Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World Reviews

• 
  Robert Chang

  Cal Newport provided practical advice on how to embrace the philosophy of Digital Minimalism:
  
  - Spend time alone to gain solitude
  - Leave your phone at home
  - Take long walks
  - Write letters to yourself (journaling)
  
  - Don't click "likes"
  - Avoid falling into the slot machine feedback loop of likes
  - Consolidate texting
  - hold conversation office hours
  - Reclaiming conversations
  
  - Reclaim Leisure
  - prioritize demanding leisure activity over pass consumption
  - use skills to produce valuable things in the physical world
  - seek leisure activities with real world, structured social interactions
  - fix, or build something every week
  - schedule low quality leisure
  - join something (e.g. a community)
  - follow leisure plan
  
  - Join the attention resistance
  - delete social media from your phone
  - turn your device into single-purpose computers
  - embrace slow media
  - dumb down your smart phone
• 
  Carl Rannaberg

  I badly wanted to like this book. I really did. Because I have very much enjoyed other books by Cal Newport: So Good That They Can’t Ignore You and Deep Work. Both have inspired me a lot and I have recommended these to others in many occasions.
  
  This book was way below my expectations. I'm afraid it’s not the book, it’s me. The practical value for me was minimal as I have already implemented a lot of things he proposes in the book.
  
  As Cal Newport mentions that he sees the digital minimalism trend gaining momentum I thought this book has the potential to be the bible for this movement. But I don’t believe that happens because the message in this book is not clear enough. There are really no core underlying principles for this digital minimalism philosophy that Cal Newport tries to communicate in this book or he just did a poor job at it. I would have expected that he would lay out the laws or principles of digital minimalist at the start of the book and reinforce them through anecdotes in the rest of the book. For me there were only loosely related anecdotes where sometimes I scratched my head and thought: “how is that relevant to this topic?”
  
  This book seems to have identity crisis. As Cal himself mentioned at the start of the book he usually doesn’t write practical books. And this book is neither theoretically coherent nor is it well-structured practical book. It’s somewhere between and it’s a shame. His research in this topic is very thorough and the examples and tips he offers are actually useful.
  One thing that irritated me a little was his dismissive attitude towards blog posts with tips to turn off notifications on your smartphone and then he goes on in the book and does exactly the same thing. Of course he also talked about that you need a more deeper philosophy to actually make these changes in your life but for me he failed at communicating it clearly enough.
  
  One of the biggest grievances for me was lack of authors understanding of how habits work. This book would have been sooo much better when he would have actually connected our harmful digital behaviours with fundamental habit changing theory.
  
  If you would like to get pretty much the same content in a much clearer and practical form I would highly recommend you read “Atomic Habits” by James Clear and “Make Time” by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky. Former gives a very solid understanding of the psychology behind habit change and the latter gives over 80 highly practical tactics to find better focus and more energy in this distracting world.
• 
  Cindy

  3.5 stars. I appreciate the thesis that by choosing to minimize technology in our day-to-day lives, we're choosing to be more deliberate with how we spend our time. I liked some of the advice to consolidate texting, hold conversation office hours, and in general, choose to be more purposeful with what energy we give to reacting to others. I think this book would have been stronger if he provided research to this points rather than random anecdotes about people who decide to step away from technology. A few pieces throughout the middle also felt like fluff to fill up the book (i.e. the rock-paper-scissors championship, the fantasy board game groups, and anecdotes about old white dudes like Henry David Thoreau). It would have served better to take more stories of the modern-day person who has to be ingrained in technology, like someone working in Silicon Valley, and solutions for how to balance professional requirements with self-preservation and mindfulness.
• 
  Heather

  I continue to wonder if Newport ever bears primary caregiving duties for anyone.
• 
  Mario the lone bookwolf

  I know the irony of writing such a review on a social media platform, but as always there is potential for both good and for bad, for modest consumption or addiction.
  One should always keep in mind that humans are social animals, prone to getting addicted to interacting with each other. Online. 24/7. Until real life (which one was that still...) collapses
  
  Probably the one or the other reader might tend to eat too much sugar, fat, has quit smoking or even worse things like online gaming. In each of these cases, a different strong bodily and or physical addiction has triggered the craving for more. It´s not difficult to see the problem when the doctor tells you that you ought probably lose weight, quit this, reduce that, yada yada yada, what does he know, it´s my body, health and life.
  
  Now we get stimulated with each like (Please, oh please, click the button under the review, I need it so desperately, my whole life circles around it, click it, damn!), message, comment, etc. Our brains are wired to social interaction because happy apes in groups meant survival while lonely apes in the dark jungle meant yum yum for predators. So some of us (except a large, but underrepresented group of introverts, ahem) get pretty stressed as soon as the confirmation of popularity doesn´t grow, stagnates, or even, inconceivable goes down. Why don´t those complete strangers don´t support me anymore? In nature, we could be dead now. No more drug-like hormone exposition in the brain, so that the flow kicks in, just sadness.
  
  Any company with an allegedly free business model, running a social media site, search engine, etc. knows that. So thousand of high skilled experts do nothing except of trying to get as many people as hooked on as possible, considering age, gender, social status. It´s as if an organized drug dealing cartel had employed people to tailor and advertise their products to each possible customer base.
  
  But hey, humans have a free will, at least in theory. What the book is trying to tell us is the same thing each monk and Buddhist says all day long each day of her/his life. Get your mind trained, meditate, stay calm, check your feelings, needs and especially cravings. Ask why your construct of personality in this wet mess up there seems to do what it wants. You are the ego it simulates, so you should really try to at least take control for a few moments every day and expand to longer periods, perhaps half hours or so.
  
  Ideology might play a large part here too. Completely ignoring the social and human part can lead to a technocratic, cold and alienated world. Doing as if no social media exists can destroy possibilities to something that might get closer to Gaia than nothing before. It´s, as many wise doctors often said, the dosage that makes the poison. Or the demonization of the poison, although it would be the only possible cure for many problems.
  
  It could be easy by just checking social media once or twice a day for a certain time and take a day, weekend or even holiday (Is he crazy?) off. A mini-hiatus. Just like computer gaming addiction, the social media addiction is something just existing in your mind and as someone who quit smoking (many times) I can tell you that there are really other burdens that come with real physical cravings and not just the inability to control the delay of the answer to the question of how many people have shared and liked my precious, precious review of this book that can also be read on my:
  Fictional twitter link
  Fictional Facebook link
  Fictional whatever the latest freaking popular overhyped social media thing, app may be.
  
  It is not as if I am playing with fire when using this social book cataloging network, mkay. OMG, the self-deceit. It´s not as if I had already before lost complete control about different social networks or computer games or beer and weed consump...
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drinkin.... But I have a really fix schedule on using Goodreads and... just more self-deception, look at that poor buddy, now he has even begun talking about himself in the third person as if he thinks he is someone special or some of those strange kings who talk about themselves as "he". And bigotry, of course, too because of the yada yada about enlightenment, preaching water and drinking wine, one of my favorite hobbies. U still reading, anyone else guilty? I hope so, please, don´t let me be the only social bookmarking addict on this site!
  
  A wiki walk can be as refreshing to the mind as a walk through nature in this, yuck, ugh, boo, completely overrated real-life outside books:
  
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital...
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem...
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Categor...
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_g...
  
  And here comes the antidote
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mindful...
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meditation
  
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autogen...
• 
  Meredith B. (readingwithmere)

  5 Stars!
  
  

  Where we want to be cautious . . . is when the sound of a voice or a cup of coffee with a friend is replaced with ‘likes’ on a post.

  
  
  Read. This. Book. Have you ever told someone in your life you just didn't have enough time in the day to get everything done? Have you thought about why that is? Maybe look down and see what you've been doing for the last 5, 10 or even 60 minutes. Probably scrolling through your phone. Sometimes with intention but sadly a lot of the time we are on our phones because of we are boredom or we are addicted and fear FOMO.
  
  A little background before I get into this book and why it's very important. I've always been into tech. I started at a young age, went to college and got a Web Dev/Interactive Media degree and I've had jobs in Digital Marketing, Email Marketing and now Cyber Security. I use tech each and everyday so you may be asking why I think this book is so important and questioning why I agree there is a problem? Well because I started to notice it in my own life and around me. I'd go meet a friend and they'd sit there scrolling through their phone while i'm trying to talk to them. I've watched family members sit on their phones while we're supposed to be "spending time" together. I looked around my train car the last couple days at 95% of people sat there scrolling through their phones and most of it was social media, not work. I watch families of 4 go out to eat and all 4 (parents and kids) are on their phones. Why bother going out? I know you may thinking well that's their choice and I agree but I personally don't want to lose human interaction to my phone or my time to my phone/other tech. Mindless scrolling because I'm bored or that I'm afraid I'm going to miss out just isn't worth my mental health or relationships.
  
  I also started to recently feel depressive and sad feelings while being on social media. It made me feel sad watching others thrive in their life and I felt insignificant in a way. The "Facebook effect" is real and I firsthand have felt it. Just remember there was once a time when we didn't have all this tech or phones and we were more connected, less anxious and we still survived. I realize I'm typing this on a digital site and it has to be read here but just hear me out...
  
  DIGITAL MINIMALISM takes us through different steps that you can go through to become a digital minimalist. What is one you ask? "They’re the calm, happy people who can hold long conversations without furtive glances at their phones. They can get lost in a good book, a woodworking project, or a leisurely morning run. They can have fun with friends and family without the obsessive urge to document the experience. They stay informed about the news of the day, but don’t feel overwhelmed by it. They don’t experience “fear of missing out” because they already know which activities provide them with meaning and satisfaction."
  
  Newport takes us through almost "detoxing" yourself from doing tech activities without intention. So if you spend 2 hours a day on facebook, try taking it off your phone so you can get over the urge of automatically opening it and then set aside specific time to go on it and try to use it with high intention so that you really get something out of it. Technology is not good or bad and Cal is actually a Computer Scientist, it's moreso about how we use it and how we can change that to be more healthy.
  
  I personally made a few changes - my husband and I do not look at our phones during dinner or any meal together. In fact, I try to leave my phone in the car or at home as much as I can. I put on night mode at night. I put my phone farther away at night. I turned off almost all phone notifications. The next step is to delete some low intention (social media) apps.
  
  If you are ready to take back control of your time and not feel like you need your phone attached to you every second then definitely read this book. It's simple but powerful and it has a lot of interesting studies/background on technology as a whole. I personally love technology (it is my job after all!) but I'm ready to use it more intentionally then mindlessly and strengthen my human face-to-face connections rather than hoovering behind a screen. I think my neck, thumbs and hands will probably thank me too!
• 
  Julie

  Every rare once in awhile a Facebook friend announces their imminent departure from Facebook. Or simply quietly slips away, leaving behind a shadow profile in my friends list. I send up a silent cheer when I realize they have deactivated their account, knowing in my belly they are better off without this ubiquitous social media overlord.
  
  For a long time, I've felt a sense of disquiet about social media, but the disturbance has become a growing alarm and a deep sadness in recent months. I feel that we, all of us who are connected, have just lost our way. Then two things occurred almost simultaneously, one horrific, one glorious. First,
  The New York Times ran a feature on child pornography, a hideous crime that's exploded in volume because of social media. The wretched creeps who exploit and abuse children have multiple platforms that make it harder to track their behavior and make it all the easier for children to be preyed upon. The social media companies, like Facebook with its Messenger platform, are complicit in these crimes, just as they were in the travesty that was the 2016 election. They want users, regardless of the consequences.
  
  And then a friend of mine fulfilled a lifelong dream, which also happens to be one of mine: hiking the Camino de Santiago. She chronicled every day through photos and anecdotes posted on Insta and Facebook. As much as I treasured joining her journey from afar, I also wanted to plead with her to put down the phone, forget all of us, and be there, in her head and body and heart and just walk. Walk for the sake of it, not for the instagrammable moments. Being disconnected from the world is natural, healthy, necessary. I imagine my own Camino and know that I want it to be private, meditative, transformative, not shared, not liked or retweeted. Pure.
  
  Into all this walked Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, giving me yet more reasons, and now a strategy, to reframe and redo my relationship with social media.
  
  Cal Newport isn't a Luddite. He's not against social medial or digital technology. He does throw down the gauntlet, however; challenging his readers to look their use and habits squarely in the screen, to recognize and deeply register the power Silicon Valley has in nearly every aspect of our lives, our time, our children's brains, our attention, our pocketbooks.
  
  Few want to spend so much time online, but these tools have a way of cultivating behavioral addiction. And as Newport demonstrates throughout Digital Minimalism, while some of these addictive qualities are accidental, many have been exploited by tech and social media companies whose driving purpose is to keep us online as often, and for as long, as possible. Through intermittent, unpredictable social approval (likes, loves, retweets), we become dependent on the feedback that shows someone, somewhere, has noticed us.
  
  I've moved around so much as an adult- cities, states, countries- and it's precious to keep in touch with friends from lifetimes ago. Facebook and Twitter have brought me into communities of writers that were crucial to the development of my career; I might never have started writing if it weren't for this very space: Goodreads. Writing thoughtfully about the books I read became a DIY MFA. I learned story structure, narrative depth, character development, and how to construct a beautiful sentence not only by reading great (and not so great) books, but by being a part of a community that discusses them.
  
  It's not that any of these tools is bad. To be fair, they can bring pleasure and satisfaction. It's just that they are too much. And we, no matter how professional, intelligent, disciplined, have been manipulated to respond like rats to a sugar drip. Our brains are tired. We're overstimulated, over-connected, over-info'ed. It's not natural to have hundreds of "friends," to share not only the minutiae of our daily lives, but its most intimate details, with people we wouldn't recognize if we passed them on the street, to constantly seek social approval, not to spend time in solitude, not to look up and observe the world around us.
  
  Newport, and his co-frères/sœurs James Clear, Atomic Habits, Jenny Odell How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy ,among others, are part of the emerging Attention Resistance, a loosely-knit group of educators, researchers, artists, and business professionals who are decrying the outsize role digital technology and social media play in our lives.
  
  'Sean Parker, the first president of Facebook, has called the platform a “social-validation feedback loop” built around “exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.” Tristan Harris, who worked as a “design ethicist” at Google, has said that smartphones are engineered to be addictive.' "What It Takes to Put Your Phone Away," by Jia Tolentino,The New Yorker April 22, 2019.
  
  This just isn't right. I don't want to play the game anymore. Or more accurately, I don't want to be played anymore.
  
  I am accepting, moving toward embracing, that time spent on social media is "low quality" time. No matter how much I appreciate the connections, the sharing of fun moments or commiseration over the bad, I am coming to accept that I will be happier, more focused, productive, and peaceful the less time I spend on social media. I already take periodic breaks, employing various tips and technologies to reclaim my time and attention, but as Newport states, “willpower, tips, and vague resolutions are not sufficient by themselves to tame the ability of new technologies to invade your cognitive landscape.”
  
  Social media isn't that big a part of my life. I have a full-time + day job and rarely check social media during the day, even though my actual job requires that I post on both Facebook and Instagram. I am finishing the first draft of my fourth novel; most days I work out at twice a day; I read copiously. I'm busy, engaged in the real world. But still. I think social media is compromising my—and our society's at large—mental, intellectual, physical, and communal health. It's time to start doing things differently. Hey, there's an app for that! (actually, quite a few: Moment, Forest, Freedom, Focus, and one new to this Mac user: Ulysses, which looks an awful lot like Scrivener).
  
  Seriously, Cal Newport has a plan. Detox for thirty days, And then, once your 30-day detox is over, rebuild your relationship with digital technology from the ground up, with intentionality and minimalism, where technology serves you and what you deeply value.
  
  "The goal is not simply to give yourself a break from technology, but to instead spark a permanent transformation of your digital life." Newport recommends that you spend your time away from optional technology by discovering, or rediscovering, what you enjoy. It's the Marie Kondo approach to a digital life: if it's not useful or doesn't bring you joy, it needs to go, as much as is reasonable. Most of us have aspects to our jobs that make some of these technologies, including emails or texting, inevitable.
  
  There are engrossing sections of this book that discuss the beauty of solitude- a beauty we've all but lost with constant presence of our phones in our pockets, sharing the carefully curated moments of our lives or reading about others'. He argues that we are suffering from Solitude Deprivation - A state in which you spend close to zero time alone with your own thoughts and free from input from other minds. . There are also alarming looks at younger generations who've never known life without iPads or smartphones: the stunted growth of empathy, focus, motivation, and observation. It's not just terribly sad and weird, I believe it's a public health crisis.
  
  So, in a couple of weeks, beginning November 1, I will be starting my digital declutter. The first step is a 30-day digital declutter/detox from optional technologies. For me, that will be Facebook, including Messenger, Twitter, and Instagram. I may also let go of Goodreads and just upload my book reviews after I come back online, but I don't feel a digital drain here.
  
  I'll journal my detox, maybe I'll return to loving my blog, that I always seem to be too busy to post on. I won't force myself to finish this first draft of my novel by the end of November, but at the rate I'm going even before I begin my detox, I just might! I look forward to all that I will add to my life, as I let go of the ubiquity, the artificiality, of "connection." I want to learn to be better connected to and present in my real world life.
• 
  صان

  این کتاب خیلی روی من تاثیر گذاشت. همیشه از میزان استفاده از گوشیم ناراضی بودم. حس می‌کردم خیلی وقتم رو توی شبکه‌های مجازی هدر می‌دم.
  این کتاب رو که خوندم، تمرین‌هاش رو عملی کردم و الان سبک زندگیم خیلی عوض شده و حالا راضی‌ترم.
  
  کتاب در دو بخش نوشته شده.
  بخش اول، میگه که چرا نیازه تا رفتارهای مجازی‌مونو عوض کنیم. این که شرکت‌های انفورماتیک چقدر روی نقطه‌ضعف‌های ذهنی ما مانور می‌دن تا ما رو روز به روز معتادتر کنن و ما چقدر وقت تلف می‌کنیم اونجا و اگر درست و به اندازه استفاده کنیم مي‌تونیم از فایده‌هاشون استفاده کنیم اما وقت‌مون رو کمتر پاش تلف کنیم.
  
  نویسنده مثال‌های زیادی میاره. نتایج تحقیقات رو نشون می‌ده. حرف‌های آدم‌هایی که مهندس بودن رو می‌گه. از تجربه‌های خیلی زیادی برای اثبات ادعاهاش استفاده می‌کنه و این کتاب رو خیلی جذاب می‌کرد. مثلا بخشی که از والدن دیوید ثورو حرف می‌زد واقعا برای من جذاب بود.
  
  در بخش دوم هم راهکارهای عملی‌ای می‌ده که چطور شروع کنیم. چطور کم کنیم، چطور به یه برنامه شخصی برای خودمون برسیم.
  
  حرف کلی‌ش هم اینه که توی این کتاب، می‌خواد به یه فلسفه برسه. فلسفه‌ این که به طور کلی چطور از تکنولوژی استفاده کنیم تا با بیشترین بازده ازشون استفاده کرده باشیم. نهایت سود، در کمترین وقتی که می‌شه براشون گذاشت.
  
  یه بخشی داشت که از یه سبک زندگی حرف می‌زد که خیلی پول ذخیره می‌کنن که زود خودشونو بازنشست کنن. اون سبک زندگی خیلی برام جالب بود. اکثر کارا رو خودشون انجام می‌دن و از ابزارهای ساده استفاده می‌کنن و بیشتر به تغذیه اهمیت می‌دن و ...
  خوبی کتاب اینه که از کلی چیز حرف می‌زنه -درقالب‌ مثال‌های بسیارش- که آدم می‌تونه دنبال‌شون کنه و چیزای بیشتری ازش یاد بگیره.
  
  بخش روابط اجتماعی‌ش برای من چالش‌بر‌انگیز بود. آدم‌هایی هستن در مجازی که من گاهی باهاشون کامنتی حرف مي‌زنم یا در حد کوچیکی چت می‌‌کنم. اینجا می‌گفت لازم نیست این آب‌باریکه‌ی ارتباطی رو حفظ کنی. اگر برات مهمن که ارتباط قوی‌تری رو باهاش شکل بده اگر نه، ارزش نگه‌داشتن رو نداره. من شاید یکم با این قضیه مخالف باشم. شاید هم باید رفتارمو عوض کنم و آدم‌هایی که حاضر نیستم حذف کنم رو قدم بزرگ‌تری بردارم و ارتباطم رو باهاشون پر و پیمون‌تر کنم.
  
  
  به نظرم کتاب خوبیه که هر کسی بخونه، هرکی که فکر می‌کنه داره زیاد با گوشیش ور می‌ره.
• 
  Hossein

  تهوع دیجیتال
  1.آن اوایل که تازه کتابفروش شده بودم، تمام حسِ خوبم از آنجا می‌آمد که شروع می‌کردم به حرف‌زدن با آدم‌ها و بعد از چند دقیقه، یک‌عالمه کتاب درجه یک و درست و حسابی به آن‌ها می‌فروختم. پیشِ خودم خوشحال بودم که آدم‌ها امروز که به خانه می‌روند، کتاب‌های فوق‌العاده‌ای مثل جنایت و مکافات یا برادران کارامازوف را شروع به خواندن می‌کنند. ولی کم‌کم فهمیدم که به‌شدت اشتباه می‌کردم. یاد گرفتم که اصلِ هنرِ کتابفروشی در آن است که در آن چند دقیقه که حرف میزنی، بفهمی که "زمانِ" خواندنِ چه کتابی برای مخاطبت فرا رسیده. که با علایقی که دارد و چیزهایی که خوانده و شکلِ حرف‌زدنش با خودت دریابی که چه کتابی می‌تواند برای این لحظه‌اش درست‌ترین باشد. (خیلی دیر این‌را یاد گرفتم!)
  2.این اواخر حس می‌کردم که افتاده‌ام وسطِ دنیایی که از همه طرف اضطراب‌آور است. به شدت به دنیای مجازی بابت این اضطرابم مظنون بودم. ولی با خودم می‌گفتم که میزان استفاده‌م در مقابل بقیه آدم‌هایی که میشناسم خیلی‌خیلی کم است و اصلا تاثیری ندارد. ولی باز هم اشتباه می‌کردم.
  3.یک مفهومی هست به اسمِ "اضافه‌بار دیجیتال". به اطلاعاتی می‌گویند که از دنیای مجازی دریافت می‌کنیم ولی هیچ تاثیر مثبتی بر زندگی یا جهان‌بینی‌مان ندارد.
  4.چند روز پیش ناگهان حس کردم که حالم دارد بد می‌شود. به گودریدز نگاه کردم و دیدم چه‌قدر با چند سال پیش فرق کرده برایم. الان که گودریدز را باز می‌کنم سیلی از اطلاعات سرازیر می‌شود به دنیایم. آدم‌های خیلی زیادی را می‌بینم که کتاب میخوانند یا ریویو می‌نویسند و صادقانه بگویم که برای من این همه زیاد است. واقعا یک لحظه احساس کردم چه‌قدر خودآزارانه است که باشم در دنیایی که کاملا ناخودآگاه و بی‌آنکه متوجه شوی، قطره‌قطره زهرِ اضطراب را میریزد در زندگی‌‌ت. دیگر بریده بودم.
  5."زمانِ" خواندنِ این کتاب برای من رسیده بود. کلماتش همه انگار کلمات من بودند. شروع کردم به حریصانه خواندنش و همزمان بستن یا بیخیال شدن شبکه‌های مجازیم. پیش خودم تصمیم گرفتم یک هفته، یک هفته‌ی تمام، آهسته زندگی کنم.
  6.بابای رعنا یک حرفی دارد که به نظرم درست‌ترین است: سخت‌ترین کارِ دنیا، هیچ کاری‌نکردن است!
  7.اغلبمان نمی‌توانیم یک لحظه بیخیال شویم! نمی‌توانیم بدون یک لحظه نپریدن از کاری به کار دیگر، زندگیمان را پیش ببریم. فناوری، شیمیِ مغزمان را تغییر می‌دهد. چیزی نیست که صرفا بتوان اراده کرد و درستش کرد. درست کردنش هم کار راحتی نیست. میل به تازگی و واکنش‌نشان دادن به نوتیفیکشن‌ها و کامنت‌ها �� پُست‌های جدید و لایک کردن، اغلب دست خودمان نیست. این‌ها دست می‌گذارند روی عمیق‌ترین رفتارهایی که طی میلیون‌ها سال تکامل، در ما نهادینه شده‌اند.
  8.یک هفته برای خودم آهستگی تجویز کردم. شروع کردم به کارهایی که همیشه دلم میخواست یک روز انجام بدهم: شروع کردم به باغبانی و ساعت‌ها فرهنگ گیاهان را ورق زدن و یادداشت برداشتن درباره گیاهان و عادت‌ها و نیازهای عجیبشان، شروع کردم به ساعت‌ها کنسرتِ موسیقیِ بی‌کلام دیدن: از کمانچه و تنبور گرفته تا پیانو و ویلنسل و گیتار الکتریک و درامز.(و واقعا خوش گذشت!) به جای پیام دادن به دوستانم، بهشان زنگ زدم و صدایشان را شنیدم. موقع بیرون رفتن و قدم‌زدن، گوشی و هندزفری‌ام را خانه میگذاشتم و بارِ روانی حمل‌شان را بر دوش نمی‌کشیدم. بدون همه این‌ها، تماشای دنیای اطرافم شیرین‌تر شد.
  9. محمد ملاعباسی، یک‌جایی در مجله ترجمان درباره این می‌نویسد که گاهی از اوقات، "زمانِ" آن می‌رسد که آدم‌ها، چیزهای زندگی گذشته‌شان را به دور بریزند:
  

  گویی این‌جور دورریختن‌ها نوعی شروع دوباره است؛ نشانه‌ای برای پشت‌سر‌گذاشتنِ امیدی که ناامید شده، یا روزهایی که به شلوغی و تلخی و ناخوشی سپری شده؛ فراموش‌کردن گذشته و تعهد به حال؛ تلاش برای آغاز زندگی‌‌ای جدید در لحظه کنونی؛ پاک‌کردن زنگارهای قدیمی و جست‌و‌جوی دوباره‌ی نیک‌بختی؛ نوعی"توبه" یا شاید "مراقبه"؛ مکانیسمی غریزی برای جان‌به‌دربردن از غصه.

  
  11. گودریدز را دوست دارم. نگاه کردن به زندگیِ کتابیِ آدم‌ها از همان سال‌های بچگی تا الان برایم جذاب بوده و هست. گاهی دلم می‌خواست گودریدز کمی زنده‌تر بود: که به جای لایک‌کردن و نوشتن کامنت برای آدم‌ها، شروع کنی باهاشان صحبت کردن و شنیدنِ نت‌های صدایشان وقتی از خواندن کتابی به ذوق آمده‌اند.(این یکی از جذاب‌ترین بخش‌ های کتابفروش‌بودن است!)
  گاهی دلم میخواهد که می‌شد یک گروهِ کتابخوانی درست و حسابی در گودریدز راه انداخت.
  با این‌حال دلم می‌خواهد کمی اینجا راحت‌تر باشم. بدون توجه به حوصله آدم‌ها، وقت‌هایی که دلم میخواهد ریویوهای بلند بنویسم و به جای لایک کردن، بیشتر کامنت بگذارم و سعی کنم خلوت‌تر کنم دایره‌ی دوستانِ گودریدز را. یکم هم در چیدمان کتاب‌ها و چیزهای دیگر تغییر بدهم :)
  12. حس خوشبختیِ پیدا کردنِ کتاب درست در "زمانِ" درست، با هیچ چیز قابل مقایسه نیست!
  
• 
  Amora

  I liked this book, but I will be sincere. The methods offered here to be a minimalist aren’t realistic for many of us, including me. It’s not that I, and many others, don’t have the will to be a minimalist but it’s that we can’t. Newport does show the benefits of reducing technology use quite nicely but unfortunately this book wasn’t made for everyone. Newport’s previous book was significantly better.
• 
  Tyler J Gray

  2.25
  
  I have somewhat complicated feelings on this book. I feel like I need to say these are all just my opinions. Anyway..Through-out there were so many times I was internally screaming "DISABLED PEOPLE EXIST!" and wanting to DNF it. I almost wish I had. There is so much privilege that goes unseen that I wanted to scream. That's not to say I didn't get anything good out of this book, because I did, but it was a chore to wade through the privilege, so much of it I don't have myself, and the pretentiousness as well as an almost complete lack of being able to acknowledge the good social media has done. I know it has it's cons and flaws and people can definitely have an unhealthy relationship with it and the internet. Many do. That's a part of why I picked up this book. That doesn't mean it's evil, and I had heard that this book doesn't paint it as completely evil, and it doesn't. But it still drove me up a wall. The author even admits he has never used social media so you can take that how you want to as well.
  
  Personally I am physically disabled (as well as mental health issues that i've had long before social media-PTSD, Depression, Anxiety-that I have had my entire life due to my medical issues and I did grow up in a time before social media and the internet like it is today-mentioning that because it talks about how teens today are more anxious then ever before due largely to social media) as well as queer (non-binary trans and bisexual specifically), and i'll get to why I mention that in a second.
  
  Social media, even with it's cons, has given me a world of good. I grew up with VACteRL Association (used to be called VAteR syndrome) (capitalized like that because it's an acronym). I have rare medical issues and grew up with doctors constantly telling me "never heard of that" and looking at me like I got 3 heads. I still, less than 2 weeks away from being 31, have never, to my knowledge, met, in person, a SINGLE other person with vacterl. Not one. I grew up feeling all alone and like a freak of nature, in constant physical pain, like a burden because of the way people (including parents-not all of them-had 4 with stepparents) treated me, and like no one understood or even cared to. Add to that fact that at 13 I realized i'm bisexual and grew up thinking that's a sin and that I was going to hell for it. So I tried to pray myself straight for a few years. Obviously it didn't work. I'm proud to be queer now but man was it a journey. I also was confused as to my gender all my life but never had the words to describe how I felt.
  
  What does that have to do with social media? As an adult I found facebook groups for people with vacterl. Finally, I can talk to others that have the same medical issues, have had the exact same pain and problems, that understand because they go through it too. Some even older than me despite being told if I was born just years earlier i'd be dead. Do you know how valuable this is? In addition to realizing i'm not alone and that there are others out there that understand and care...we can also share medical information. This can save lives or at least help each other live a little better. With rare medical issues this is an understatement. Feeling all alone is the worst feeling.
  
  With social media I can now find many other disabled people who even when we have different issues we can often relate in certain ways. And I can find many other queer people now and see what teen me didn't get the chance to, that being queer isn't a bad thing. And now I know the word non-binary...finally, I understood my issue with not being able to describe my gender growing up. I knew how I felt LONG before I had the words. The word may be new to me, but the feelings aren't. Someone knowing that they aren't alone can save their LIFE. Many people don't have the privilege of having someone in their real life that understands or seems to care.
  
  Time and time again this book talks about strenuous activity and walking. Umm...physically disabled here. I can't walk much or physically do a lot. Some people...can't walk at all. It even says (talking about someone named Thoreau) "But if we remain inspired by his vision, and try to spend as much time as is reasonable on foot and engaging in the "noble art" of walking, we too will experience success in preserving our health and spirits." I didn't know I had picked up a fitness book. "Noble art" of walking? So what about those that can't walk? That can't get out much? My medical issues keep me home-bound and i'm far from the only home-bound disabled person. Through-out this book it completely forgets disabled people exist, that not everyone can walk or do strenuous activity, or get out of the house often, or has people around them in real life that actually care about them or that understand them in some way.
  
  It talks about craftsmanship, making things with your hands (not everyone has hands), and how making something in the physical real world is superior and seems to be what makes a person...matter. Time and time again it gives off the impression that if you are disabled, if you can't be handy in someway, you don't matter. Granted it seems to completely forget disabled people exist. The pretentiousness oozing off the pages made me want to throw it.
  
  It also constantly mentions smartphones and to use your desktop computer once in awhile and you're smartphone a lot less so you are on the internet less. I'm sure that can work for some people but it believes that everyone HAS a desktop computer. Many people are too poor and the only access they have to the internet is their smartphone. I'm quite the opposite, smartphones confuse the fuck out of me. I do have a tablet but I use that for ebooks mainly. I do have a desktop...that i'm always on. Because i'm home-bound.
  
  It also constantly says that downtime is overrated. Why must we always be productive? Why can't we just relax once in awhile? We aren't machines. We are human. Downtime can be necessary. Why must leisure activity be yet another thing to use as a measure of productivity and why must how productive someone is be tied to their worth as a human? When talking about leisure activities it kept saying "high quality" leisure activities aka strenuous and productive stuff.
  
  If you are wondering why I even picked it up, it's because I do want to be on the internet/social media less because I want to do other things. I want to draw, paint, write, read more. I thought maybe I could get something out of this book. And as I said in the beginning, I did. It's not without some words of wisdom or information that is useful as well as some things I wish more people knew. I don't actually regret reading it, I just didn't like reading it and it was hell to get through. I can't really recommend it and I feel like I wasted my money on it because I bet I could've just googled stuff. But the good stuff in it is why it gets a strong 2 stars from me, rather than ya know, 1 star.
  
  It talks about how we are social animals and how that evolved in our brains and why social media is kinda fucking with it. And how we aren't wired to be constantly wired, which i'd agree with. How we could generally use some solitude to be with our thoughts. A part of me hates to give it a low rating because of how valuable I actually do find the good in it. I would love a book on this topic but more nuanced and inter-sectional. I'm glad for what I got out of it and i'll try to take that and forget the rest of my frustrations with it.
  
  This review can also be found on my blog
  Here.
• 
  Mehrsa

  I like the idea in here--less is more. We do not need all the apps and the social platforms. He's definitely talking to someone like me here. I am not a huge consumer of these platforms (mostly this is age-related). However, I listened to his book using audible and some apps have really helped me expand my mind (meditation apps and audible are two). There is no room in Newport's framework for using smartphones in a good way. He's sort of an intellectual luddite. I get this and sometimes I think it's easier to draw crisp and bright lines and never walk over them lest you get sucked in, but perhaps we need to think more about our relationship with our app-filled phones before we just swear them off. I think the better plan would be to practice radical consciousness when dealing with tech. To not walk numbly and dumbly into each platform and let it take our free will.
• 
  Jessica

  Have you read any other book written by a self-proclaimed minimalist? If so, no need to read this one. It's like a checklist: uncritical quotations from Thoreau, unquestioned male privilege, neoliberal individualism, smug superiority.
  
  Did you know, the internet is addictive! But, it's not like an *actual* drug; you'll get over it if you just set very firm rules and get a new hobby. Like woodworking! Welding! Cross fit!
  
  We desperately need to have nuanced and sophisticated conversations about technology and social media. This is not one.
• 
  Lacey

  The most pretentious and rambling book I've ever read.
  
  For a book about minimalism, Cal Newport sure does waste a lot of time and words to say very little. Ironically, this whole book could have been a Twitter thread. He does offer a few tidbits of practical advice, but it's all bogged down by pretentious musings and circular prose.
  
  Basically, Newport suggests the following: Delete your social apps from your phone. Become more intentional with your social media use; that includes being aware of why you remain on social and how to achieve those goals without mindlessly tapping and swiping. Get "non-digital" hobbies. Read real books. Talk walks. Nothing groundbreaking, honestly, but stuff that's good for us all to hear.
  
  What really pushed this book from a two-star read to a one-star read is just how smug the author comes off. To begin with, he's never even used social media. We're told this repeatedly. Not really sure how he can relate to the rest of us, as he doesn't seem to fully understand the role that social media plays in a lot of people's lives. I have friends I've met on Twitter -- that I only know from Twitter. No, we're not all BFFs, but I value those connections, especially since we share many interests that my IRL friends and I don't.
  
  Privilege is baked into the book. Most of his advice just boils down to being rich or spending money on something. For example, we're told to cultivate more "non-digital" habits to break away from our computers. In the chapter, we meet some dude who has somehow achieved financial independence in his 30s (curious as to how he did that? Me too. We never hear the secret behind this major accomplishment. I'm going to guess it's "having rich parents"). After getting a expensive welding estimate from a metal smith, dude decides to just buy all the equipment himself and teach himself how to weld. He was able to provide his own iron works, as well as sell some to friends and family. It's so out of touch. How do I apply this example to my life? I have a full-time job; I don't have the luxury to while away my days learning how to do underwater basket-weaving.
  
  Newport doubles-down on the home improvement angle, telling readers they should start with small projects to build up their handiness and work their way up to bigger projects. But what if you rent and aren't allowed to fiddle with your home's wall color/electricity/plumbing? What if you have kids and don't or can't sacrifice valuable time to build a deck? What if you just don't want to? How does becoming a handyman help someone break away from their digital addiction, especially since Newport suggests readers visit YouTube for tutorial videos? The whole digression was pointless.
  
  There's so much more I could touch on. Like his weird shilling for the Mouse Book Club, a subscription book service that charges readers $50 for abridged versions of public domain texts. The idea being you keep their tiny books in your purse/pocket so that whenever you go for your phone, the book is there as a solid reminder of your unplugging goals. Why a $1 copy of the same book from a second-hand shop can't do the same, I don't know.
  
  Or his casual assumption that his readers are working at jobs that will allow them to just get up and take a walk in the middle of the day or leave early on a whim.
  
  Or his one piece of advice that's literally just "set a time limit for using social media." It's like going to your doctor and having him tell you to just be healthy.
  
  This book isn't worth it and I can't recommend. It was the cause of my recent two-month reading slump. Just go read
  Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now. At half the length, it's more insightful and more practical. The true minimalist.
• 
  Liong

  The author describes digital addiction as a slot machine. This book teaches how to become a digital minimalist and talks about the benefits of spending time without a smartphone. You will discover a lot of hobbies and things to learn.
• 
  K.J. Dell'Antonia

  I've been thinking a lot these days about making more deliberate tech choices. No one human--not even Steve Jobs--ever expected technology to invade our lives the way it has. Instead, keeping us tethered to our tech and pulling that lever became the most popular and obvious way to monetize the Internet, and we individuals became, not the consumers, but the product being sold. And instead of cutting ourselves some slack--billions of dollars have been spent in the name of making the screens around us stickier and sticker, is it any wonder we're drawn in?—we feel guilty, as I did the other night, about being too weak to just shut it off and look away. 
  
  The perfect antidote to that guilt is Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism. Newport skips the guilt (noting that we didn't ask for this and really could not have been prepared for it) and challenges to ask ourselves: what am I trying to do when I use this technology—and is this the best way to serve that goal?
  
  Build a philosophy around your tech use and you’ll use your tech more wisely. I'm trying, and this book is helping.
• 
  Nada Elshabrawy

  One of my favorite reads of the year. No, one of my favorite reads ever.
• 
  Majeed Estiri

  اگر از تاثیرات زیست مجازی بر زندگیتان خسته هستید این کتاب برای شماست اما اگر فکر میکنید حساب کاربری تان در شبکه های اجتماعی «خود شما» است پس طرفش نروید.
  
  یکی از چیزهایی که نویسنده این کتاب میگوید و شاید خیلی از ما قبلا بهش رسیده باشیم این است که برای استفاده بهینه از شبکه های اجتماعی چاره ای جز محدود کردن زمان حضور در آنها نیست. برای این کار هم بهترین مقدم این است که برنامه را از روی گوشی پاک کنید و از نسخه وب استفاده کنید که خود به خود به خاطر دسترسی سخت تر نسبت به گوشی باعث کاهش زمان استفاده از شبکه های اجتماعی میشود. نکته اصلی این است که سازندگان شبکه های اجتماعی هم این را میدانند و برای این که بیشتر زمان شما را بخورند همیشه نسخه وب امکانات و دسترسی های کمتری دارد! بله این اقتص��د توجه است
  
  من از دو سه سال پیش ایده ای دارم که این کتاب بهش اشاره نکرد. ایده من این است که شبکه های اجتماعی که جذابیت های فراوانی برای ما دارند و دوری از آنها علائم ترک اعتیاد را نشان میدهد در واقع روی مغز ما نصب میشوند نه روی گوشی هوشمند ما. نشانه اش هم این است که وقتی گوشی دم دستتان نیست دارید به این فکر میکنید که توئیت یا استوری بعدی تان چه باشد.
  
  چیزی که این روزها فکرم را مشغول کرده این است که با چقدر حضور در شبکه های اجتماعی این برنامه ها روی مغز ما نصب میشوند؟ مثلا آمدیم و من زمان استفاده ام از اینستاگرام را تا ده دقیقه در روز کاهش دادم. آیا اینستاگرام از روی مغز من پاک میشود؟ آیا بعدش روزی میرسد که با دخترم بازی کنم بدون این که بخواهم از کارهای جالبش عکس بگیرم و استوری کنم؟
  
  خلاصه که کتاب خوبی است. اگرچه کمی آمریکاپرستانه نوشته شده اما لحنش نسبت به این غولهای اقتصاد توجه و شرکتهای سیلیکون ولی و سازوکار بازار آزاد نئولیبرالیسم تند و گاهی خصمانه است . به شما ایده و انگیزه میدهد کمتر مجازی باشید و به خودتان به عنوان یک پدیده یگانه ارزشمند نگاه کنید و چوب حراج به توجه و تمرکز خودتان نزنید. روابط با کیفیت را بر روابط بی کیفیت مجازی ترجیح بدهید
• 
  Laura Noggle

  Deleted Facebook and Facebook messenger off my phone thanks to this book!
  
  Hard not to feel guilty over phone use after reading, probably because I know I waste too much time on it.
  
  Would read this one again to help ingrain the importance of living the minimally digital life.
  
  “The tycoons of social media have to stop pretending that they’re friendly nerd gods building a better world and admit they’re just tobacco farmers in T-shirts selling an addictive product to children. Because, let’s face it, checking your 'likes' is the new smoking.”
  
  ***UPDATE***
  
  It's been almost 2 months since I deleted FB and FB Messenger off my phone. Still loving it, and checking it less and less in general.
  
  This book has remained top of mind since I read it, and keeps popping up in my life. If you're interested in a good discussion around Newport's books and ideas, Rich Roll interviewed Cal on his podcast and its an excellent episode.
  
  "No longer need anyone ever be bored. Alone with one’s thoughts. Or simply present with one’s self.
  
  The result is a global epidemic of distraction. A fomenting of loneliness and isolation. And a degradation of our humanity.
  
  The solution isn’t Ludditism. Instead it’s agency. We need not be victims of technology. We have the power to liberate ourselves from the tether of digital dependency. And the freedom it creates isn’t just the salve to what ails us, it’s the gateway to that which we seek most. Meaning. True human connection. And a reconnection with our innate humanity.
  
  Indeed, there is no substitute for real relationships. Boredom is useful. And focus is the new superpower." (
  RRP Episode 447)
  
  Newport is the Marie Kondo of digital tidiness.
  
  Solitude is essential for creating new ideas, solitude as in the freedom from input from other minds.
  
  "Many people mistakenly associate [solitude] with physical separation—requiring, perhaps, that you hike to a remote cabin miles from another human being. This flawed definition introduces a standard of isolation that can be impractical for most to satisfy on any sort of regular basis. As Kethledge and Erwin explain, however, solitude is about what’s happening in your brain, not the environment around you. Accordingly, they define it to be a subjective state in which your mind is free from input from other minds." — Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism
  
  Newport doesn't have to convince me, I'm a big fan of my personal time. Cal's call to
  Spend More Time Alone makes me think of Virginia Wolf's
  A Room of One's Own.
  
  Really, I'll accept any theories that justify my proclivity for reading ... alone.
  
  
  
  Reframing Solitude in the Digital Age
• 
  Петър Стойков

  Разговарях с една приятелка относно социалните медии и постоянното гледане в телефона и й предложих поне да изключи звука на месинджър, за да не му обръща внимание постоянно. Тя ми отговори изумено: "Ама всеки път като звънне месинджъра ми става едно такова хубаво - като мини оргазъм. Някой мисли за мен!".
  
  И не са само социалните медии - отвсякъде всеки ни бомбардира и се състезава за вниманието ни. Не само за да гледаме реклами, ами просто да гледаме. Какви ли не алгоритми не измислят сайтовете, за да ни караме да скролваме безкрайно, какви ли не шокиращи, дразнещи и лъжливи заглавия слагат, какви ли не вълнуващи тайни и създаваща напрежение музика не ползват даже документалните "научно"-популярни филми за да те залепят за екрана.
  
  Отдавна съм забелязал това и се старая всячески да го избягвам, затова тази книга не е някакво прозрение за мен, но може и да бъде за много хора. Едно "дигитално почистване" определено е от полза на всеки, вкл. изключване на всякакви звуци, които телефонът и различните приложения издават, освен когато някой всъщност ти звъни, изключване на нотификациите на всичко, освен на най-важните неща, осъзнаване по колко време прекарваш в социалните мрежи и преценка искаш ли всъщност да прек��рваш толкова време там или не...
  
  Освен това и новините, особено политическите - повечето медии, тв и интернет се опитват с шокиращи заглавия и представяне да те накарат да се ядосаш, защото това повишава т.н. engagement - вероятността да коментираш или споделиш статията.
  
  Всичко това не остава без последици - в последното десетилетие диагнозите на "тревожностно психическо разстройство" при младите хора започват да надвишават тия на депресията, която е безспорен първенец при психическите заболявания от зората на психологията насам. Капацитетът за съсредоточено внимание на всички ни отдавна е увреден до степен да не можем да изгледаме цял филм на лаптопа без да го прекъсваме 2-3 пъти, за да правим нещо друго. Да не отварям дума пък за масите по заведенията с насядали заедно хора, които до един са забили глави в телефоните, вместо да си говорят.
  
  Ако смяташ, че тия неща имат значение, виж Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World.
  
  Книгата не отваря дума за рекламите и въпиющата нужда от адблокъри, но е добре човек да помисли дали му е приятно очите му постоянно да бъдат атакувани от крещящо оцветени, шаващи из екрана, навиращи се сами под мишката и издаващи неочаквани звуци, които ти изкарват акъла банери и аутоплей клипчета.
• 
  Forrest

  A little over a year ago, I posted an entry to my blog
  softly decrying the place that social media and screen time was playing in my life. A few months later, as I was preparing for a trip to Europe, I
  vowed to go without social media for two weeks while I was away (outside of texting my kids). I was . . . mostly successful. I was on very little, far less than "normal". And my strategy of taking a notebook with me and writing every night proved successful. But I didn't drop everything all the way.
  
  Now, as I said in the blogposts referenced above, I am no luddite. Not by a long shot. Okay, so I'm not on the bleeding edge of technology, either, but I am facile in the use of technology and catch on fairly quickly.
  
  But I do recall a time, many years ago, when I spent far less time online and was more satisfied with life, in general. I think that the quality of my online experience has diminished a great deal since those early days. Some of it has to do with the fact that those days were the "wild west" of the web when you could code your own (admittedly crappy) web page, you had to look hard to actually find information (remember webcrawler?), and the internet was far less homogenized.
  
  So, I decided I'd give Newport's book a read. I was leaning this direction anyway (c.f., my blog posts), and I'm not one to just swallow people's advice, but I was curious what he had to say about "choosing a focused life in a noisy world". I expected to read a lambasting of those who spend time online, a hard stance against distracting technology, a flaggelant's guide to the evils of the internet.
  
  I was pleasantly surprised to find this was not the case at all. Newport's arguments are measured and logical in a way that isn't derisive or condescending. It can be brutally honest, at times, and a touch too ascetic for my tastes. But only a touch. There is a lot here to learn from.
  
  Rather than go through Newport's arguments, I'd like to present what I've done already and will be doing as a result of this book. First of all, my habits on Goodreads are not changing at all. In fact, I would expect to see more action out of me, rather than less. Because reading is one of my core values, and I need to feed those core values. And I love other readers, for the most part. Goodreads, despite it's difficulties, feeds my soul.
  
  Facebook is dead to me. Yes, I'm there, but only to see cute pictures of my grandkids. I can do without Facebook, and am barely ever on there now. I keep a presence there so old high school friends can keep in touch and for family stuff, but I am now barely ever on there. Newport's book didn't start my process of leaving, but it definitely accelerated it.
  
  I love Twitter. I know, there's a lot to hate, but I do love it. However, I have changed my presence there dramatically. I followed about 4,000 people at one time. I've cut that down to under 1,000 and feel pretty great about that. Because now I can actually see the posts my friends make and the free static is much diminished now. I spot more articles and art that I like (loving art is another core value of mine), much of which I missed before because of all the flotsam and jetsam surrounding the really good posts.
  
  One habit I have changed on Twitter as a result of reading Newport's book is that I no longer "like" posts on Twitter. If I really like the post enough, I'll retweet it. Even better, if I really, really like the post, I will respond to the poster directly, rather than just clicking the little heart icon. I mean, really, who remembers who has "liked" their posts? Almost no one, in the long run. But I can recall some meaningful conversations that have happened between me and others on Twitter because I chose to respond and engage in real interaction rather than just satisfying my conscience by clicking like. I value those qualitatively-better conversations more and more as I avoid hitting the like button. This has made a huge difference in how I feel inside when I go online. Sounds corny, but it's true.
  
  Next month is February. I plan on taking the month offline except for Goodreads and blog posts. I have several blog posts that I have promised myself (hello, bullet journal) I would create, but have not. It's easier to go around liking stuff than it is actually creating stuff. And far less satisfying . . .
  
  I plan on re-engaging for that month as a creator. I have a denim jacket I got for Christmas that I'm going to sew over with patches I've bought. I will write more. I will read more. I will practice guitar more. I will RPG more. I will, in essence, live more. I will have to, in order to avoid boredom. Or, rather, to engage with and tackle boredom again. Then I'll come back and reassess my relationship with social media. You know, in some ways I really, really miss boredom. I need to go get into more trouble.
  
  Again, Goodreads friends need not worry. I will be here. And for the few people who actually read my blog, there will be posts. Many more posts. I've got to fill all that extra time up.
  
  Speaking of which, I need to do a few blog posts about my trip to Europe. I took lots of pictures . . . with my phone. See? I told you I wasn't a luddite!
• 
  Mohsen

  ایا گوشی‌های هوشمند یک نسل را نابود کرده‌اند؟
  
  این کتاب با دلالیل و مثال‌های بسیار بهمون گوشزد می‌کنه که چطور اسیر تکنولوژی و مخصوصا گوشی‌های هوشمند شدیم .
  این کتاب مثل یک پنددهنده‌ی خوب می‌مونه برای کنترل استفاده از گوشی همراه و دنیای مجازی.
  
  این کتاب بهمون می‌فهمونه که گوشی همراه از یک ابزار نسبتا به درد بخور به چیزی تبدیل شده که ما عمرا نمی‌تونیم ازش جدا شیم.
  
  
  اگه زیادی اسیر گوشی‌تون هستین و روزانه ساعت‌های زیادی رو صرف دنیای مجازی می‌کنین، این کتابو بخونید و به عزیزانتون پیشنهاد بدید
  کتاب خیلی کاربردیه و حتما ارزش یه خوندن داره ولی تقریبا هیچ‌کدوم از قسمت‌های تمرینش به کارم نیومد.(اکثرشو رعایت میکنم)
• 
  Chip Huyen

  The entire thesis of the book is: uninstall all your apps and only reinstall those that actually serve a purpose. The rest of the books is just examples.
• 
  Kate Olson

  If you are ready to make radical changes in your approach to tech in your life, this book is for you. It has been life altering in the best possible ways for me. I’m noticing that the people who aren’t ready to make changes tend to get defensive and call Newport a Luddite 🤷🏼‍♀️
  
  However, if you almost never use your phone except for making phone calls or don’t use social media, you can probably skip it. Or if you’ve already read other books on the topic, maybe this covers the same ground? I haven’t read some of the other popular titles so I’m not sure about that.
• 
  Books with Brittany

  An absolute must read!
• 
  Hamad

  
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  “Simply put, humans are not wired to be constantly wired.”

  
  
  I read non-fiction book about the things that constitutes the majority of our lives such as work and sleep. I think social media and our digital presence are also major parts of our lives and I was curious when I saw the title of the book and that’s why I decided to read it.
  
  I wasn’t a big fan of the writing style, nor of the multiple examples that were used and I felt were very general and not supported by science. The book was a bit all over the place and kind of harder to go through than my casual non-fiction read. But what I can’t deny is how much I liked the authors courage in being honest and direct about the negative impact of the social media.
  
  I am someone who is always late to the social media party and compared to peers of the same age I always felt a bit more mature. I got Facebook in 2012 when all my friends had theirs 3-4 years prior, I check Facebook quickly but almost never post anything. I only got IG a year ago and only for my books. Snapchat is almost extinct here anyway and I think Twitter right now is my social media of choice. The author is not against technology and neither is the book and that’s why it focuses mostly on social media which tries to glorify its benefits but in facts the negatives are much more prevalent!
  
  In fact, one of my friends deleted his IG and he told me it was not good for his mental health and although he sometimes miss it, he feels happier now and I can see that because social media just became a way to show only one side of our lives so it can have negative impact on those browsing it!
  
  

  “Digital minimalism definitively does not reject the innovations of the internet age, but instead rejects the way so many people currently engage with these tools.”

  
  
  I think the book did add something to me, I started checking my screen time and analyzing which apps take more of my time. I put a time limit on some of those because they were taking more time than I initially thought and it worked like magic! There was a chapter where the author explained how the important things will still get to us and people who want to contact us will find a way to do so even without social media. I think that is kind of true and I am thinking of doing more changes this year!
  
  Summary: Although I was not the biggest fan of the writing style, I think it is a good book and it discusses a very important subject, I think I am someone who tries to strike balance in his life anyway but I know a few people who can benefit from this book! My question is: What do you think of social media?
• 
  abigailscupoftea

  i’m doing a little experiment this month and i’m only using instagram once a week (instagram is my most used app). and in doing so, i became interested in reading this book since it focuses on phone addiction and being more intentional with your time.
  it was interesting to read about how we are hyper-connected and how we are continuously prioritizing communication over reflection. we are having less moments of true solitude, which is causing major shifts in mental health. “humans are not wired to be constantly wired.”
  i really love how this book encourages you to take control of your relationship with your phone- to mindfully plan how you use the different apps and to find balance for your life. 💛🌼
• 
  Kate

  Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism is Marie Kondo’s tidying philosophy applied to technology: technology isn’t inherently bad or good, but it should be judiciously curated to fit your pre-existing values of what constitutes a good life. Rather than going to Facebook or Instagram or a news feed of breaking news to find human connection and entertainment, pre-decide what you value in the spheres of entertainment and connection and then tailor the tools of social media to achieve those pre-defined objectives.
  
  The structure of Newport’s arguments: social media tools like Facebook and Twitter have been ruthlessly engineered to take up as much of our time as possible; the human brain is built in such a way that we become anxious and stressed seeking these notifications, yet their arrival fails to meet our need for real social communication; eliminating the things we’ve come to take for granted – constant access to a mobile phone, social media, and the internet – is much more possible than it sounds and is likely to result in significant long-term benefits. This last point forms the crux of much of what this book is based on, an experiment Newport ran with 1,600 of his e-mail list subscribers who already agreed to a 30-day “digital detox” and then shared their experiences with him. Many of Newport’s insights come from what his readers discovered, and throughout the book, he lays out various ways to try this detox in your own life.
  
  I suspect it will be difficult to fully appreciate this book unless you implement the recommended intervention. Without trying it, this book borders being viewed as one of the many get-rid-of-your-smartphone writings that have begun to appear over the last few years (I’ve read most of Newport’s previous books, and this was the first time I felt he published in the middle of a trend, rather than being at the forefront, or even being the catalyst for, a trend). Part of this is the fault of the book itself: unlike Deep Work or So Good They Can’t Ignore You, it’s poorly structured. The guide to follow the digital detox is all over the place, with some steps in the first few chapters and some in the last few; Newport introduces it before he’s had you buy in to the idea with background information on why digital addiction is bad, etc. That also means even readers who do try to implement the detox might not do so the way Newport intended, and fall off the wagon before they achieve the end goal.
  
  Due to being a longtime reader of Newport, I actually participated in his initial digital detox experiment and can say: it works, and it can significantly change your life. It’s why I gave this book 3 starts instead of 2 (in addition to the structural issue, Newport’s examples are often superficial and mainstream and unlikely to be new to many readers).
  
  Newport also offers three key points that might be lost if you’re not paying attention closely. First, he is not advocating for the elimination of all social tools. He is advocating instead for an intentional approach to your life: understanding your values, understanding what you need, and then crafting how you approach social media in response to that. With the recent “disconnect” trend, his work risks being labeled as a “get rid of everything” – when instead he’s only advocating “get rid of everything for 30 days as a way to gather data about what’s truly important to you.” Second, and possibly even more important: you will not succeed at removing social media and other distracting digital agents from your life unless you have something substantive to fill them with. Great, you stopped bingewatching Netflix for 3 hours each night – but if you haven’t cultivated something intentional to fill that three hours with (rock climbing, in-person dinner with friends, mastering the art of cooking, whatever), you’ll feel restless and empty and slide back into your previous habits. Finally, there is a difference between “connecting” with your network (passively liking someone’s new baby photos) and truly cultivating a relationship with them (going over to friend’s house to meet said new baby). We are being pushed more and more to connect, but connections are meaningless without those deeper underpinnings.
  
  Up until now, we’ve tended to talk about technology as “all good.” Newport encourages us to view it, “some parts of this are useful – use only those parts.” Time, as he discusses, is literally money – and your time starting a screen is making other people money. The people who built Facebook could not have done so if they had spent hours every day on social media platforms.
  
  So, in summary: An important message but you have to do Newport’s actual detox; that being said, this book is poorly structured and is a lot of repackaging of other people’s ideas.
• 
  Amir Tesla

  Identify your values and then ask:
  1. Is the technology I use, contribute to may values?
  2. If so, is this the best way to contribute to my values?
  3. If so, how can I maximize the benefits of this technology and minimize its harms?
• 
  Dragos Pătraru

  Îmi amintesc că la începutul lui 2018 recomandam Irezistibil, cartea lui Adam Alter. O puteți citi, dacă n-ați făcut-o încă. De atunci am început un proces de curățenie digitală, îngrijorat de timpul enorm petrecut online, cu false probleme. Anul ăsta, aproape că am abandonat contul personal de Facebook, spre disperarea colegilor și prietenilor care știu că în meseria mea dacă nu exiști zilnic, mult, pe rețelele sociale, atunci nu exiști deloc. Având avantajul că sunt seară de seară la tv, mi-am permis să tai din orele de facebook. Și am tăiat cât de mult am putut. Nu pot cu totul, pentru că ar însemna să dispar pentru un public care nu mă urmărește la tv (or, eu cu asta mă ocup) dacă nu mă vede deloc pe Facebook. Apropo, activitatea mai slabă pe Facebook s-a văzut imediat și în audiențe, mai slabe în perioadele în care nu postez nimic. Îmi place pe Instagram, am crescut contul de la 3200 de follow-eri la începutul anului la peste 32.000 acum. Dar și acolo am momente când uit de mine și mă uit la ce fac alții, hipnotizat. Așa că mi-am făcut reguli clare de utilizare, pe care încerc să le urmez. Așa am făcut rost de timp de citit (am reușit să citesc peste 80 de cărți anul ăsta), dar mai ales de timp în care să fiu atent la ce se întâmplă în jurul meu. Pentru că asta ne face tehnologia. Ne izolează într-o bulă. Și ne dă iluzia că suntem fericiți, că avem prieteni, că suntem conectați. Nu suntem. e o iluzie tâmpită, care ne blochează gândirea și ne împiedică să fim într-adevăr fericiți.
  Și fac curățenie la fiecare final de an, când, timp de trei săptămâni, mă scot total din priză. Zilele trecute, când a început vacanța mea de trei săptămâni - în care sper să dau gata vreo zece cărți pe care mi le-am ales special - am dat de cartea lui Cal Newport, Minimalism digital. Și-am luat-o, nu pentru că ar fi putut să-mi spună ceva ce nu știu, ci pentru că mi-a plăcut o altă carte a autorului, Deep Work. V-o recomand și pe aceea (deja trei bucăți recomandate azi), ideea autorului este că bruiați de atâta tehnologie și consumați de viteza asta dementă nu ne mai concentrăm destul la locul de muncă pentru a produce idei deștepte și lucruri de calitate.
  E, și-am găsit în Minimalism digital chiar sintagma ”curățenie digitală”. Dar autorul merge mai departe de identificarea problemei, prezintă o adevărată metodă prin care putem face cu succes această curățenie, metodă testată de el pe vreo 1600 de oameni. Mărturiile unora le găsiți chiar în carte. E o carte care te pune pe gânduri. Iar dacă o citești după A avea sau a fi, a lui Fromm (recomandarea mea de săptămâna trecută), cum am făcut eu, îți dai seama că limitând timpul petrecut pe rețelele sociale (mai ales dacă ești în situația fericită în care eu nu mă aflu, și anume că veniturile tale nu depind de timpul petrecut pe aceste rețele) poți să faci trecerea atât de necesară de la a avea la a fi. Asta vă doresc pentru 2020, să fiți, mai mult decât să aveți. Lectură plăcută.