Marcus Lopés

LGTBQIA2S+ Author, Blogger, Runner

writing life

The Creative ‘Balancing’ Act

by Leave a Comment

balance

We live in crazy times. Not necessarily crazy, but so much different from when I was a child. Technology has changed how we live and work. Politics are more divisive, and uglier, than I can remember. It is a me-first world, and trying to keep up can leave you exhausted. And through it all, we are trying to follow our own path, do what we love — be a beacon of hope in a world seemingly turning in on itself. To do that, I used to think that it was important to bring balance to our daily lives.

I was wrong. [Read more…] about The Creative ‘Balancing’ Act

Crash and Burn

by 1 Comment

crash and burn

In my recent four-part blog series, “On Becoming a Digital Minimalist,” I wrote about how I was changing my relationship with technology and how I use it. The ultimate goal — and a constant work-in-progress — is to live an intentional, purpose-driven life where I focus on what is most important to me. It means cutting out the noise and chatter to work in a distraction-free state.

But it cannot be all work and no play. This lesson was — again — brought home to me when, this past weekend, I was so exhausted I could barely focus. I also ended up breaking my streaming rule, watching three movies. Too tired to think and focus, it was a constant battle throughout Saturday just to keep my eyes open. [Read more…] about Crash and Burn

On Becoming a Digital Minimalist

by 2 Comments

becoming a digital minimalist

Part IV: Going All-In

Over the past few weeks, I have written about my intention to become a digital minimalist. As noted in previous posts, it is about embracing the concept of digital minimalism. At this time, it is perhaps helpful to revisit that definition as outlined in Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport:

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 [Read more…] about On Becoming a Digital Minimalist

On Becoming a Digital Minimalist

by Leave a Comment

the rules more rules

Part III: The Rules. More Rules.

Cut. It. Out. Often used as an admonishment by my mother when I was a kid and acting out, here I am referring to all the ‘noise’ in the world. The social media apps keeping us glued to our phones. Useless celebrity gossip. Narcissists. Anything, or anyone, holding us back from living an intentional, purpose-driven life. That might cause some to panic, but if we keep letting people and things distract us from living the purpose we desire for our lives, ask: To what end? [Read more…] about On Becoming a Digital Minimalist

On Becoming a Digital Minimalist

by 3 Comments

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.