A Review of Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism: Choosing to Live a Focused Life in a Noisy World

Author's note: My first few posts will be old pieces of writing! (This review included.) Any "past" piece will not be reviewed or re-edited because I want to spend my time revising current works instead of past pieces. While I recognize that my past (and probably current) writing contains mistakes, I hope that the research, themes, ideas, or opinions presented in my writing will spark others' interest and prompt them to conduct their own research and self-reflection!

Published via Facebook on 26 November 2019.

In this 284-page book, associate professor and prolific author Cal Newport weaves economic principles, psychological and neuroscientific facts, historical examples, and testimonials together to create an informative and intriguing case for “digital minimalism”. While he focuses on reshaping our relationship with technology (particularly social and digital media), I felt that his methods are applicable for anyone who wants to improve themselves and live more intentionally.

Digital Minimalism also teaches important principles of moderation, intent, and satisfaction. Newport encourages readers to realize the vitality of solitude, real-time social interaction, and reflection. He deliberates over the benefits of social media and technology and proposes a variety of solutions to correctly utilize each medium--without experiencing the exhaustion that often accompanies frequent online interaction.

It’s difficult for me to summarize my thoughts on this book because I enjoyed it so much! Thus, I will attempt to summarize my thoughts in six parts. I will define digital minimalism, and explain technology’s appeal. I’ll talk about the negative effects of overexposure to media and why we should practice digital minimalism. Finally, I’ll briefly discuss some minimalist strategies I like, and what I’m applying to my life.

“Digital Minimalism” Defined

What is digital minimalism? It’s the solution to digital exhaustion, manipulated moods, uncontrolled lives, unmet social and emotional needs, and much more. Newport specifically defines it as “the best way to fight the tyranny of the digital in your life...to embrace a philosophy of technology use based [on] your deeply held values”(35). Digital minimalists do not despise or condone technology. Rather, they use it intentionally and efficiently to fulfill their needs. What are these needs? According to the Uses and Gratifications Theory, the four reasons we use media are to learn, relax, socialize, or escape. After recognizing their desires, “digital minimalists [use] technologies as tools to...support things they deeply value--not as sources of value themselves”(252). Media should enhance what we value, not determine it! Digital minimalism seeks to satisfy our needs through three core principles: consolidation, optimization, and intention. Each value is closely related and essential to seeing success in your life. How digital minimalists decide to consciously use media varies. But they regularly practice self-assessments to discover what they need and how to get it.

Why We Love Technology

The detrimental effects of technology and social media have been highly promulgated over the past few years. FOMO has been discussed and research articles on technological-enhanced feelings of loneliness have been shared. Even Apple has responded to criticism of technology by creating software to limit the amount of time spent on apps. Yet we still struggle with healthy media usage. Because of this, social media breaks have become very popular. I’ve participated in many. And while I do like the clarity that they provide, I often struggle to wholesomely reintroduce myself to media. Why is it so hard to end a toxic relationship with technology?

Newport provides many reasons but I’ll only include a few. He discusses the impact of the “like” button on Facebook and explains how our brains love the gamble of posting online. Because the responses we receive on social media are unpredictable, our brain finds the process exciting and stimulating. The “whole activity of posting and checking [becomes] maddeningly appealing”(18), and Silicon Valley innovators harness this (and other human tendencies) to benefit themselves. This is apparent in a statement by Sean Parker, the founding president of Facebook. When explaining the process of creating Facebook, Parker provided the following question that began the operation: “‘How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?’”(19) Clearly, the technology industry is exploiting our instinct for approval and satisfaction, with complete disregard to our responsibilities and lives.

Newport provides several neuroscientific studies on social behavior, but I will only briefly restate what this research proves. Our brains crave social interaction, but will often settle for online activities that require less energy (142). However, this “low-bandwidth chatter…leaves most of our high-performance social processing networks underused--reducing these tools’ ability to satisfy our intense sociality”(142). When we engage in face-to-face dialogue, our brains employ many different facilities to understand body language and complex emotions. 3-D movies and simulations are fascinating, but a focused conversation can be even more intense and thrilling. A sincere in-person conversation will always be much more gratifying than any movie or Instagram comment.

While Newport includes many other reasons why technology and media are enticing, his main point is: we are naturally social creatures, and technology producers utilize every psychological principle and weak human tendency to consume as much of our time and energy as possible. And because our need for socialization cannot be satisfied by technology (but we adapt to expect gratification from it), we continue to turn to it for fulfillment.

The Negative Effects of Uncontrolled Media and Technology Usage

If it wasn’t obvious already, our relationship with media and technology can be very harmful. The compulsive thought to check a notification or refresh a feed is becoming exhausting (X); we are ceding our autonomy to a cruel, technological mistress that cannot fulfill our actual needs. Newports laments, saying that “No one, of course, signed up for this loss of control. They downloaded the apps...for good reasons, only to discover… that these services were beginning to undermine the very values that made them appealing in the first place: they joined Facebook to stay in touch with friends across the country, and then ended up unable to maintain an uninterrupted conversation with the friend sitting across the table” (XI). Our technology is “[dictating] how we behave and how we feel… often at the expense of other activities we find more valuable”(8).

One example that I found especially powerful involved the online discussion of the 2016 presidential election. Newport reaffirmed my theories on this event by referencing Jaron Lanier, a “techno-philosopher”(XII). Lanier “convincingly argues that the primacy of anger and outrage online is… an unavoidable feature of the medium: In an open marketplace for attention, darker emotions attract more eyeballs than positive and constructive thoughts. For heavy Internet users, repeated interactions with this darkness can become a source of draining negativity”(XII). I rarely participate in online discussion, especially political conversations, because I believe that they often don’t foster a safe and open environment for dialogue. Yet, I often find myself drained and angry after scrolling through platforms where these arguments are occurring. While I recognize that my attitude may be more susceptible to negative media than others, Laniers’ points are powerful and important. Overexposure to media does not replenish social vitality or positive emotions, it takes them away.

One frequent argument for media and technology usage that I’ve encountered is so-called “awareness”. I’ve told people that I’m very vulnerable to the attitudes and emotions surrounding media, and they’ve often responded with variations of “well it just doesn’t affect me.” While I previously stated that my influenceability may be higher than others, I still believe that there are dangerous effects that impact all media users. (And that everyone could benefit from practicing digital minimalism.) However, I remain in my opinion because I believe in moderation and efficiency. Newport uses basic economic principles to teach about limiting our technology and media usage. He teaches readers of “Thoreau’s new economics, [which demand] that you balance...profit against the costs measured in terms of ‘your life.’ How much of your time and attention… must be sacrificed to earn the small profit of occasional connections and new ideas that is earned by cultivating a significant presence on Twitter?”(41) If you truly value discussion and exposure to opposing viewpoints, wouldn’t it be more beneficial to “adopt a habit of attending an interesting talk or even every month, and [force] yourself to chat with at least three people while there?”(42) Why not engulf yourself in community-sponsored events and discussions? I believe that our deep values and needs can be satisfied in more beneficial ways and that practicing digital minimalism can provide us with more time to pursue other interests.

Newport moves on to discuss the concept of solitude, which I believe very firmly in. He defines it as spending time alone with your thoughts and receiving no input from other minds. Inner commingling is vital to good mental and emotional health; our technology is damaging our relationships with others and ourselves. Think about it: we are alienating ourselves from our minds! For me, that is an incredibly frightening realization. Why would I give anything power over myself? “When you avoid solitude, you miss out on the positive things it brings you: the ability to clarify hard problems, to regulate emotions, to build moral courage, and to strengthen relationships”(104). While Newport supports this with research and psychological fact, I would add my testimony to the importance of solitude. When I engage in activities that separate me from outside voices and allow me to wander throughout my cognition, I experience a relaxing and beneficial form of enlightenment. I philosophize over my classes and relationships. I create solutions to problems. I acknowledge my fears and then find ways to overcome them. I reflect on memories and use them to strengthen my perceptions of life and spirituality. Conversely, when I feel too stressed, busy, or weak to experience solitude, I suffer and struggle. I lose interest in education and other responsibilities. I feel dissatisfied, lonely, frustrated, and confused. And I resolutely declare that my phone is what disables my agency. It opens the door to hours, days, and even years worth of mind-numbing entertainment. I have conducted experiments on myself and can say undoubtedly that my phone is the main source of my distraction and lack of peace.

My final point on the harmfulness of technology, particularly social media, relates to two popular counter-arguments: that we need social media to maintain friendships, or to receive validation. However, Newport gravelly informs us that using it “tends to take people away from the real-world socializing that’s massively more valuable”(141). Newport firmly supports this with a variety of evidence. One study I found particularly impressive was conducted in 2016. It gathered approximately 1,900 Facebook users to study their wellness scores, according to specific social media activities (138). It found that users only felt better if they received information (a comment, a like, etc.) from someone they knew well (138). This reveals a common need: the desire for validation from loved ones. But how often does someone you truly care about comment on your posts? Wouldn’t it be much more gratifying to spend real time with them, or chat over the phone? Even then, one could still argue that the accumulation of responses on social media from peers could eventually satisfy a need. Sherry Turkle, an MIT professor and researcher on subjective experience with technology says no. When asked, “‘Don’t all these little tweets, these little sips of online connection, add up to one big gulp of real conversation?’”(145) Turkle explains her reasoning, but outrightly begins it with “No, they do not”(145). No matter how social or antisocial we may deem ourselves, we all have needs for interaction--and media/technology simply cannot satisfy them. Furthermore, the feelings that we experience from unmet needs are devastating and deep. Again, research shows that “The small boosts you receive from posting on a friend’s wall or liking their latest Instagram photo can’t come close to compensating for the large loss experienced by no longer spending real-world time with that same friend”(141).

Newport provides his own research to prove how digital minimalism can satisfy our social and emotional needs. He noticed that “people who deleted [many of their] apps discovered that they essentially stopped using social media altogether”(224). Having engaged in long social media breaks, I can attest to a portion of this. Whenever I redownload my social media apps, I have little or no desire to use them. Unfortunately, I always sink back into old habits because I have failed to set the kind of boundaries and goals that digital minimalism teaches. This is proven by more of Newport’s results, which discovered that the people who did reimplement social media into their life used it for “specific, high-value purposes, and only [did] so every once in a while”(224). This is digital minimalism!

Why Practice Digital Minimalism?

The reasons for applying digital minimalism into your life are apparent in the negatives. By practicing it, you can avoid digital exhaustion, feel happier, have more meaningful interaction, and more. But I would like to offer two more points on the importance of solitude. Newport cites many historical examples of figures who actively sought to experience solitude. Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, Benjamin Franklin--men who experienced extreme stress and pressure, yet were able to lead inspiring lives and enact serious societal change. Newport partially credits their success to the “unhurried self-reflection”(94) that they engaged in. While he provides several ways to practice solitude, one feature of solitude that I liked involved writing. Writing during pondering “shifts you into a state of productive solitude… providing you with a structured way to make sense of whatever important things are happening in your life at the moment”(126).

However, there are plenty of problems that cannot be cured by conscious media consumption or simple solitude. Mental illness will not disappear through the deletion of Instagram, and anxiety and depression existed before the digital revolution (105). Nevertheless, many researchers are noticing a correlation between social media and high phone usage and increased mental health crises. While I have heard this belief before, I thought Newport offered interesting new insight on it: “iGen”, (people born between 1995 and 2012) are the first generation to suggest the essentiality of solitude. Newport states: “On reflection, this makes sense. These teenagers have lost the ability to process and make sense of their emotions, or to reflect on who they are and what really matters, or to build strong relationships, or even to just allow their brains time to power down their critical social circuits, which are not meant to be used constantly, and to redirect that energy to other important cognitive housekeeping tasks. We shouldn’t be surprised that these absences lead to malfunctions”(108). These are important claims. Newport does not demonize technology, but he does suggest that it is seriously harming this (and other) generations. When we allow technology and social media to advert our internal processes, we lose our sense of identity. After all, you can’t understand someone if you never listen or talk to them, and technology prevents users from listening to and understanding themselves.

How to Apply Digital Minimalism in Your Life

There’s no exact pattern for practicing digital minimalism. And because each person’s experience with it is unique, I won’t be covering all the exact steps that Newport lays out. I will focus on some general points that I liked. Newport encourages readers to take a thirty-day break from social media and certain apps/technology. I love Newport’s detailed advice on this “fast” because it’s not your typical digital detox. Newport explains how to create good goals of restriction, and how to fill our extra time. He states: “For many people, their compulsive phone use papers over a void created by a lack of a well-developed leisure life”(71). When you remove technology from your life, you must replace it with activities or pursuits that (better) satisfy your unmet needs. Newport defines social leisure as something that involves in-person interaction and has rules, rituals, or shared goals to work towards (189). This kind of leisure is found in all forms; from book clubs to CrossFit, you can experience fulfilling “sensory and social richness… that’s largely lost in virtual connections”(189).

Another important kind of leisure is skill-based. Newport argues that amusing tweets or aesthetic photos are “digital cries for attention are often a poor substitute for the recognition generated by handicraft, as they’re not backed by the hard-won skill required to [make something]... Craft allows an escape from this shallowness and provides instead a deeper source of pride”(180). Additionally, to have successful, high-quality leisure time, we must strategize our time, set objectives, and create plans to succeed. (Which Newport explains in-depth.)

My Experience

Despite this massive collection of thoughts on media and technology usage, I am an infant digital minimalist. I have not tried Newport’s thirty-day fast, and there are still times that I waste energy on my phone. Nevertheless, I am trying to practice his philosophies because I believe they will be more successful than anything I’ve ever tried. I’ve been taking breaks from social media and technology since 2017. Some have been beneficial for a while, even after re-introducing social media into my life. However, I always resume my consumption habits. I’ve deleted apps, I’ve set time limits, but nothing has ever truly helped.

I've had several very negative experiences with social media and technology. Some experiences I've had on social media have triggered an unexpected and overwhelming amount of strong feelings--anxiety, frustration, helplessness. These emotional collisions helped me realize that I need to be more intentional with my technology usage. I finally realized that my social media habits weren’t helping me learn or boosting my mood. I ignored this fact for a long time. As previously stated, I knew that I am very vulnerable to emotions on the Internet and social media. Nevertheless, I continued to over consume media and technology, until the culmination of several particularly hurtful experiences. After those experiences, I was ready to make serious changes. While I had rented Digital Minimalism from my library a few days earlier, I hadn’t started reading it. But after realizing how much social media was hurting me, I jumped into its pages and fell in love with its philosophies. I used almost 3/4ths of a pad of Sticky Notes to annotate this book. I discussed it excitedly with my peers. I developed and answered a question set, to analyze when, where, and why I use my phone. Though I’ve only started to practice digital minimalism, I can already attest to its success. I feel so empowered and motivated. (If you would like to hear about the specific goals and strategies I have implemented, please ask me about them!)

My personal beliefs have peppered this review, but this conclusion is purely my own opinion of digital minimalism. However, don’t let subjectiveness fool you. I’ve left out lots of Newport’s reasoning and research--if there’s something you don’t believe in, read the book, and try something out for yourself. If it doesn’t work, at least you’ve learned more about sociality and complex emotional/mental needs. Nevertheless, I think my review of this book is a strong example of how powerful digital minimalism is. This review is almost over seven pages--single-spaced. I think this collection of my thoughts truly proves how much time we have; how productive we can be when we’re conscious of our media and technology usage. I spent hours on this project. I categorized my annotations and thought about how to structure each paragraph of my review. I reflected on my knowledge and personal beliefs to further enhance my claims, checked my grammar, and revised sentences (though I’m sure there’s still plenty of grammatical errors.) And not because I wanted to prove a point or attack media users. I love writing, metacognition, and emotional health. I can spend hours discussing it and other features of human nature. But the best way I learn is through teaching and writing. Thus, by providing my extensive thoughts on digital minimalism, I am engaging in valuable leisure/pursuit of my interests and helping myself to learn more about this philosophy.

If you want to live in the moment and enjoy the simplicity of life, become a digital minimalist. If you want to rediscover an old hobby or learn a new one, practice minimalistic principles. If you want to feel satisfied with your life and always be improving, practice digital minimalism. I encourage everyone to take control of their lives and always remember: “Sociality is simply too complex to be outsourced to a social network or reduced to instant messages and emojis”(151).

Works Cited:

Newport, Cal. Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Portfolio, 2019.