Digital Minimalism
Ratings240
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.
Nice reminders on why its important to moderate the use digital devices. Interesting comments on financial independence.
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
About 15% recycled content from “Deep Work”, this piece enjoys may have benefitted from greater feedback loops or criticism that book received, as it struck me as somewhat smoother and less of a polemic. The suggestions start out sounding intense, but more quickly move into recognition of the need for options. Great advice and perspectives for recognizing and taking control of one's attention and time. Definitely worth the read.
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.
It's been a while since I took a good look inward at my social media habits. This book forced me to do that - and I didn't like what I saw.
To list out what Cal mentions about social media addiction is basically just looking in the mirror for me and many people. We pick our phones to fill time, creating a loop of services that provide us with variable rewards that keep us coming back for more.
He's careful to say that social media (or any service that we mindlessly consume) isn't bad, but our relationship with it can be unhealthy.
One thing that stuck with me was the idea that all that time spent makes it feel like we're connected to people, but in reality we aren't. It's time away from building real friendships and growing real relationships.
After reading this I immediately decided to do my own 30-day digital declutter. 4 days in now and I've already stopped checking my phone constantly - although that's mostly because every app is organized and I've written Goodreads reviews for everything I've read. Looking forward to seeing where this goes next.
A very good read in times of overwhelming social media feeds. The idea is to unplug and do more creative fun things. Some ideas were not new to me but it brings lots of examples of how to address bad habits related to the digital world. It's definitely eye opening and give us a method on how to become digital minimalists. Less is more.
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.
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!
This book is going on my shelf where I keep a copy of the hand-full of books that have changed my perception of my world. I highly recommend this book because the author does a great job of explaining what the topic is, uses chapters to focus on a specific topic at a time, and gives practical examples [extending his prior book [book:Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World 25744928]] with implementation ideas, which the initial book didn't always provide.
I borrowed this book on a whim, not sure what to expect. The title of the book itself fascinated me. Reading this book, the main premise appeals to me. When weighing anything in one's life, ask how and what it adds to one's life. Once identified, ask whether it is worth the cost of something else, as we have limited time. Secondly, the discussion on having time to think. This is not the terminology used, that escapes me at the moment, but the author talks about having time to think one's own thoughts without interruption. This resonated with me and I realize that it is something I need to be more deliberate about.
The author spend a fair bit of time talking about social networks and apps citing their tendency to be designed to keep a user's attention. He even goes so far as to argue that some may be addicted to tech and social networks. It is important to say here that he defines addiction well and points out that this cannot have the same power as a chemical dependency.
This may just be my perception, but it feels the author spends more time explaining the downfalls of tech and social networking than he does talking about taking control of these activities in one's life. Once he gets there, it reminds me a lot of Manoush Zamarodi's Bored and Brilliant book and project.
At times there were stretches where it felt the author was trying to fill more pages, offering more examples to support arguments made. Some may find those helpful to get a better understanding, so I won't argue it as a bad thing.
I listened to the audiobook. The narrator did quite well, with one complaint. I find it annoying when male readers do a female voice by using a falsetto, however slight, to emulate a female voice.
i would recommend this book for people who are thinking about the role mobile tech and social media plays in one's life. Many of the suggestions and practices are things I've already started to adapt in my life after listening to the podcast A Note To Self and reading Bored and Brilliant. However, I found another perspective filled in the some missing pieces. I could definitely see myself reading this book again to refresh my memory on what it important to me and the challenge to live for what is most important.
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
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.
It's been a while since I took a good look inward at my social media habits. This book forced me to do that - and I didn't like what I saw.
To list out what Cal mentions about social media addiction is basically just looking in the mirror for me and many people. We pick our phones to fill time, creating a loop of services that provide us with variable rewards that keep us coming back for more.
He's careful to say that social media (or any service that we mindlessly consume) isn't bad, but our relationship with it can be unhealthy.
One thing that stuck with me was the idea that all that time spent makes it feel like we're connected to people, but in reality we aren't. It's time away from building real friendships and growing real relationships.
After reading this I immediately decided to do my own 30-day digital declutter. 4 days in now and I've already stopped checking my phone constantly - although that's mostly because every app is organized and I've written Goodreads reviews for everything I've read. Looking forward to seeing where this goes next.
The first part of the book was the most helpful. I would go back to that section to reference. But the rest of the book took too long to get to the point.
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.
It sounds trite, but this is the most important book I've read recently (maybe ever). It sounds even more trite to say this, but it changed my life. I've spent 10 years increasingly addicted to or hypnotized by social media (Facebook in particular) and my anxiety was through the roof. I found I was so much happier and more at peace when I took long breaks from it, but felt I couldn't possibly stop using it altogether, or even minimize my use to the degree necessary. After reading this book, I know why I experienced this misery, and how I can make digital minimalism an ongoing practice. I want to recommend this book to everyone I know - it's that critical.
This is an accessible and quick read, but its content is of the utmost importance to anyone who uses the internet in general, and social media in particular.
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)
Amazing book. Must read for everyone. Helps you understand from basic, about how the attention economy works. How the services like Facebook, insta, twitter and all sell your attention time to advertisers and how they keep you hooked to them. Your time=Their Money.
Gives you ideas about how to come out of it. How to get best of both worlds. Full of actionable ideas for transiting from one side to the other.
Five star for sure.
Thanks Cal for writing this.