In-Depth Summary – Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

‘Digital minimalism,’ is not just a fad, it’s the need of the digital hour. This is what Cal Newport argues in his recently released book titled ‘Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World.’ We are all obsessed with technology, be it smartphones, laptops or various gadgets that make up the smart life. The lines are blurred to an extent that no one knows the boundaries of the physical world and the virtual world. The virtual world does have its benefits, least of which is the ability to seamlessly interact with people around the globe. But how much technology addiction is too much? This is something Cal Newport carefully explores in his new book through research studies and interesting developmental models.

Cal Newport’s earlier works include ‘Deep Work,’ which argued that in today’s tech-dominated world the new IQ is ‘focus.’ His latest book builds on similar principles and conducts an in-depth analysis of digital minimalists and how they focus on different aspects of life. If you are at the other end of the spectrum i.e. Digital maximalists then this book will certainly come across as an eye-opener. Common problems including constant glances at your mobile phone and wanting to document every life experience through digital tech. He argues that solitude and careful thought are essential in taking back charge of our lives. The focus is towards owning tech to support our goals and objectives and not being owned by tech, thereby becoming a mindless drone.
For Cal Newport, digital minimalism means that you design a life philosophy regarding the use of specific format of technology and deciding the best manner of using them. This enables a person to ignore digital distractions and focus on a quality life. The book itself is divided into two parts i.e. Foundations and Practices. The first part contains three chapters, while the second one contains four chapters.

The first chapter labelled ‘A lopsided arms race,’ begins with a quote from Andrew Sullivan, “An endless bombardment of news and gossip and images has rendered us, manic information addicts. It broke me. It might break you, too. ” The chapter goes on to describe that social media and technology in the twenty-first century might have positive uses in some cases. However, in an overall perspective it has overridden our desires and reduced us to claimants of social approval and intermittent positive reinforcement. This design was not by accident as companies like Facebook have invested huge sums in crafting application features that consume your time and attention. The impact of numerous shiny toys on individuals drove them to exhaustion in personal lives.

The second chapter focuses on ‘digital minimalism,’ which allows you to focus on carefully selected online activities that complement your ingrained values and happily ignore everything else. The three principles of this phenomenon are:
1) Clutter is expensive.
2) Importance should be placed on optimization.
3) Intentionality is comforting.

Cal Newport places emphasis on developing principles for the use of technology and explains that a cost-benefit analysis is the beginning of this phase. This principle served Cal Newport very well because according to this technique he never used Facebook himself, because he didn’t understand a need for it.

‘The Digital Declutter,’ is the third chapter and provides actual methodology to implement a step-by-step declutter process. This starts with a 30-day deprivation of all non-essential technologies in daily life. The next step is to devote the time gained towards meaningful activities like outings with friends, taking long walks or just looking at what you love. The last step is critical because you have to re-assess which optional technologies serve a meaningful purpose and how specifically you will generate a gainful cost-benefit analysis from them.

Chapter 3 – The Minimalist technology screen
The process of selecting which technologies are required after the de-clutter process is described below:
1) The tech must serve something that is deeply valued in life.
2) It should be the best method to serve the aforementioned value. If its replaceable by a more effective and efficient method then adopt that one.
3) The most important point is the how and why of usage. For this purpose a standard operating procedure must exist containing clear guideline.

Part 2

The fourth chapter is titled ‘Spend time alone,’ and deals with life after the 30-day de-clutter process. Habits are formed over a period of time and hence its important to incorporate the lessons learned from de-clutter in daily life. This requires careful balance as a certain anxiety exists regarding modern technology, specifically the internet-enabled smartphone. Regular practice of solitude focused on self-reflection is required to derive peace of mind.

Some practical measures that are helpful are as follows:
1) Embarking on long walks without the presence of a mobile phone.
2) Leaving home without the smartphone as solitude is unattainable with this overwhelming distraction.
3) At times when hard decisions are required or complications arise, write letters addressed to yourself.

The fifth chapter is titled ‘Don’t click like.’ The basis of this chapter is in Newport’s theory about the need for conversation-centric communication. This form of communication can include a phone call, video chatting or ideally a face to face meeting. These interactions are the foundations of real relationships and since ‘man is a social animal,’ they are essential to our emotional well being. At the other end of the spectrum is the need for a connection which can include liking something on social media, texting etc. There is a possibility that the low-quality connection might transform into a high-quality conversation but in majority of the cases this won’t happen.

In practical measures, the suggestions are:
1) Low-quality connections are reached through liking or commenting on social media. In order to improve emotional mindset, the reader must shun any adoption of connections as compared to real conversation. In practical terms this might mean calling a person instead of just liking his/her post.
2) To avoid incessant texting, the phone should be placed in the ‘Do not disturb,’ mode.
3) During office hours, set aside dedicated time for conversation, based on workload.

The sixth chapter is titled ‘Reclaim leisure,’ and discusses how high-quality leisure should be planned. The writer explains at the outset that leisure doesn’t mean sitting around doing nothing.
Three important leisure lessons are:
1) Passive consumption to be substituted with demanding activities.
2) A goal-centric approach whereby important things that serve value must be built with available skills.
3) Activities like team exercises should be adopted wherein structured social interactions are integrated.

The practical suggestions include:
1) Devoting a specific time each week to building or fixing something.
2) Low-quality leisure should be scheduled in advance.
3) The interaction with fellow citizens is important and social fitness, sporting leagues, PTA, volunteer work etc. all contribute towards this objective, based on one’s preferences.
4) A seasonal plan (quarterly or trimester) should be devised which clearly states objectives and habits.

Specific scheduling should be used to design a weekly leisure plan.

The seventh chapter is described as ‘Join the Attention Resistance.’ The attention is towards a concept labeled the ‘Attention economy,’ that is forged around gaining consumer attention and then using repackaging to sell the high-value data to advertisers. This phenomenon can be better understood if we realize that the average user needs half an hour to keep up with important Facebook activities in a week. In reality he/she is spending ten times that amount i.e. 350 minutes per week on Facebook. In purely economic terms ‘utilitarianism,’ would mean that consumers consciously drop their eyeballs after extracting basic benefits.
This hit and run methodology is espoused by a collection of individuals engaged in an attention resistance movement who adhere to disciplined procedures using high-tech to gain maximum information and then exit social media technologies like Facebook. This is achieved before the attention traps are sprung and the user is hopelessly tangled in hours of social media usage with no productive purpose.

The step-by-step process is as follows:
1) The first step is dumbing down your smartphone to serve specific needs. This might include deleting all non-essential apps that aren’t aligned with high values.
2) All smartphones/laptops serve a general usefulness, but at any given point in time they should be used as uni-directional computers, utilizing enhanced focus.
3) Social media should be used as a professional. Use advanced filtering to achieve the specific, groups, influencers and family-friends you need to connect with.
4) Social media should be deleted from the phone to avoid unintentional use on the go. Complete withdrawal from social media is not required.
5) High-quality media should be embraced as it provides value.

Conclusion

Digital minimalism is pure genius because it speaks to all of us, as we are truly ensnared in the modern age. While reading the book you can’t escape a feeling of déjà vu as many parts of the book are part of our daily leaves. An important distinction is that Cal Newport doesn’t espouse becoming a social media hermit.

Instead he believes that technologies serve a purpose and Digital Minimalism means we align our values to that purpose but with certain restrictions. To avoid being swept by the digital flood, he provides a complete development plan that addresses all aspects of our life. His ultimate purpose is that our 24/7 lives serve a productive purpose and that even our leisure time is spent on high-quality activities. This might mean letting go of some technologies altogether, but to summarize he suggests we treat them as ‘a means to an end,’ and ‘not become the end itself.’

Author: Mahmood Anwar

Get the book, ebook or audiobook from here: Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life