs.
Since companies get paid based on how much of your attention they grab, they will do this by any means necessary, even through capitalising on certain addiction-prone mechanisms in the brain. Doesn’t sound like there’s much room for intention there, right?
The Underappreciated Value of Intense Focus
However, if you intentionally want to express your values of multi-tasking and efficient information sharing then the digital world could be the virtual theme park you’ve always dreamed of. But, for a lot of people our devices have a way of putting us in a state of continuous partial attention, hopscotching from one factoid to the next. Perhaps that doesn’t bother you, but it wasn’t until I read a couple books (referenced below) and discovered digital minimalism that I realised how much value I had for deep focus.
I’ve always been a digital minimalist to some extent, but I also always complained that I felt like I was missing out on the bonding that went on over group chats. Then after a couple years of really trying to message lots, I felt so frustrated with it, I decided to do a total digital declutter.
This is because, the more I messaged and used social media, the more my attention got spread over multiple ‘presences’ and virtual worlds shallowly and the less I got to experience my own real presence deeply. That deep presence is a value of mine. It’s what makes walking my dog so calming for me or what makes me lose a sense of time when speaking to a friend for hours. It’s also what allows me to work and study better, because I get to go deeper in my mind with the topics I’m grappling with and ultimately to be more creative.
Of course, the inputs from the outside world make us largely who we are but the digital realm has us wired up to so many inputs firing in from different directions that it can often prevent us from firstly understanding the depth and detail of what we’re experiencing and secondly consolidating those inputs so we can creatively come up with the best output response. We need time for this too. We need solitude with our thoughts. Some, more than others granted.
If focus, presence, self-awareness and organic creativity are values you hold too, then perhaps it’s time to think about whether your technology use is either enabling them or tainting them.
The Step by Step Guide to a more Intentional Digital Life
So without further ado, these are the steps to help you attain deeper focus and more intention in your life.
1. Press Refresh and Try the 30 Day Challenge
This one may be a little drastic for you, but if you’re really serious about being more intentional with your time, then it’s worth a try. All you need to do is remove all technologies from your life that are not professionally or personally essential for 30 days. This includes apps (yes even messaging ones), websites and unnecessary digital tools. This “cold turkey” approach will hopefully rid you of any compulsive behaviour you’ve developed.
2. Keep Whatever holds Value
Once you’ve completed the detox, you can now decide how you are going to be intentional with your apps and websites of choice. You could, for example, schedule in the time you spend responding to messages for your commute. The key here is determining which parts of your digital world add value to your life (for me, it’s my meditation app) and how and when you use it to maximise that value.
3. Get rid of pesky notifications
Again, this one is nuanced for different situations but I can guarantee that most of the personal notifications you receive can wait to be responded to for a day or so. If you’re worried about whether there may be something urgent that you’ll miss, tell everyone to call you instead- you’ll probably sort it out quicker that way anyway. But I do think notifications are the most powerful of all attention grabbers, so turning off as many as possible is perhaps the most liberating of these steps.
4. Plan your leisure time
This is basically the crux of what digital minimalism is all about; being intentional with your time. Imagine the life-changing book you could have read instead of scrolling on Instagram for hours in a week. Maybe instead of being tempted into binging a Netflix series, you could have discovered a new sport and new friends too. It’s not that I’m saying certain activities are better than others, it’s about what is valuable to you; what makes you happiest in the long run.
5. Spend Time Alone
So social interaction is at the crux of human development but I, and Cal Newport’s book, think that society may have underestimated solitude. We need this sometimes too, if we want to let our default mode network do its job and focus without external distractions. Some of the most ingenious ideas have come from someone sitting alone or walking alone without any input. Consider taking out your earphones next time you get on the bus to work, notice what’s going on around you, you never know what new thoughts or opportunities you may encounter.
6. Leave your Phone at Home
The idea of this is probably insane to a lot of people, and maybe you have a family to think of that needs you on-call. If not, then leaving your phone at home can allow you to be more present and engaged with the world around you. Otherwise, you can always adjust the settings on your phone so you only get notifications from certain people who call/text you.
7. Consider Calling Instead of Texting
One of the biggest problems with digital communication that I haven’t really touched on much here is that it stunts our ability to develop face-to-face social skills which the human brain was essentially designed for. If you can call, especially video call, there are hundred times more non-verbal cues that you can pick up on. You can also talk about more in a shorter space of time and in more depth.
8. Block by Default
Steve Jobs’ famous speech about his new IPhone that was in fact a phone, an iPod AND an internet communicator still rings loudly in our multi-functional machinery loving ears today. It was revolutionary to everyone at the time, but since all this stuff about attention loss has been talked about, I’ve realised multi-purpose devices may be partly to blame for why our heads are in multiple places at once. So don’t just tell yourself you won’t go on certain websites, block them by default except for the times when you intend to use them.
If you’d like to learn about these things in more detail, this article was inspired and informed by these two books:
Digital Minimalism- Cal Newport
Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence- Daniel Goleman