Ep 109 | Book Review: Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

How would your life change if your digital world were clutter free?

In today’s episode we explore the philosophy of digital minimalism - the belief that less can be more to our relationship with digital tools. This idea stems for Cal Newport’s book “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World.”

We’re trading in the question “does it spark joy?” for the question “is this the best way to use technology to support my values?”

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Joy Check

What's sparking joy for Karin: Vernado fan cool NYC fall breeze, windows open!

What's sparking joy for Kristyn: Creative winter months. Collaborating with an artist on a new For the Love of Tidy production

In this episode, you’ll enjoy:

• Spark Joy's previous book review of "The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, " Spark Joy Episode 21
• "Deep Work," Cal Newport's previous book that sparked a discussion that led to the release of Digital Minimalism

• The Pros. What we loved about the book:

  • The way it was organized
  • Insights about the Slot Machine Concept
  • The Three Principles of Digital Minimalism
  • Stories shared from his Digital Declutter Survey
  • Cal's views on personal transformation
    • The Cons. Things that didn't spark joy:
    • The thesis style format and technical writing style
    • A large amount of focus on the value of solitude
    • The Digital Minimalism Plan:
    • Set aside a 30-day period during which you will take a break from optionial technologies in your life.
    • During this 30-day period break, explore and rediscover activities and behaviors that you find satisfying and meaningful.
    • At the end of the break, reintroduce optional technologies into your life, starting from a blank slate. For each technology you reintroduce, determine what value it serves in your life and how specifically you will use it so as to maximize this value.
    • Similarities with a capsule wardeobe - Spark Joy episode 39: Closet Joy Part 2
    • Practical tips that Cal recommends leaning on as you work through the three steps of your digital minimalism plan
    • FI (Financial Independence) references: Spark Joy Episode 58
    • Tips on "filling the void" left when you break from your devices
    • How Karin and Kristyn have applied Cal's tips and more to make some big changes when it comes to digital clutter

Gems:

• “Is this the best way to use technology to support my values?”
• "Because of technology I’m a better human being than I ever was before."
• "Minimalists believe that the key to thriving in a high-tech world is to spend much less time using technology."
• "The average user spends 50 minutes per day on Facebook products alone."
• "In my experience, gradually changing your habits one at a time doesn’t work well."

You can find Karin Socci at The Serene Home
You can find Kristyn Ivey at For the Love of Tidy