Marcus Lopés

LGTBQIA2S+ Author, Blogger, Runner

Writing Life

On Becoming a Digital Minimalist

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rules

Part II: The Rules

The world has drastically changed since 1973, the year I was born. There is no denying the role technology has played in that change, especially social media — how we use it and, more pointedly, how it uses us. And it is easier than ever to go down the rabbit hole of clickbait, losing hours of our lives each day to meaningless scrolling. And to what end?

Begin with the End in Mind

As we near the end of August, I can look back over what I have done and, more precisely, what I have not done, and make the following assessment: this year has been a ruthless, at times humiliating, battle to [re-]take control of my attention agenda. Ruthless and humiliating because my efforts — up until the end of July — to manage distractions, and increase productivity and focus, have failed. Miserably. The clearest evidence of that is my screen time weekly reports, and to see days when I spent nine, ten, or fourteen (yes, fourteen!) hours on my phone. What was I doing? What, on my phone, held my attention that long? [Read more…] about On Becoming a Digital Minimalist

On Becoming a Digital Minimalist

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digital minimalism

Part I: The Foundation

I had not heard of Cal Newport until earlier this year when, during my morning commute, I listened to Lewis Howes interview him on the School of Greatness podcast. It was a thought-provoking exchange about the ‘intrusion’ of smartphones and social media into our lives that prompted me to read two of Newport’s books: Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World and Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. It is the latter that inspires this post.

What is digital minimalism? In his book, and this is an appropriate place to begin, Newport defines it 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. 1

The ‘Rules’

That “philosophy of technology use” demands, as Newport argues, that we define our technology rules. I recently spent time thinking about the rules I would need to successfully become a digital minimalist. Here are my [current] rules:

  1. Do not pick up my phone during the first hour of the day
  2. Remove social media apps from my phone
  3. Only access social media platforms on my laptop
  4. Limit use of streaming services to one movie or three episodes of a show on Saturday/Sunday
  5. Check WhatsApp/iMessages once a day (Monday to Friday), between 7:00 and 7:30 pm
  6. Embrace solitude

The goal of these ‘rules’ is twofold. First, removing distracting tools and breaking compulsive habits will help improve focus to perform what Newport calls deep work: “Professional activities performed in a state of distraction-free concentration that push your cognitive capacities to their limit. These efforts create new value, improve your skill, and are hard to replicate.”2 Second, the execution of these rules, if done consistently, will allow me to live my best life by spending time on things I value.

In this four-part blog series, I will explore the above rules in more detail, and what works and what does not on my journey to becoming a digital minimalist.

 

1 Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World (New York: Penguin, 2019), 28.
2 Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2016), 3.

Going Beyond ‘Notifications Off’

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notifications off

At the end of July, I wrote about turning notifications off on my phone. I noted that it was a starting point in my struggle to stay focused in a distracted world. No dings or chirps, or banners appearing on the screen, to announce the arrival of a new message or reaction to a post. Because I was already, it seemed, reaching for my phone too often. I certainly did not need any other incentives to encourage that ‘bad’ habit.

But like I said, turning notifications was — and only could be — a starting point. If I wanted to work more deeply, if I wanted to be more productive, if I wanted to feel like my life stood for something meaningful … I knew that I could not stop there. [Read more…] about Going Beyond ‘Notifications Off’

No More Lane Hopping

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marathon

It’s hard to believe that it’s been almost three years since I ran my first (and so far last) marathon. The decision to participate in the 2019 Toronto Waterfront Marathon happened on a whim after I experienced my most epic running wipeout and feared my running days were over. Fortunately, outside of a swollen and scraped knee — and a bruised ego — no bones were broken. I took that as life speaking to me, that this was my time to push myself and my limits, as I signed up for the race and began a fifteen-week training program. [Read more…] about No More Lane Hopping

Notifications Off

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notifications off

I ‘miss’ a lot because on my phone and laptop I keep the notifications off. And the sound. I can’t stand the ding of a new e-mail or text message arriving, or the ringing of an incoming call. Because I have enough distractions that I’m trying to manage on a daily basis, notifications — especially for social media apps — are the last things I need to add to the chaos.

As I reread Cal Newport’s book, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, I know that my struggle to truly embrace and apply the concept of deep work in my life begins in my mind. While my social media use is down considerably, when I go long stretches of not being on it I can’t escape that feeling that maybe I’m missing out on something. But am I really missing out on something that, even when I’m using it, I’m not fully engaged with?

Notifications off … it’s a starting point and, ultimately, the key to me doing more deep work and regaining focus in this distracted world.