Digital Minimalism

A couple months back, my assistant shift coordinator at the temple told me about a great new book called Digital Minimalism. The basic premise is that many of us have gotten way too caught up in the many technologies that are available, and so we need to cut back to those things that are most essential in order to reclaim our lives.

I put it on hold at the library right away. I know I have a problem with technology. My phone is practically glued to my hand at all times. I've managed to curb my social media addiction a bit but only because Trevor set the password so I can't get in without him. Sometimes when he signs me in, I manage to stay on for a few days in a row, and the pull to look at my newsfeed is still strong, even though it's never very fascinating. It seems that most people are pulling away from social media a bit. My friends and family don't update as much as they used to.

Turns out the book is very popular, and I was in a long wait list at the library. I finally got to check it out at the end of June. I'm only a little ways through it right now, but it's a great read so far that does an awesome job of explaining the intentional psychological manipulation behind several apps and technologies, carefully designed to suck people in and keep them there.

Pretty soon the author issues a big challenge: give up all optional technologies for 30 days. Reset your life. Go out and remember what other interests you have and what you used to fill your time with before the smart phone era.

Then, at the end of the 30 days, really think through what technologies add value to your life, and what you can do to optimize their impact while avoiding negative side effects. Only let back in the most valuable things, and be aware of how you spend your time.

So, here we go. This is my official public commitment to 30 days of no optional technologies. To me, that means no mindless internet surfing, limited social media (I can think of a few potential legitimate needs that might come up, like checking the RS Facebook page for activity details), no pointless phone apps for the sake of fun or distraction. On my laptop, I've reactivated the StayFocusd extension that blocks certain websites during certain times, and I've limited my access to websites that tend to distract me. If I forget and try to visit those pages, StayFocusd stops me with a friendly message, "Shouldn't you be working?"

I think I'm still going to let myself blog, since to me that's just a form of journaling. You can take "optional technologies" pretty far--I'm still going to have an occasional movie night or what have you. We don't have access to any TV channels so we don't watch a lot of mindless TV, but we did take Netflix and Hulu off our Roku for now to prevent mindless scrolling through the options there. I'm not going to completely cut out Facebook Messenger and texting, but I'll try to cut back and focus more on face to face visits, and focusing on the people right in front of me.

Wish me luck! I really want to cut back on my smart phone obsessions and get back to living a healthier lifestyle.