Last updated: 11.17.2024
I identify as a Digital Minimalist. I found the term after reading “How to Break Up With Your Smartphone” by Catherine Price, which inspired me to search online for other techniques to reduce my screentime. From there, I found the /r/DigitalMinimalism subreddit.
Here are some foundational reasons I feel passionate about this topic:
On this page, I will catalogue steps I am taking towards Digital Minimalism. I hope you find them helpful or inspiring. At any point, this page may look like a work in progress because so am I.
This step was the easiest and most fruitful for me. I bought a regular alarm clock and charge my phone outside of my bedroom. And it turns out, I have never missed something important because my phone was in the other room.
However. If I am on-call for work (the bane of my existence), I bring my iPhone in for the alerts. Maybe I get a very simple flip phone just for this.
I deleted all of these.
I can see why this step may seem harder to justify for others. Maybe TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook let some connect with others and stay informed.
But I felt like Twitter and TikTok did not make me better informed, and Instagram and Facebook did not connect me to friends and family.
I notice many people my age only have Facebook for Facebook Marketplace. You should try out Craigslist again, which is the Internet at it‘s most pure and gorgeous!
On a more basic level, I feel freer having less of a digital footprint.