A digital declutter

Over the last few weeks, I have felt increasingly uneasy about my relationship with technology. Not the technology I use to make a living working in web design, but rather, it's the technology that has been occupying a great deal of my personal time that has been causing me problems.

Across various platforms, I follow hundreds of people who are all busy sharing blogs, vlogs, tweets, toots, posts, reels, videos and podcasts. My evenings are spent streaming shows or perhaps playing video games. Every ad break or loading screen a chance to check Instagram. The reality is that all of this "entertainment" is making me miserable.

As I was treading water in a proverbial pool of information and media, a sense of misplaced energy was growing, and now I've run out of stamina. It feels obscene to call this a struggle (first-world struggle?), but it was causing me enough trouble to spur me into taking action.

Last night I signed out of social networking accounts, purged my phone of non-essential applications, and removed bookmarks that took the friction out of checking the sites and services I seek to avoid.

Today is the first day of a self-enforced month long "digital declutter" – an experiment wherein I will abstain from using any "non-essential" technology throughout July, in an attempt to regain a clear view on how I can use technology to add value to my life. Put bluntly, it's a cold-turkey approach to breaking the addictive tendencies I've developed.

Digital minimalism

This concept of a digital declutter is not my own. It has been introduced to me by way of Cal Newport's excellent book Digital Minimalism (which I consider required reading as a companion guide to this experiment, if you wish to try yourself).

In the book, Newport introduces the process and details it's three steps:

  1. Put aside a thirty-day period during which you will take a break from optional technologies in your life.
  2. During this thirty-day break, explore and rediscover activities and behaviours that you find satisfying and meaningful.
  3. As the end of the break, reintroduce optional technologies into your life, starting from a blank slate. For each technology you reintroduce, deteremine what value it serves in your life and how specifically you will use it so as to maximise this value.

Rules of engagement

The first step above requires you to set your technology rules for the period of the test. Mine are as follows:

  • No Instagram, Mastodon, Threads, Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, YouTube, etc.
  • No personal email on phone
  • No work email, calendar or Slack on phone
  • No podcasts
  • No video games
  • No streaming services when alone (shared viewing permits a single episode daily)
  • Work related blogs only to be read in a designated window
  • All notifications disabled (except for calls, reminders and banking)

I did wonder if I could stop using my phone altogether for the month. All things considered, I deemed it served enough "essential" functions (communication with family and partner as they travel, navigation, music, accessing accounts with 2FA, taking photos) to remain.

Creation over consumption

The second step of Newport's concept states you make a plan for what to do with your new found free time. For me, I am doing all of this with a motto in mind - creation over consumption. The activities I have planned to achieve that are:

  • Writing (on this blog and otherwise)
  • Reading (complete at least two books by month end)
  • Daily stretching
  • Implement hybrid training exercise routine
  • Photography and photo editing
  • Sketching
  • Working on personal website

You'll notice that several of these activities are inherently digital. I'm spending my first evening of the declutter sat at my desk writing on my computer. I don't think that is against the spirit of the experiment and they are aligned with my ambition to create more than I consume.

Additionally, some consumption is still anticipated and indeed healthy. The nourishment of reading a book needs no justification when compared to spending the same time thumbing through Instagram Reels.

A sustainable change

While I am weeks away from beginning to think about reintroducing optional technology, I must admit I am slightly nervous to do so.

This isn't the first time I've gone through motions such as these. 10 years ago, my teenage self conducted a similar experiment. Five years ago, in the midst of the pandemic, I carried out a digital detox similar to this one - though not as thorough.

In the past I've failed to make lasting change (evidently) from these experiments. I am optimistic that this time, with a proper plan which I can be held accountable to, I will break that trend.

An invitation

I sincerely hope that in reading this, you feel these are extreme measures I am going to, and think it unnecessary for yourself. However, if the challenges I've been facing do resonate with you then I invite you to join me in your own digital declutter. Let me know how you get on, but don't expect a response for a while.