What Is Digital Minimalism?

This tech use philosophy shapes my daily life.

I like to describe myself as a "digital minimalist." This wonderful term comes from Cal Newport's book by the same title, published in 2019, that has had a major influence on my thinking about technology's role in our lives. Newport defines digital minimalism as

a philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimized activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else.

He argues that we need to move beyond tips, tricks, and hacks, which can never outsmart the machine, and instead "rebuild our relationship with technology from scratch, using our deeply held values as a foundation." We need to think long and hard about the role we want devices and platforms and apps to play in our lives, and then make conscious choices that relegate and restrict them to those roles.

A digital minimalist lifestyle, which employs new technology with care and intention, creates a better life than either Luddism or mindless use. It recognizes that technology is a powerful tool, but not a toy; it should not be the primary source of our entertainment, displacing many other forms of high-quality leisure activities and opportunities for real connection with other people.

This approach stands in sharp contrast to the "maximalist" approach that most people now employ by default. There is a sort of blanket assumption that whenever there is a possibility of technology being beneficial, its use is justified, even when its precise utility cannot be clearly identified.

For example, sometimes it feels like many of us are waiting for that life-changing career opportunity to come to us via LinkedIn or a lucrative sponsorship deal via Instagram, which will make the countless hours of content creation, posting, monitoring, engaging, and scrolling worthwhile—but that is silly and impractical. We squander time waiting for messages that never come, despite there being far more effective ways to further a career.

What does a digital minimalist's day look like?

I can only speak to my own efforts over the past five years, but I can summarize them as follows.

Deliberate phone avoidance: I do own a smartphone, but I try to minimize its presence in my life. It's on silent, facedown, or out of sight for most of the day. I avoid looking at it in the mornings, during focused work periods, and when I'm with my kids or friends. I take long walks without it. I try to batch my text responses or make phone calls instead. I read a book in public while waiting for appointments. I leave my phone in my bag when meeting someone for coffee, instead of setting it on the table like an uninvited guest.

Enriching offline life: Another great concept from Newport is "fix your analog life first," which I've written about for this newsletter. You must fill the void that digital abstention creates, and ideally, that is done with high-quality leisure activities. Newport paraphrases Aristotle's Nichomachean Ethics when he says that a well-lived life requires activities that "serve no other purpose than the satisfaction that the activity itself generates."

This will look different for everyone, but for me it's going to the weightlifting gym most days and pushing my body to its physical limits (and engaging in a form of “supercharged socializing,” which we humans desperately need). It's cooking dinner from scratch every night and feeding the people I love most in the world. Sometimes it is practicing and playing music in a local symphony or other ensemble, depending on the season.

Going outside: Nature is one of the most effective yet underlooked ways to feel better about ourselves. And if it doesn't improve things, it almost certainly will not make you feel worse! I try to go outside every day, whether for an unplugged walk (no headphones) or simply a work session in the fresh air.

Prioritizing in-person interactions: I try to use my phone as a tool to plan get-togethers with friends, not as a replacement for those meetings. Solid, meaningful relationships must be built in real life, or at minimum, via phone conversation or video chat, where you can hear voice tone or see facial expressions. Tapping a like button does not count, nor does sending a substanceless "Thinking of you!" text to a friend.

Small acts of rebellion: I pursue analog alternatives that look inconvenient on the surface, but are profoundly satisfying in how subversive and countercultural they feel. I have a land line in my home. I like paper maps when traveling. I ask for menus at restaurants with QR codes. I read physical books and magazines. I buy and carry nice notebooks and pens that make me want to write things out by hand.

I go through multi-week phases of social media deactivation, and avoid commenting on or liking anything I see—not as a way to outsmart the algorithm (impossible), but as a refusal to let those rote actions become a substitute for meaningful conversation.

Techno-selectionism: I'm not afraid to try out new technologies and platforms, but if they do not serve my purposes or add quantifiable value to my life, I won't hesitate to ditch them.

Digital minimalism is practical and reasonable.

It does not vilify anyone for succumbing to smartphone ownership or for wanting to be connected online. As I tell audiences when giving talks, I would not want to return to a world without laptops or Wi-Fi, as these have enabled my entire work-from-home career as a writer and editor. But it's entirely fair to look at the technological takeover of most people's lives and want something different.

You do not have to live without this technology, but you can certainly choose to design your life life in such a way that, as Newport says, "you sometimes have a phone with you, and sometimes do not." It's a win-win situation all around.

You Might Also Like:

• Adult Screen Resolutions for a New Year

• On Eccentricity, or Why I Want to Be a ‘Character’

• Stop Filming, Start Dancing

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In the News:

I have a new opinion piece in the Globe and Mail today, Canada’s largest newspaper, in which I argue that Ontario’s toothless school cellphone ban isn’t working. It’s time to rethink it (paywall). Here’s one paragraph to pique your interest:

There are numerous accounts of phones being used in changerooms, where kids play games, scroll on TikTok and film each other. Kids frequently go to the bathroom, only to stay there, on their phones, for the whole period. It’s not unheard of for kids to order pizza during class and pick it up at the front door of the school. In the cafeteria, kids will use AirDrop to send embarrassing videos to large numbers of students.

Outrageous, right? That’s why this province—and every other jurisdiction, for that matter—needs to crack down on how it handles phones, implementing bell-to-bell bans that give students a chance at the focused learning they need so badly.

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Have You Read My Book?

Childhood Unplugged: Practical Advice to Get Kids Off Screens and Find Balance is available in paperback, PDF, or audiobook. If you love it, as many other readers have (it’s got a 4.9-star rating!), consider leaving a review on Amazon, which my publisher tells me is a huge help for boosting sales and visibility. If you’d like to learn more about my work, please check out my website.

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