Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport [Actionable Summary]

This is a comprehensive summary of the book Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport. Covering the key ideas and proposing practical ways for achieving what’s mentioned in the text. Written by book fanatic and online librarian Ivaylo Durmonski. Supporting Members get full access.

The Book In Three Or More Sentences:

Our relationship with technology is becoming unbearable. If something doesn’t change soon, we’ll either mentally break or legalize weddings between a man and a device. Luckily, Cal Newport, probably the only famous person without a social media account, shares practical advice on how to reduce your time spent online and finally stop mindlessly scrolling. How this can be done? By embracing the philosophy of digital minimalism.

The Core Idea:

As minimalism in general talks about less is more, digital minimalism preaches about the same thing but done online. The gadgets and the websites we visit should be used to support what we truly value, not become valuable on their own. By ruthlessly reducing your engagement with addictive apps and trendy sites you will… earn awards, have real friendships, focus better, think better, and feel a hell lot better.

5 Key Lessons from Digital Minimalism:

Lesson #1: You Have a Slot Machine In Your Pocket

The device that’s sitting quietly inside your pocket? It’s a tiny slot machine.

Yep, every time you open an app or a website, or receive a notification of some sort, you’re searching for one thing: “What did I get?”

But unlike slot machines where you have a small (tiny) chance of actually winning something, our pocket computers and the tools we daily use are designed to rob us. To steal the most important thing we have in the most seductive way possible – our attention.

According to Tristan Harris, a famous entrepreneur mentioned in the book, Silicon Valley programmers are not programming apps, they are programming people.

All the shiny applications that are free to use and promise care-free living, are designed to be used in a particular way for long periods of time. By scrolling and liking pictures all day, big corporations are making big bucks while you’re sinking deeper and deeper into the rabbit hole.

And while others are making more money, you are spending more money. Trying to feel better by bathing in goods but never actually feeling better.

The solution to escape this vicious cycle of liking, sharing, and consuming?

Adopting the way of the digital minimalist.

“People don’t succumb to screens because they’re lazy, but instead because billions of dollars have been invested to make this outcome inevitable.” Cal Newport

Lesson #2: You Have no Good Reason To Be On Social Media

There are many who will tell you that social media is good and helpful. And these folks will probably be right. I mean, there are certainly benefits of using these platforms – running a business, managing a team, the ability to connect with folks in different continents.

However, the majority of people actually using these time-wasting apps are not doing it for any of the above reasons. They’re simply afraid of missing out on something. And, because these tools are designed to be seductive and to cause behavioral addiction.

Yes, regardless of how noble the mission of Twitter and Instagram might seem on paper, the code behind these platforms was developed to keep you inside – doing nothing productive.

There are two main hooks embedded in the devices that keep us refreshing like lunatics:

1. Intermittent positive reinforcement: A scientific study by Michael Zeiler from the 1970s, explains that rewards delivered unpredictably are far more exciting for the human brain than when delivered in a known pattern. That’s why we so enthusiastically check our notifications. They spark strong emotions in our brains and we constantly want more. App developers were, and still are, able to bring us back to their websites thanks to the “Like” button. This tiny little button changed the way we engage with the online world. Nowadays, we don’t simply go online to see what our friends are doing, we visit these virtual places to get a dose of unpredictable feedback.
2. The drive for social approval: We simply can’t ignore what other people think of us. In the past, it was vital for our survival to have a healthy relationship with our tribe – or else they can exile us. Now, while in theory, we can survive on our own if we have enough money, the feedback we get from others cannot be ignored from the brain. That’s why we post stuff online – to get approval. More likes mean more people approving us and we keep doing it because we constantly crave more. The negative side, besides that it becomes addictive, is when no one is liking our stuff. If this happens, we enter a melancholy state of mind and other negative thoughts start to consume our minds.

When you see the above, you can’t unsee it. It gets clear why so many of us stay inside these virtual online spaces.

And while Cal Newport talks a lot about quitting social media and reducing your time spent online, the concept of digital minimalism is not about completely rejecting modern tools. It’s mainly about asking yourself, “Is this the best way to use technology to support what I value?”

“It’s a social-validation feedback loop… exactly the kind of thing that a hacker like myself would come up with, because you’re exploiting a vulnerability in human psychology.” Sean Parker