I really like that the concept of “digital minimalism” is catching on as a possible antidote to the palm-reading zombies you see everywhere in public. The term was coined by Cal Newport, who has a book of the same name that just came out. (Of course.)
I’d like to read the book, though I also suspect from the samples I’ve read that there isn’t anything new in there for me, since I’m already a little ways down that road. (“Turn your home screen black and white.” One better, Cal: I don’t have a ‘home screen’. “Limit your use of Facebook.” Again, check: I deleted my account.)
I really want someone to come up with a coherent philosophy and strategy for this stuff. Or perhaps that’s my job, if I want a system that’s really going to fit me and my situation.
In the meantime, I’ve come up with a little form that I’m using every work day. Here are the fields in order, clockwise from upper-left:
– When I’m going to check my e-mail and RSS feeds
– What times I’m going to be unplugged (offline)
– Any activities I need to do online (state my intention, go on, do that thing, leave)
– Ideas to research (so instead of popping online to start searching and browsing, I bank these for when I choose to do that)
I’m not always sticking to it 100%, but it’s really helping me remember during the day what my ‘meta-intention’ is around using the internet.
Does it seem like I’m obsessed with this stuff? I suppose I am — but there’s so much I want to do in this life, and spending stretches of my day online tends to just leave me feeling regretful and sad.