Four Insights from My 30-Day Digital Declutter
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In July, I engaged in a digital declutter. As I previously shared, I took a 30-day break from Twitter, Linkedin, and posting on my newsletter.
This idea is promoted by Cal Newport in his book Digital Minimalism (affiliate link).
Each day during my declutter, I wrote a little bit about my experience.
This article summarizes four insights I gained from my declutter. My goal in sharing my experience is that you might choose to engage in a similar experiment, to take a more critical stance toward your use of technologies as you prepare for a busy school year.
Insight #1: Recognizing the Value of Presence
Excessive technology can hinder my ability to be fully engaged in real-life experiences and to focus on important tasks.
For example, when my family and I found a beach along the Virginia coastline during our family vacation, I became worried about the lack of restroom facilities. Turning on my maps app on my iPhone, I searched for the nearest convenience store or restaurant. I was so focused on following directions that I walked right past two Porta-potties stationed by the beach.
Despite a few failures like this, disconnecting from digital distractions (this not my first sabbatical from problematic technologies), helped me be more aware of his surroundings, able to savor simple pleasures, and more capable of deep reflection.
This presence has real value, beyond finding public facilities. And the technology companies know this.
Cal Newport offers a helpful thought experiment to make this point.
“Imagine that Facebook started charging you by the minute. How much time would you really need to spend in the typical week to keep up with your list of important Facebook activities? For most people, the answer is surprisingly small; somewhere around twenty to thirty minutes.” (pg. 219)
A question for you: What are the trade-offs you make when you hop on social media?
Insight #2: Being Intentional with Technology Use
It’s clear: I need a more minimalist approach with my technology use.
During our vacation, I practiced this while visiting Colonial Williamsburg. I left my smartphone at the hotel. It’s replacement: my Iris flip phone (which my family affectionately refers to as my “Jitterbug”).
Not having access to my smartphone limited my options to only engaging with the sites and information within the re-enactment experience of Colonial America. I had to ask the colonists about their gardening practices instead of searching up information on my iPhone. Through those interactions, I gained a richer experience. Later, I shared what I learned with my family members. We talked about how we could apply this information to my own gardening in our backyard.
There were trade-offs in not having a smartphone. For example, I couldn’t take many pictures. The ones I did take on my flip phone were less than 1 MB; hardly worth sharing on social media.
But how often do we go through all the images from our experiences after they are over? I don’t believe the convenience of a microcomputer in your pocket is worth what we gain in a healthy presence in our lives.
Newport cites research supporting this. Holly Shakya, researcher at University of California-San Diego found that “replacing your real-world relationships with social media use is detrimental to your well-being" (pg. 141).
I think the detriment comes from the regret afterward, of realizing the lost opportunities of being present with place due to the desire to have a constant connection with the world.
A question for you: Where could you experiment with leaving your smartphone at home?
#3: The Power of Leisure Time and Nondoing
During a digital declutter, Newport advocates for engaging in rigorous leisure time. You need to replace the time on social media with something more productive.
For me, I enjoyed gardening, journaling, reading books, and engaging in hands-on projects. I found a sense of accomplishment, I experienced less stress, and I felt I could access deeper thinking.
One of the books I read that provided a somewhat different perspective on this idea of utilizing our time well is Saving Time by Jenny Odell (affiliate link). An artist and higher education instructor by trade, she teases apart the unhealthy relationship between time and money our capitalistic culture has created.
For instance, she highlights historians who found that the use of spreadsheets and endless tracking of how one “uses” time to colonial plantations in America and the West Indies. The tools that analyzed how much work can be generated from slave labor are now utilized to optimize our own time.
So I spent some time engaged in what mindfulness researcher Jon Kabat-Zinn refers to in Wherever You Go, There You Are (affiliate link) as “nondoing”: having nothing on my agenda and allowing the days to play out without my need to direct them.
A question for you: Where could you fit in time for some nondoing in your life?
#4: Cultivating Authentic Connections
While I have found social media to be at times a positive source for learning, I have questioned the depth and the authenticity of that experience.
Do they help me cultivate meaningful relationships? Do they lead face-to-face interactions, shared experiences, and deep discourse? Or, is Twitter, LinkedIn, and other digital networks mostly just performative?
In a previous discussion thread, I examined Twitter in light of these wonderings I used Cal Newport's three questions from Digital Minimalism to evaluate Twitter and decide on my use of it going forward:
Does Twitter/X directly support something that I deeply value?
Although this space has deteriorated due to lack of moderation, there are still some thoughtful educators who share helpful resources. My values of learning and continuous improvement.
Is this technology the best way to support this value?
The downside of the deterioration of Twitter/X is the irresponsible and even dangerous posts that are allowed to be shared there. Combined with the fact that I cannot control what shows up in my feed, this stress probably impacts my mental health, such as increasing my anxiety. My values of mindfulness and integrity are not aligned with what Twitter/X has become.
How am I going to use this technology going forward to maximize its value and minimize its harms?
Before that, I have to ask: will I remain on Twitter/X? Are the benefits in learning I receive from a handful of individuals worth the cost of dealing with the extreme views that aren't value-added to professional conversation? At this point, I only plan to post my work, retweet others' content, read posts once a week or so, and avoid interactions in that space.
A question for you: What could you drop tomorrow (or by Tuesday) that wouldn’t disrupt life too much so you would have more time for professional learning?
To conclude, these insights suggest that a digital declutter has led to increased presence, more intentional technology use, a greater appreciation for analog tools and practices, and a deeper need for authentic connection.
What is resonating with you? How do you want to be more intentional in your professional and personal life?
Take care,
Matt
Thank you for sharing your insights!