# Digital Minimalism (Cal Newport) // 19-8-5

(Note: This post has been reformatted, for better readability.)

I've read this book in German, because it was available from my
public library. Therefore some of the wording in the following
summary and discussion might be different from the English original.
I hope the ideas are conveyed correctly, though!
These notes are primarily for myself. Some additional personal
comments can be found at the end of the post.

## introductory stuff

- goal of book: productive and responsible use of social media,
  networking technologies and smartphones
- main psychological mechanisms exploited by social media providers
  and companies: intermittent positive reinforcement (stochastic, not
  foreseeable good feelings), need for social rewards
- clutter (physical and mental) is costly -- optimization is important
  -- intentionality is satisfying
- Thoreau: real economic value should be measured in (sensible)
  life-time saved, not money gained
- common misunderstanding of Amish principles: against *senseless
  application* of technology, not technology itself, so they employ
  "amish-hacking" to balance usefulness against social dangers of new
  technologies
- Mennonites: individual responsibility for decisions about use of
  technologies
- decision against technology increases autonomy

## core method: de-clutter by one-month abstinence

1. define *optional technologies to abandon* and find sensible
  and *satisfying alternatives*
2. *define rules* to keep required technologies at bay
3. *write all down* visibly as daily reminder
4. *abstain* during 4 weeks

## re-introduce technologies

only if they pass requirements:

1. directly serves a serious need
2. is best method for this goal
3. can be applied with a procedure defining when and how to be used

## exercises, hints, suggestions

- enjoy solitude which is undisturbed time with own thougts (psychic
  illnesses in teenagers correlated with smartphone availability!)
  e.g cyclic solitude without smartphone, but with note/idea-books
- talk more, connect less, abstain from liking posts
- bundle textual interactions (sms, messaging, e-mail)
- reduce barriers for analog communications by defining standard
  time slot(s) for phone calls and personal meetings
- perform mindful and creative activities during free time to prevent
  killing time: learn practical abilities and to repair things, and
  participate in social activities
- schedule mindful, low-quality and even mindless activities, with
  seasonal/mid-term and weekly/short-term (time specific) plans with
  rules and goals
- use social media and textual communication to schedule analog
  (multi-sensorial) interaction with phone calls or even better real
  meetings, where non-verbal interaction is possible
- delete social-media apps from smartphones and only use web-based
  versions, to rise barrier
- single-task on any computer, to prevent mindless activities
- enjoy slow-media: high quality and low volume (at pre-defined
  times), hear all sides
- where/whenever possible, replace smartphones by dumbphones

## personal remarks

I've read this book during my vacations in a tree house in the
French Vosges mountains. That was a funny coincidence especially
with the chapter discussing Thoreau's "Walden" (which I haven't yet
read).
The trigger for reading it was a phlog entry by somebody who was
looking forward to "Digital Minimalism" delivered by the mail service
or so; unfortunately, I did not bookmark the post and I cannot find
it again! If somebody knows which post that was, I will gladly add
the reference.

In view of minimalism, gopher obviously is a good choice.
But now I see better why I always was somewhat against improving
interaction in gopher (with hacks for comments etc): There is a
risk for the author to fall into the trap of the "intermittent
positive reinforcement" which creates incentives to "write for
rewards" instead of own thoughts. I much prefer to get "symmetric
feedback" through someone else's phlog or directly by e-mail.

I'm not exactly in the target audience for this book, as I only
have a LinkedIn account I rarely access through the web, and
smartphones without media apps except for direct communication with
family and close relatives.
Nevertheless, there are take-aways for me: I will increase my analog
communication, and I will better plan my free time.

.:.

*written on PalmIII*
*reformatted with vi on FreeBSD*