This is a personal guide for how I plan to attempt digital minimalism. This guide is broken down into two parts:
- Days 0 to 29 - A break from all opt-in technology
- Day 30 and Beyond - A philosophy for engaging technology
For more on digital minimalism and how to declutter your online life, check out Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.
The advent of technology at the pace it has been introduced is unprecedented in our time. I rarely stop to think about how adopting new technologies may affect my mental health, relationships, and general productivity. I have never taken the time to evaluate how to have a healty relationship with my devices.
I have a family. I want to be a model of good behaviors when it comes to interacting with technology to my children. My hope is that this helps them get the most out of their precious lives, understanding that they are in control of their technology (not the other way around).
The first 30 days will be spent as a break from all opt-in technologies. I am taking this action to help reset my brain on how I interact with technology. This won't be a complete halt of all technology, so I will articulate guidelines that I plan to follow. These guidelines will apply to social media, news consumption, streaming services, Google searches, audiobooks, text messaging, and much more.
I'll outline how I plan to use my iPhone during this time. This includes notification settings, Do Not Disturb usage, apps I choose to remain installed, apps I choose to delete, and how often my phone will be on my physical person. For apps that I choose to remove from my device, I'll outline how I plan to continue to use those services.
On day 30, I will begin to introduce opt-in technologies back to my life. During this time, I'll follow a provided guide on whether or not I adopt the technology into my daily routine. This guide will help me evaluate whether a technology will enhance my wellbeing or cause unnecessary distraction. I'll outline the schedule I plan to follow for when I use particular technologies and how I plan to engage them.
This may develop further as I continue, of which I'll post updates here.