What does Digital Minimalism mean?
You probably heard about minimalism, and now the latest term has come up about being a digital minimalist.
Digital minimalism means you practice controlling your usage of technology in your life like mobile phones and computers. The idea is to remove low-value digital noise like scrolling through your Facebook wall before sleeping and give you more optimized use that adds value to your life.
Carl Newport first mentions digital minimalism. He defined Digital Minimalism as a philosophy that helps you question what digital communication tools (and behaviours surrounding these tools) add the most value to your life. It is motivated by the belief intentionally and aggressively clearing away low-value digital noise, and optimizing your use of the tools that matter can significantly improve your life.”
What is the core principles of Digital Minimalism?
When I first heard about Digital Minimalism, I was surprised by how many of the principles I struggled with. I have gathered the core principles set out by Carl Newport. But it is not limited to this. If you can live by some of these principles, I assure you will be amazed by the value you get out of it.
Missing out is not harmful.
There is a notification from a social media app like Facebook almost at any moment on my phone. Every single app on your phone is likely trying to catch your attention by sending you notification of high or low-value information. Every time your phone light up, it grabs your attention, and it is increasingly hard to keep your focus on the task at hand. I have learned to disable notifications and realized that I’m not missing out on anything super important. Missing out on all those non-valuable news and status updates on Facebook is not negative at all. It leaves so much time more for deep work focus.
Less can be more.
Before I started on this digital minimalism, I had every single social media app. Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Wechat and LinkedIn. I went through an exercise and cut out all the apps on my phone I’m not using. I only have apps I’m using for quality and valuable information. I got my apps for work and still kept Facebook and Instagram. That’s about it. I did shut off the notifications completely from Facebook and Instagram. Basically, it is using a concept called 80/20 analysis: doing less but focusing on higher quality that can generate total value.
Digital clutter is stressful.
Similarly to minimalism, where having tons of stuff in your life is causing stress in your life. It is hard for the mind to find rest when your room is filled with stuff in every single corner of the rooms.
The same principle occurs in your computer desktop, phone app drawer and email box. On my PC, I could barely see my desktop background because it was my dump location, and when I was trying to find an app on my phone, I had to keep scrolling up and down to locate my apps.
After experimenting, when I open my desktop, it is thoroughly cleaned, and my phone has a few apps I use regularly. I have reorganized my email box in more meaningful inboxes rather than a single catch in its inbox.
The result is I can find the app I need in a split second, with no scrolling. My desktop gives me a piece of mind. It is a delight, and nothing grabs my attention anymore.
Be wary of tools that solve a problem that didn’t exist before the tool.
When I was promoted to a new role at my job, it was a big learning challenge to figure out how to perform efficiently in my position. During my research, I found all these project management apps and note-taking apps. I even tried getting colleague on the same platform as I was working on my projects using these collaborative tools. Every time I found a new app, it required learning how to navigate this app, and eventually, it didn’t solve my issue, and the tool itself is trying to solve problems that are not my issue.
Today I can manage all my projects with only OneNote and Outlook, which I have had all along on my PC. Therefore, be wary of trying to solve problems with various apps when it is purely a lack of experience. Apps it not always the answer to your problems.
Can Digital Minimalism give you better sleep?
One of the biggest changes in my life is around my sleeping routine habits. Roughly 30 minutes before going to bed you should lay away your mobile phone. If you are able to put it away you will be able to get faster and better quality sleep by practicing digital minimalism.
Have you ever been super tired, and thought you would go to bed early? But when you lay in your bed you pick up your phone just to check facebook quickly. 2 hours later, you still lay there, and you went from facebook to instagram and to watching videos on youtube. Therefore going from potential 8 hours of sleep you only have 6 hours left before you have to get up to work. You decide to put away the phone and try start to sleep. You will be turning around, because your brain is still running fast.
This is common outcome of using your phone before going to bed, and this made me think about my own sleeping. Test it out for a few nights and see if you experience a difference.