The Ultimate Guide To Digital Minimalism

In a world so focused on devices, digital minimalism is a practice that can change your life. Whether you want to go full-on digital monk mode or gain better control over your tech, this post will help.

What Is Digital Minimalism?

Minimalism, as a concept, has been around for a while. I’ve discussed it before in a detailed blog post, which you should check out if you’re interested.

Here, though, we will be exploring minimalism for our technology and devices. This is digital minimalism.

Defining Digital Minimalism

Digital minimalism isn’t minimalism applied to digital technologies. Although, that is true to an extent.

Instead, digital minimalism is more about your approach to technology. It’s mindful usage of technology.

Digital minimalism is about knowing what services are good for you. It’s knowing how you can optimise your life through technology. It’s also knowing how you can enhance your life by avoiding technology.

In essence, digital minimalism is about how we can create a more mindful approach to our tech. This allows us to use technology as the tool that it’s meant to be, rather than for entertainment. It is to use technology, rather than technology using us.

Technology, itself, is wonderful for our lives. It upgrades what we are able to do and makes our lives so much easier. Our phones contain more computing power than NASA used to send humans to the moon!

It has many advantages, so it’s often difficult to see the disadvantages. Knowing these disadvantages will help to frame our approach to digital minimalism.

The Disadvantages Of Technology

These disadvantages are referring to the average person’s everyday life. Many of these relate to social media, which we’ll explore a bit further later.

A permanent reduction in concentration

Repeat use of technology can reduce your capacity for concentration.

If you’re spending a large part of your day in a state of fragmented attention, you could be hurting yourself. Here, ‘fragmented attention’ refers to checking your phone or seeking distractions.

Increased likelihood of loneliness and feelings of isolation

Technology can act as a poor replacement for in-person interactions. It’s easier and faster to talk over the internet than it is to organise a meeting and commute. Because of this, it’s becoming more common to facetime than meet in person.

But, this replacement brings with it some negative side-effects. These include loneliness, due to a lack of deep connections, and isolation, due to avoiding others.

The Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO)

The dreaded FOMO. Many of us know this all too well. When you see social media posts about activities others are doing, it’s possible to get FOMO. This is a form of anxiety.

FOMO seems to apply most to social activities. It appears to most often result from social media usage.

I know a lot of people who use social media, as I’m sure you do too. I do not use social media outside of posting for business. As a result, I don’t suffer from FOMO.

Constant comparison

Instagram is the worst for this. When people only show you the ‘highlights of their lives’, it can make you feel inadequate. These highlights are all the things that are going well. They are happy smiley faces, showing once-in-a-lifetime experiences.

The problem is that you don’t ever see the behind-the-scenes of these people. You’re always present in your own life, through the euphoric moments of joy to the deep sadness and grief.

In such a case, you’re comparing your highs and lows to the perpetual highs of others on social media. It’s no wonder this can lead to feelings of depression.

Unfortunately, it’s difficult to avoid this unless you delete social media. But, that’s worthwhile. Comparisons are unhealthy. Nobody is in your exact situation with your exact upbringing.

If you’re going to compare yourself to anyone, compare to who you were yesterday. This will help you to always be improving.

Increase in background anxiety

Repeat social media usage can lead to a significant increase in background anxiety. It’s common to become uncomfortable with some of the following:

• Short lapses of silence during a conversation
• The possibility of your phone dying
  • And so having to interact with other people or be present
• FOMO

This leads to a constant background hum of anxious thoughts and feelings. That, in turn, reduces the quality of your life experience.

Meditation is a great way to counter this. Meditation teaches you to be comfortable both with yourself and with sitting in silence.

Regular use of technology and social media must have significant advantages. Enough to make these disadvantages a worthwhile cost. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be using them.

We already know this to be true. That’s why we use technology as we do. The world has changed so much in the past 20 years due to technology. We’ve seen the greatest shift in human history during this time.

Of course, there are many other advantages to technology. I don’t need to share them here.

Yet, it’s all too easy to become caught up in technology and to let it control us. This post will help you to take back control of your (digital) life.

Digital Minimalism – Rules

It makes the most sense to start with rules for digital minimalism. These can help to further frame our approach and the rest of the information here.

Like with minimalism, digital minimalism rules are flexible to your own needs. You can create your own or use the rules provided here as a template.

There will always be more

This rule is a reminder that someone will always have something better than you.

It’s unlikely that you’ll ever be able to have the latest gadgets and technologies. You likely won’t have the latest iPhone and computer, or the most up-to-date smartwatch. It doesn’t happen unless you’re rich.

By acknowledging this, you’ll free yourself from jealousy, envy, and unnecessary spending. Be happy with what you have and appreciate it – it’s more than most people would have in their lifetimes 50 years ago.

‘Drain the pool’

The ‘pool’ is a metaphor for the amount of technology and ‘access points’ you have.

Note that this rule isn’t ’empty the pool’. Instead of completely getting rid of all technology from your life, minimise the technology you have and that you use. Be more conscious of how much you use and when.

Digital minimalism is not a set of one-off actions. It is a lifestyle that requires constant management.

Think value

• How much value does each piece of technology bring into your life?
• What about social media?
• What purpose does that piece of technology or social media serve? Why do you keep it around?

Consider questions like these to help you understand the value of each piece of tech or platform. This will give you a clearer view of your tech, allowing you to detach with greater ease.

Identify optional technology and apps

These are like the ‘just in case’ items we explored in the previous minimalism post. Optional tech and apps are things you keep for the sake of keeping.

Here’s a practical exercise to help with this rule:

For 30 days, remove all optional apps from your phone. Put all optional technology in a safe place out of sight, such as under your bed. It’s useful to record these as you remove them.

During the 30 days, you can use whatever you like. But, you have to make a conscious effort to either download the app or find the piece of tech.

Then you have to write down what it was and why you needed it. Add a tally next to that item. Following that, delete the app again or put away the item.

At the end of the 30 days, reflect on what you didn’t use or download. These are optional and non-essential, which you can then decide to get rid of. You’ll realise how little you needed those particular apps or items in the first place.

It’s easiest to do this for a month for efficient tracking and recording. Doing so allows you to track based on days, such as needing an item on the 20th day.

Optimise your tools

There is no point having two versions of maps or photos on your phone (Apple and Google variants). There is no reason to use two different calendars or task managers.

Digital minimalism is about optimising the ‘tools’ (a.k.a services) that you use. It’s choosing things that are both the best for you and allow you to do the most.

When downloading apps or using services, consider if it can serve more than one purpose. Can this app or service replace something else, with more functionality? For example, there is no need to use iCloud and Creative Cloud storage when Google Drive works well.

Reduce your entry points

Entry points refer to devices where you can engage with technology. Or, to take it one step further, entry points to specific services. If all your devices have access to YouTube or Facebook, you’re more likely to use those services.

There isn’t much reason to have all your devices synced for the sake of it. Yes, syncing is useful and I would encourage it for productivity. But, the fewer devices you have as entry points, the less time you’ll spend using technology.

The more things you can pick up as a distraction, the more likely it is you’ll waste an hour doing nothing at all.

Restrict your usage

By setting strict and enforced time-limits for your usage, you’ll be more productive. You’ll also be in a better mental state.

It will be difficult at first to completely cut out social media. Cutting down to 30 minutes a day is more manageable.

You can use alarms, timers, and site blockers as tools to help with this. Or, you can only use tech in predetermined windows of time. Using these in combination will help you to restrict your usage.

It’s possible to restrict your usage for physical tech items. But, this is more difficult and requires self-control. To do so, practice meditation and be more mindful of your usage.

Further, many of us use computers and tech items for work. This means it’s easy to blur the line between professional and public use of tech. By having a clear divider, you make this line more visible.

Restricting email

We’ll look at email shortly, but for now, here’s a rule for your later reference.

Set a specific time slot each day to go through all email, and don’t check email outside of that time.

Try not to choose the morning, as the task can be negative and will set a bad tone for the rest of the day.

This saves you time, by using the concept of batching – which I’ll do a post on at some point in the future. It also reduces distractions throughout the day, as you know you’ll deal with any email later.

Pros VS Cons

Before purchasing any new tech or downloading an app, weigh up the pros and the cons. Think back to the value rule from before, and see if the value is worth more than the potential for distraction.

If you’re struggling with this rule, try waiting 24 hours before weighing up the pros and cons. This will help you to view the item with objectivity.

Enjoy the emptiness

Embrace the silence instead of pulling out your phone when a conversation dips. It’s healthy. Try not to look for distractions. Instead, try to avoid temptations and soak in the empty space.

When you’re ‘alone’ with technology, you’re not truly alone. You have a device to keep you company. Instead, learn to spend time alone with yourself and your thoughts.

Again, meditation is great for this. It teaches you to be comfortable both alone and with your thoughts – thoughts are fleeting and do not define you.

No screens in bed

Don’t wake up to your phone.

Using your phone first thing makes it incredibly easy to check notifications. This will lead to time wasted. If the first thing you do is check social media, productivity will drop for the day.

The morning is the best time of day for productivity (for most). Our willpower is highest and there are few distractions. This is partly why I encourage getting an alarm clock that isn’t your phone.

This rule is very useful to increase morning productivity. Use this time to actually get stuff done and work towards your goals.

Limit your streaming

Limit all streaming to one day a week. You can do any casual streaming, such as YouTube, TV Shows, and Films, one day per week.

Music, podcasts, and acceptable. They don’t need your full attention and you can combine them with other activities.

I do this on Saturdays, my day off, except for research. I prefer to learn and research through video, so I use YouTube a lot for this purpose.

Yes, once on the site, it’s easy to watch a non-research video and from there go down a rabbit hole. But I generally find I’m pretty good with self-control.

Digital Minimalism – Phones

Our phones are the most used of our devices. But, they are too often left unmanaged. It’s important to remember that our phones are tools that allow us to live an easier and more enjoyable life. Here are a few tips to help.

Don’t keep useless apps

Apps that serve no purpose take up storage space and visual space on our phones, both of which aren’t good for us. Delete apps you don’t often use; you can always download them again if need be.

A useful technique to help with this is setting a monthly reminder to sort through your phone. This is also a useful thing to do with all technology.

You can also follow the 90-day rule for removing apps:

If you haven’t used an app in the past 90 days, you probably won’t use it soon. So, it’s safe to delete because it isn’t worth keeping.

Focus on one service

Most often, apps from a single provider have cross-app functionality. You can make the most of this by using a single service for most of your purposes. The interfaces are often similar, too.

Try to keep all your apps synced together and use a single service provider where applicable.

Instead of having Apple photos, Google Maps, and Dropbox storage, use Google for each. Try Google Photos, Google Maps, and Google Drive as alternatives.

App organisation

A great way to increase app organisation is using folders and using your phone’s ‘screens’. Keep your home screen full of apps you use often for positive reasons. Try not to keep social media apps on this screen, if you’re going to keep them installed.

Put all your folders on a second screen. This keeps things tidy and easy to access. Often, your apps in folders aren’t accessed too often. Having them out of the way makes things cleaner and more organised.

Creating friction

If you want to cut down on your usage of a certain app, there are one of two things you can do. Both involve creating some kind of friction, making the app more difficult to access.

Hiding apps in folders is the first. Although, I find this is often less effective than the second option, deleting the app.

It’s easy to swipe down and search for an app. It’s not as easy to load the app store, search for the app, download it, and wait for it to install.

Removing contacts

Contacts can stack up. It’s likely that you still have saved the contact information of people from years ago. If you don’t plan to meet a person again, you can delete their contact information from your phone.

For most people, you have social media as a medium of staying in touch if need be. This helps to reduce worry when following this tip.

Badge app icons

This is a solution to a personal problem that some of you might relate with. Whenever I see an app badge icon – the number in the corner of an app – I’m prompted to open that app to deal with the notification.

This is particularly bad with email. I have to keep all apps free of notifications to please the small OCD part in me. The solution is to turn off badge app icons for each app. Simple.

Notifications

Unless necessary or important, turn off notifications for most things. This helps reduce distractions and allows you to better maintain Flow.

It’s easy to put your phone back down after checking it and having no notifications. It’s not so easy when you have a screen flooded with notifications. Do Not Disturb mode is also very useful to minimise notifications and distractions.

Stop taking your phone into the bathroom.

This is unhygienic, especially if you’re using it while taking a number two. You’ll spend way less time in the bathroom if you stop using your phone in there.

It’s also a nice break from staying plugged in all the time. This allows you to be present for a minute or two before getting back to whatever you were doing.

Digital Minimalism – Social Media

Social media is one of the most prominent distractions we face on a daily basis. And, you may not know, it’s a form of entertainment.

You might not enjoy it as much as you’d enjoy playing a video game or watching a film, but it’s still entertainment. This is true when talking about social media for personal use rather than for business.

It’s no surprise that it’s difficult to put your phone down once you’ve opened a social media app.

Social media companies hire people to make their services as addictive as possible. It’s actually someone’s job to hold your attention on a social media app. They do this to maximise the profit that they can extract from you – you are the product!

[Social media] companies offer you shiny treats in exchange for minutes of your attention and bites of your personal data that can then be packaged up and sold.

Jaron Lanier, Technologist

Social media sites fragment your attention as much as they can during the time you’re awake. This prevents you from completing long periods of Deep Work or Flow.

We discussed some of the harmful aspects of social media earlier. We also looked at measures you can put in place to cut down on your usage. This included limiting your time to half an hour each day (across all services).

A great way to do this is through using iPhone’s ‘screen time’ or Android’s similar feature. What gets measured gets managed. Use screen time for measuring not only social media, but your total phone usage.

How can we cut down on social media usage?

• Limiting your time each day is a great place to start. 30 minutes each day is good, but if you can’t manage that, try an hour.
• Don’t use social media until the afternoon. This allows you to make the most of the productive morning hours.
• Use your phone in grayscale mode. This helps reduce the dopamine you get from scrolling. It also makes your phone less appealing.

Delete social media apps! This is the easiest and most effective method. Deleting social media apps will reduce the amount of time you spend on social media.

If deleting social media doesn’t sound appealing to you, try deleting the apps once you finish using them. You have permission to reinstall whenever you like. But, once you finish using it, delete it again.

Digital Minimalism – Email

Another thing that can become overwhelming is our email inbox. It’s likely that right now you have hundreds or thousands of old emails sitting in your inbox – why? They have served their purpose and are no longer needed.

Inbox Zero

One of the most well-known approaches to a minimalist email inbox is ‘Inbox Zero’. The aim here is having your inbox empty and free of clutter.

This applies well to digital minimalism. We want the least stressful and most organised inbox. That’s Inbox Zero. You can’t be more organised than not having anything to organise.

So, as you might have guessed, the first step towards Inbox Zero is deleting old emails. This will take you some time; it took me close to an hour to go through several thousand emails.

I’ll be referring to the functionality of Gmail, as that’s the email provider I use and it’s the most common. You can likely apply this information to other providers.

Categories

An organised inbox includes emails sorted into relevant categories.

After deleting old emails, you’ll have emails that you’ll need to sort into categories. Using the labels feature in Gmail, you can categorise emails based on their purpose.

For example, you might have a ‘Work’ label and a ‘Personal’ label. It’s best to colour-code these labels for faster recognition and efficiency.

Within each label (folder), create sub-labels (sub-folders) to further organise your inbox. Your ‘Work’ label might include ‘Footage’ and ‘Graphics’, for example.

This will be useful for sorting emails to achieve Inbox Zero. It will also help when looking through for a specific email at a later date.

The sidebar

Sidebar management can be useful for making your email client look clean and tidy. If you don’t use a label in the sidebar often or ever, remove it.

Google has a chats feature which appears in the sidebar, which I’ve never used, so I removed that from my sidebar.

Email subscriptions

Unless an email list provides you repeat value, unsubscribe from it. This will save you space and later hassle.

A good second step after deleting old emails is to unsubscribe from any mailing lists. It’s better to do it now while you know what the subscriptions are (proactive).

Different accounts

There are two approaches here.

1. Have several email accounts for different purposes.
2. Have one single account for all email.

Both are viable options and I use a mixture – I have one primary account and a business email that forwards into it. By doing this I get all the relevant business information that I need. Gmail can also automatically filter emails from my business email and label them.

Having several email accounts can be useful for separating things out. But, that means you have more accounts to manage. It’s more difficult to achieve Inbox Zero when you’re doing so for 3+ accounts. A solution is to only focus on your primary inbox.

Having one inbox can bring peace of mind and organisational stability. With one inbox, all your emails are in a single place and are accessible with ease. This means you won’t need to spend time swapping between accounts. I’d recommend this option of the two.

Where to actually start?

Your best bet is to attack the problem at the source; deleting old emails. Don’t expect to get all your inbox managed in one go, since it likely won’t happen.

Instead, work at it over time. Block out an initial chunk of time for deleting emails and unsubscribing from lists.

Following that, manage a little bit each time you use your email service. Set up labels, categorise emails, and manage your sidebar. You’ll feel amazing once you’re done.

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Thanks for reading so far. If you’d like to learn more, continue to part 2 of this post.

If you enjoyed this post or found it useful, share the site with your friends. We have loads of other useful posts if you want to learn more, so have a browse. Cheers!

Further Recommended Reading:

These posts are relevant to the post you just finished reading:

• The Ultimate Guide To Minimalism: How To Become A Minimalist
• The Ultimate Guide To The Flow State
• How To Use Your Phone Less