What is Digital Minimalism?

Well we have talked about ‘Minimalism out here – ‘What is Minimalism?’

Let’s explore Digital Minimalism.

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With advent of technology, Apps, softwares, there has been a rise in virtual teams / companies.

Today, one can run a business sitting on a Yacht and have calls with his team members from across the world.

Similarly, one can talk or video call a family member anywhere across the world.

This has surely helped us to be in tandem with the happenings across the world and also to be connected with our loved ones.

Many MNCs, startups, virtual companies have their employees from across the world and the digital platform keeps them connected.

It all sounds good but it has one major loophole. Are the digital platforms stripping us of our time, privacy and most importantly our life itself?

Well it is not too late to redeem your life, let’s explore Digital Minimalism!

What is Digital Minimalism?

According to Cal Newport

“Digital minimalism is a philosophy that helps you question what digital communication tools (and behaviors surrounding these tools) add the most value to your life. It is motivated by the belief that intentionally and aggressively clearing away low-value digital noise, and optimizing your use of the tools that really matter, can significantly improve your life.“

Well we have been decluttering our homes with the KonMari method and tried it out. You can check it out here: Decluttering with KonMari method

We ignore or rather overlook the garbage we have in our gadgets; personal and work.

You would know if you see the below:

1. Unused Apps on Desktop, Tablet, Phone
2. Unused or irrelevant Softwares on Desktop, Tablet, Phone
3. Irrelevant documented piled up on just sitting in your folders / files on Desktop, Tablet, Phone
4. Repetitive images or documents on Desktop, Tablet, Phone
5. Emails in your Inbox dating 10 years ago and which are unimportant or irrelevant now
6. Following numerous unwanted and irrelevant pages on social media platforms; Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat

Well this is surely garbage and needs to be removed periodically.

We will get into decluttering each of the above in my latest posts.

But now let’s take a moment and decide how to go about this.

We cannot give away our laptops or tablets just because we want to go minimal. Digital minimalism is about intentionally choosing which tool or technology is useful for you and discarding the ones which don’t.

Let’s ask ourselves a few questions:

• Is this software of any use to me in my work or my vocation?

• Does this App or Tool serve any purpose to my work?

• Am I getting distracted with this App?

• Is this tool helping me to stay productive?

• Am I learning from this tool or software and is it productive?

“Digital minimalists recognize that cluttering their time and attention with too many devices, apps, and services creates an overall negative cost that can swamp the small benefits that each individual item provides in isolation.”

The above is surely true. Let’s take for instance you have a lot of Apps and softwares telling you the same thing with almost the same features. Isn’t it better to have one which would give you maximum benefits? Also, it would help you to make the most of a particular software or App. It certainly saves your time and also increases your productivity rather than hopping from on App or software to the other.

Benefits of Digital Minimalism:

• Increases Productivity-

Rather than hopping about or browsing through similar Apps or software, one can efficiently work with one software / App. This increases the productivity.

• Reduces the clutter on your Desktop / Phone-

This feels good when we log onto our Laptop or Phone. We know we are making the most of the resources available. It makes the space more vibrant and easy to navigate because we know which software works for what and why.

• Reduces distraction-

The main important benefit is reducing distraction. Distraction is common for all of us when we mindlessly scroll through social media pages or go through Apps which are irrelevant in our line of work. We might also get so engrossed in numerous gadgets that we have that we might end up not using it or just discarding it when the new gadget is out. This also entails we not exploring and making the best of a gadget.

• Mindfulness-

When we digitally declutter, we understand the importance of mindfulness. We need to be mindful or aware about why we are doing and what we are doing with our life as a whole. We know for sure that grooming ourselves, keeping our surroundings clean is of utmost importance but we fail to do the same in our digital space. Being conscious of each and every thing we use makes us to choose relevant and productive things. This helps us to lead better and joyful lives.

I am sure you must already be wondering where to get started.

We shall look into each of the digital spaces shortly in my upcoming posts. Stay tuned!