Digital Minimalism.

It’s good to remember that there was a time when people just used landlines. Physical mail was the norm. The pace was slower - and we survived. The sky didn’t fall in. What seemed so urgent just waited.

There are obvious times when the urgent is important and we want to be available for it. But it’s extremely rare. Taking my phone with me over the years ‘just in case’ something urgent comes up has led to a total of 0 real urgencies. Nothing that couldn’t have waited until I got home.

What it does lead to is having a drug-like addictive substance in my pocket silently screaming my name.

Crying out that someone in the universe that I haven’t spoken to in 14 years posted something I don’t really care about. Feeling like I’m missing out on something I can’t quite name but feel I need to be online so I don’t miss it.

A year ago I went off all social media except FB Messenger for a whole year. I loved it.

Since Covid I jumped back on to stay in touch as we pastored a church and it became one of the main channels of communication.

Now I’m back on but finding a middle ground. One that’s not demanding my attention but paying close attention to how it’s going.

So what’s Digital Minimalism approach at the moment?

My Phone:

• All push notifications are off.

• The phone lives mostly on flight mode.

• My home screen is as simple as possible. Txt, calling, calendar, calendly, notes, and telegram.

• Social media has remained in the ‘library’ section of the iPhone.

My Routines:

• Trialing no phone before 9 or after 9. (Challenging).

• Continually reviewing what apps are needed and what I can delete.

• I’ve had the social media apps deleted and just used them on my computer. Found this challenging for some functionality but will revisit it.

What I’m looking at trialing:

• Phone off and in another room when doing deep work.

• Leaving my phone at home for longer periods of time.

I’m aware that I could go more hard out and have friends who are. This is what’s working right now.

Enjoying the journey of limiting my time on my device and being aware of how I want to use it in my life.

I liked in ‘The Social Dilemma’ their description of what a ‘tool’ is. That it doesn’t demand our attention but we are able to use it when we need for the purpose we desire.

This is an ongoing conversation and know I’ll change things many times in the coming year as I find the right mix.