Why I'm becoming a digital minimalist in 2024

It's all a bit too loud...

Dear fellow human,

In the words of Tom Rosenthal, it’s ‘all a bit too loud’. The world, I mean. I watch people go about their day without flinching at supermarket trolleys rolling along the concrete car park or wincing at a car horn or jumping at the sound of a child wailing in the distance or grimacing at the neighbour’s un-oiled bicycle chain or being distracted by the chatter of conversation on the street, and I wonder what it must be like to be unaware of the layers of noise that suffocate me.

‘Overstimulation’ (a drawing by me)

It’s not just noise in my physical environment that exhausts me and grinds me down. The noise extends to the never-ending stream of emails, social content, podcasts, Netflix shows, music streaming, and text messages that are waiting for me when I seek refuge in my home. There is always something to be listening to, or watching, a decision to be made about how to spend my time, or a worry I might be missing out on something.

When I’m hurting, this distraction feels like sweet relief. It pulls me out of the depths of my feelings to a place where I’m suspended just outside of reality: I don’t need to make decisions, have independent thoughts, or deal with my problems. I can block the noise of the world out. But as I’m getting better, I’m healing, I’m learning, the relief of distraction doesn’t taste so sweet anymore. In fact, it leaves a sickly taste in my mouth. I’m starting to wonder, does the sweetness, like sugar, come at a cost?

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I remember the day we installed the internet in my family home. The sound of dial-up internet will forever be filed in my mind under “exciting moments”. That was when I was six or seven, so I guess I grew up online. The internet has always been there for me to gain instant access to knowledge, information, and people. It has always felt like a help, not a hindrance. Until now. So, what’s changed?

Alfie and I distracted by a loud lorry outside hoping that by giving them evils out the window they will hurry up and go away.

In short, I’ve become aware of how noisy my online world is. It’s not just out in the real world where I have to wear ear buds to feel calm, it’s in my digital world where I am locked in and lacking tools to accommodate myself. The technological world is increasingly engineered to trap me in decision paralysis. Having so many options as to what I could consume means rarely making an active decision at all. I end up shuffling random suggested playlists on Spotify, watching recommended 10-episode long series back-to-back on Netflix, and scrolling through endless feeds of social media posts across various platforms. Before I know it, I’m exhausted and burned out from the onslaught of bright lights and jarring information.

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I have tried the middle way. I have deleted apps for certain parts of the day, restricted how I can use what, set timers to remind me to log off, but the pull is just too strong. I, personally, need black and white. I need all or nothing. Now that I see that too much of these technologies is making me overstimulated, distracted, and disconnected, I can’t un-see it.

The flip-side of the coin is that I see how calm, grounded, and centred I feel on the days I spend my free time reading, walking, writing, making art, and having real-life conversations with loved ones instead of staring at a screen. There’s something about the tangible nature of these activities that forces me to live in the present moment with myself as the main character not just as an anxious sim that is there for the ride.

So I’ve been pursuing a more tangible, mechanical, manual way of doing things over the last few weeks. I bought a CD player, I dug out my DVD player, I considered getting a dumb phone, I started using my film camera, I committed myself to physical planners, journals, and commonplace notebooks, I went on walks without music, I got a magazine subscription to National Geographic, I read books, I made art with my hands, and I had real-life conversations with friends.

And, let me tell you, it’s proved to me how addicted I am to technology! It’s not easy spending time alone after “solitude deprivation”. In the weeks since I have reduced my use of things like social media and streaming services I have felt antsy, foggy, anxious, on edge, and a little bit lost. But this is exactly why I want to continue to find a way to minimise my use of digital media. It may feel good in the moment to be distracted, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for me in the long-run.

This is not to say that I am going to sell all of my tech, move to a treehouse in the woods (although that sounds lovely!), and never use social media again (I’m very aware I am currently communicating with you via a screen). What it does mean, is that I am embarking on an honest journey of self-reflection. I want to work out how I can maximise the benefits and minimise the costs of technology in my life. There was a time when I looked at only the benefits of technology, but now I need to consider the flip-side too. Seeing the top executives of social media companies say that they wouldn’t let their children use these apps is a wake-up call I needed (even if long-overdue!).

Now I know you may be reading this and feeling quite uncomfortable. I don’t blame you. I feel uncomfortable writing it. Technology has become so ingrained into the fabric of our daily lives that it feels almost impossible to completely turn away from it. It often makes our lives feel easier, and helps us to escape the mundanity and challenges of day-to-day life. A break-up with something that provides such instant gratification, and quick solutions, isn’t very appealing.

But I’m not seeing it as a 'break-up’ so much as a redefinition of boundaries. And this redefinition of boundaries is going to take some experimentation. There are some ways I use technology that I want to cut out completely, but some things I don’t want to give up at all. I’m not basing this on anyone else’s experiences, or following an instruction manual, because I don’t think that the solutions one person comes up with will be the same for another. Our relationships with technology is personal. But the bottom line is that I think at we owe it to ourselves to intentionally assess how we can use technology to benefit us rather than falling into the trap of letting technology own us.

I like Cal Newport’s philosophy on this. In his book “Digital Minimalism” he says:

“The most common response to these complications is to suggest modest hacks and tips. Perhaps if you observe a digital Sabbath, or keep your phone away from your bed at night, or turn off notifications and resolve to be more mindful, you can keep all the good things that attracted you to these technologies in the first place while still minimising their worst impacts. I understand the appeal of this moderate approach because it relieves you of the need to make hard decisions about your digital life - you don’t have to quit anything, miss out on any benefits, annoy any friends, or suffer any serious inconveniences. But as is becoming increasingly clear to those who have attempted these types of minor corrections, willpower, tips, and vague resolutions are now sufficient by themselves… I’ve become convinced that what you need instead is a full-fledged philosophy of technology use, rooted in your deep values, that provides lear answers to the questions of what tools you should use and how you should use them and, equally important, enables you to confidently ignore everything else.”

How does technology play a role in your life? Do any technologies in particular suck up your attention? Have you ever done a digital detox?

Sending you love,

Charlie

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This is the first in a series of posts I will be making about my experiment with digital minimalism in 2024. Subscribe to join the journey.

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