Digital Minimalism
Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
Ratings325
Average rating4
Every single social media user should read this book.
After many years being concerned about my social media/texting habits, I've finally found a scientific/philosophic demonstration of why many things that most people in my generation take it as “normal” behavior, are simply a destructive way of living life.
Really grateful of having bought and read this book without even thinking twice.
As a book it's nothing to write home about, but as a jumping off point for a new digital worldview it's very compelling. I can't wait til I can get rid of my iPhone
Some good points and actionable advice. However it’s been padded a fair bit with fairly low quality anecdotes. Example: Rock paper scissors championship. It’s also a bit conflicted with its nostalgia for the past while trying to fill its role as a modern self help book.
This book touches upon the attention economy in several chapters but the mechanism of it could have used a chapter.
It is comical how many of these ideas I have already implemented in my life. I have listened to a fair view episodes of Newport's podcast as well as being interested in the whole productivity genre so perhaps I came into this book expecting more for intermediates whereas it seems to focus more on an introduction.
It seems to me that the idea of the philosophy is to be deliberate with your time. If you feel like you're spending too much time on your phone, you probably are and should change things. He goes a bit further arguing that some things aren't really necessary for us as humans. In that sense it does seem that he's a sceptic of technology instead of a technology enthusiast. What I felt missing was why or what led him to not using social media initially? Sure we waste time there and it benefits only corporations but was that what he was thinking in the early 2010s? As a result his theory is more so based on the experiences of others in an okay way but not particularly hard hitting. It does seem this genre suffers from a lack of complexity and deep thinking - I'm sure he would love to go deeper but perhaps he is limited by the constraints of productivity literature.
It's not a bad book but not life changing. It's alright.
It's one of my 5 star books where I agreed with every single point and every single thing mentioned, I related to a lot of things ( being a gen z ) living in a generation and a life surrounded by unnecessary technology which can be used as a weapon in our life battles but is acting kind off a self damaging tool .This book is for anyone who wants to live a meaningful life by reducing the technology effect and using it meaningfully and the way it is supposed to be used.
Digital Minimalism
A philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimized activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else.
This is a direct quote from the book itself, and what Cal means when he uses the term "Digital Minimalism".
Cal expands on this idea of Digital Minimalism with mindfulness practices, exercises for a 30-day social media cleanse (removing yourself from it long enough to see if it is really bringing you value), and examples of what it looks like to balance technology, services, social media, your life in the real-world, and the slot-machine design that keeps us coming back to notification after notification day after day.
One takeaway I had from this book that really spoke to me is to live in the real-world, MOST of the time. This isn't new information, this isn't even a "hot-take", but it is something I have forgotten, because I have been slowly boiled in the hot water of technological progress, and was taught to just accept the new and vibrant app, ever since I was a Junior High student on AIM and LiveJournal.
I more and more find myself feeling that pull and tug of people I am with and people who are far away wanting my time and attention, and on top of that, I have added multiple social media accounts, videos, YouTube, the newest show from a streaming service (or 10), and it all has become way too much.
Cal doesn't just say "social media bad", he talks about how in some instances, depending on your job, or where you live in the world, you might gain something positive from social media. But he isn't afraid to talk about the bad and the ugly. How everything is designed to steal your attention, how we as people are losing our ability to focus and concentrate, and how ultimately that isn't a good thing!
Before reading this book, I went away from social media on a whim for a "break". And to be honest, I won't be returning... After reading this book, I have also pulled away from any form of online news, and replaced it with slower journalism, and I have started to leave my phone behind in various different situations. Because I don't need it all the time.
This book was a great read and I really enjoyed it. It snapped me out of just accepting the tech around me and has really forced me to think about what I have, how I use it, and if it is really, truly bringing me value. As a minimalist, I do this with physical items and objects, so why wouldn't I do this with apps, services and other various tech?
Maybe this book isn't for me, given my lack of social media usage. If my only issue with it were it's inability to be relevant to me, I'd put it higher and assume I'm the issue. However, as with a few other of Mr. Newport's works, I'm driven away by the unnecessary length. I'm guilty to have skimmed the last 40% of this work, primarily because there are only so many times I can hear that humans have social needs that can be entertained in other ways before I'm ready to quit. I do have an attention span, I promise XD I'm just not particularly interested in pushing through a excessively lengthy work on a subject I'm only slightly interested in. So, I suppose, if I were pathologically addicted to my phone, and desperate for a way out, this book might get a higher ranking. For a generally disconnected college guy, this just didn't need to be a book. If it were a series of articles, or a video, or half as long, I'd think highly of it. In its current form, I simply can't recommend it to anyone addicted to their phone. Their attention span probably won't be that long, either.
A good guide to a quiet life in today's so much busy world and I've been actually practicing some of the exercises myself unknowingly like, I uninstalled Instagram (only social media I use except YouTube and Pinterest) and I don't even use Pinterest use that much ..
And I just feel more connected to the friends who call me and with whom I reach out to on WhatsApp
I used to feel empty inside when I used to use Instagram and the reason is clearly explained in the “like” chapter and why like button is used in almost every social media apps nowdays and yea concepts like priming and some fallacies are discussed too
Nice reminders on why its important to moderate the use digital devices. Interesting comments on financial independence.
Newport makes some great points in this text. I'm always wary of books like this as there are studies that show that social media can be helpful in certain contexts. I really appreciated that Newport acknowledged those studies and those references, while also adding that it is important to consider how and why we are using modern technologies.
I do not believe that technologies are bad, however, as Newport points out, it's all about the deliberate and intentional act of using them that is important. Too much of a good thing is still bad. Great work by Newport and I have added a few things in my own life from this book.
- Spend time alone to gain solitude
- Leave your phone at home
- Take long walks
- Write letters to yourself
- seek leisure activities with real world, structured social interactions
Essentially, make technology work for us to facilitate a more balanced, fuller life instead of the other way around.
I found this a tough read. As someone who has already started on a digital minimalist journey I was hoping to get something insightful from this book. Unfortunately the only way I can describe it was, “a blog post that took too long to read.”
That's not to say that i didn't get some useful facts from reading this book, it's just that I feel like it could have been condensed dramatically. Ironically, it could have been more minimalist.
The questions is not ‘why you use the social media? ‘ but ‘how you use social media?'
Almost perfect advice imo, there was a little ‘fat' that could have been trimmed but it didn't really harm my experience much. I think i'll be reaping dividends from the argument in this book for a long time.
Pragmatic suggestions (digital minimalism) to put the technology in its place where it supports us to have a more meaningful life instead of sucking our attention and life out of us.
Newport offers a philosophy for technology use based on intentionality rather than convenience. Instead of minor tweaks to our digital habits, he advocates for a more fundamental rethinking of our relationship with technology.\n\nI found the concept of ‘digital decluttering' particularly useful - the 30-day process of stepping back from optional technologies to rediscover meaningful activities and then carefully reintroducing tech that aligns with your values.
I've been experimenting with Digital Minimalism for the last couple of years, especially for the last year, when I significantly reduced the usage of social media, seeing them as platforms designed to hook our attention as best as they can. Cal's book helped me to solidify the ideas that were motivating me to restrict the usage of some of the services, and it was a very interesting read since I've already had many references to all the negative aspects of unrestricted social media usage that he talks about.
With all the books he's written so far, Cal advocates living a deep life without distractions and full of meaning. That is impossible if you spend multiple hours a day scrolling social media feeds and justifying to yourself that this is your choice. No, it's the attention economy, the roots of which can be found in the 1830s. It's the idea that when you don't pay for the product, you are the product. That's especially clear when you start observing just how all the social media applications try to lure you in with their slot-machine-like mechanisms that hook you and make it impossible to spend your time in much more meaningful ways.
If you think that you don't have time for your hobbies, for reading books, meditation, or exercise, and meanwhile you spend multiple hours a day scrolling Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok like a zombie, read this book as soon as possible.
Idealistic
“I opened this book with Andrew Sullivan's concern about losing his humanity in the electronic world wrought by Samuel Morse. “I used to be a human being,” he wrote. My hope is that digital minimalism can help reverse this state of affairs by providing a constructive way to engage and leverage the latest innovations to your advantage, not that of faceless attention economy conglomerates, to create a culture where the technologically savvy can upend Sullivan's lament and instead say with confidence: “Because of technology, I'm a better human being than I ever was before.”” (254)
It's a very inspiring book for anybody, who is struggeling with his own smartphone-usage.
Sometimes he drifts too much to ancient (male) philosophers and you sometimes think “Just get to your point already!” But overall it's life-changing
Ce livre permet de mettre des mots précis quant à notre consommation de réseaux sociaux, applications mobiles, sites de news et autres activités basées sur la technologie.
Le point de vue de l'auteur est intéressant, j'ai trouvé ses propositions constructives et raisonnées.
Parfois je trouve que la philosophie proposée va trop loin, mais libre à chacun d'appliquer ce qui lui convient suite à la lecture.
Je regrette la diabolisation et le manque d'informations sur le sujet des jeux vidéos.
J'ai trouvé l'auteur assez juste durant tout le livre, sauf sur ce sujet précis.
Les mots utilisés sont moins pertinents, limites caricaturaux à ce sujet.
C'est bien dommage car les jeux vidéos font tout autant partie du sujet que Facebook ou Twitter.
Le livre m'a permis de reprendre goût au quotidien, avec moins d'informations mais plus de plaisir !
Too many detailed case studies felt a little boring. Other than that it was a good read. Kind of helped me to save some time in a day to do something that I actually should be doing.
3.75/5
Informative and highly practical.
Cal got a little bit repetitive with his ideas as reaching the end of the book, but overall, this is still a good read.
Really interesting take about the impact of social networks on our lives and the attention economy. Felt a bit short and abrupt at the end, but gave me a whole lot to think about and work on. If you start wondering if Facebook, Twitter and the others have a negative impact on your life, mind and sanity I would totally advise you to read this book!