Two summers ago I read the book Digital Minimalism and it really helped me make some changes in my life that I was wanting but couldn't quite get to on my own. I think it is an important book in a culture where we are glued to our technology. I knew I needed less of it (specifically my phone and social media) but kept coming back to it every time I would take a break.
I found I was spending too much time on my phone and wanted to use that time elsewhere. I didn't like how I felt after using social media and it was no longer an encouraging space for me. I wanted to be more intentional with my time, where I give my energy, and the voices I was listening to.
"Minimalism is the art of knowing how much is just enough. Digital minimalism applies this idea to our personal technology. It's the key to living a focused life in an increasingly noisy world."
It is a great book that I highly recommend to anyone! Here are some of my takeaways from the book, reflections from my own detox, and deciding to detox my kids from TV as well.
Some of my favorite quotes:
Digital Minimalism is 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.
Approaching decisions with intention can be more important than the impact of the actual decisions themselves. Intention trumps convenience.
The cost is too high for the limited benefits it returns. More often than not, the cumulative cost of the noncrucial things we clutter our lives with can far outweigh the small benefits each individual piece of clutter promises.
After starting a digital detox, ask yourself these questions: Does this technology directly support something that I deeply value? Is this technology the best way to support this value? How am I going to use this technology going forward to maximize its value and minimize its harms?
And finally... I don’t think we’re meant to keep in touch with so many people.
***
After reading the book I went on a digital detox. This is what I did.
30 Days:
- No Instagram besides personal (this is my private no friend account that I use to document milestones for my children)
- no blog reader on my phone (I used Feedly on my phone to read blogs I followed)
- subscribe to newsletters on my blogging email account and no longer my regular everyday email account (my blogging email I don't have on my phone and only check on the computer)
- deactivated Facebook
- took Messenger off my phone
- switched my Facebook groups to a non-friend account (so I could eventually delete my original Facebook account)
- be okay with not being informed on my Facebook groups (specifically my mops/mom group). The trade off is missing out sometimes but the benefit of being off of it was worth it.
Changes I made during these 30 days:
- texted people instead of using social media to connect
- read
- called my mom
- had a neighbor over
- picked a time to respond to texts versus doing it immediately
- create "office hours" for socializing - invited friends over during a set time I was consistently home, made phone calls with old friends while driving
- replaced digital connections with in person connections
- only engaged in brief text conversations - leave lengthier conversations for in person
- stop googling things that aren't really important - it's okay to not know
- got a regular digital watch so I could know the time without looking at my phone (I have this watch and this one and love them both)
- read my Kindle while nursing instead of using my phone
- private Instagram for documenting things - a quick and easy way to document without any social responsibilities of following or having followers
- not looking at my phone in the mornings
- do not disturb on my phone - during evenings, morning, and nap time
- unsubscribed my personal email both shopping and blogs - resubscribed cautiously to my blogging email that I don't keep on my phone.
A few months later I decided to finally deactivate Facebook. They make you wait 30 days before permanently deleting it. It was so complicated to leave which only made me more irritated with it!
I no longer am active on my regular/blogging Instagram account. It has been about a year and a half since I last posted. And I find I am better without it. I am not quite ready to delete it as it has a lot of memories and words that I want to keep. But for now I unfollowed everyone so that even when I am tempted, I cannot check in on anyone who has a private account.
Detoxing my kids from TV:
I also read a really great article about putting your kids on their own digital detox (you can read the article from the MomCo magazine here). We cold turkey stopped watching shows and it was one of the best decisions I made for my kids. We went a whole school year where my kids barely watched any TV outside of family movie night or if someone was sick.
Since then we have added it back in to our lives. But before the detox my kids were watching TV everyday during lunch and while I made dinner. I am a total advocate of using TV when you need it - especially during pregnancy or with a newborn. But as we finally moved out of this season and my older kids were old enough to entertain each other, I find that they are much better off without it.
***
After reading Digital Minimalism, I found some other books on a similar topic that I found helpful and informative:
0 comments