Digital Minimalism...?

In my previous post, on Information overload, I describe how at times, it all feels like too much. I’ve seen many professionals describe the techniques social media uses to keep us on them as “a slot machine.” The promise of something new every time, of not just information but entertainment and connection, is incredibly enticing.

In December, while on vacation and knowing that I had limited WiFi and Cell Reception, I took a weeklong break from most forms of social media and internet browsing. While mostly successful, I immediately ended up back at square one after returning home. In the months since, I’ve started realizing my time online has continued to grow and interfere with me living my life. Just before writing this sentence I navigated to Twitter and spent half an hour just browsing, because honestly, I love the internet. I love learning new things and talking to people and being entertained and exploring new points of view and talking about things I’m interested in. The internet is how I communicate and learn, but I’m also, as Cal Newport describes in Digital Minimalism, exhausted.

And yet I can’t seem to stop! I don’t want to spend so much time browsing aimlessly and adding more things to my wishlist, comparing my life to everyone else on Instagram, and humming TikTok songs on repeat. The only way for me to move forward and get unstuck is to change my habits, so I want to make a change.

As much as I’m enjoying Digital Minimalism, I do find myself disagreeing with many of the minor points, such as lack of solitude, while agreeing withe the overarching premise of simplifying my life by cutting out extraneous digital clutter and keeping only what is necessary. in the Reclaim Leisure section, he talks about the value of creation, especially without a screen. Over the past few months of doing user research in Human Factors, I’ve come to realize how much joy I get out of creation, especially of physical objects (hardware). I’d like to cultivate that hobby and make more things.

So, 30 days (February to March 15th), I’ve decided to realign my interests a bit. I’ve set timers on all the apps I use, trying to keep a total of less than 60 minutes a day of social media/general browsing. I’m going to spend more time cultivating hobbies around learning new skills that I’ve been meaning to get to, writing, working out, reading, and spending time with friends.

I’ll update how it goes in a month, but until then, special thanks to Lucia Choi for suggesting this book!