Digital Minimalism with Cal Newport

00:00:00.000 | Hi, I'm Cal Newport. I want to give you a short summary of my 2019 book, Digital Minimalism.

00:00:12.000 | So I'll start with the inspiration for writing this book.

00:00:17.000 | I had begun to notice around 2016-2017 that people were becoming increasingly uneasy about their relationship with their phones.

00:00:29.000 | The real issue they were having was how much time they were spending looking at these stupid things and how it was making them feel after they came out of those sessions.

00:00:43.000 | So people were getting uneasy about this. They were spending too much time. They didn't like how the phone was making them feel.

00:00:50.000 | So right around 2016-2017, people began trying to actually solve this problem. And there's two real responses that people have tried since then, both of which I'm going to argue are not enough.

00:01:03.000 | The first thing people tried was to detox. We heard this term used all the time when it came to digital lifestyle.

00:01:14.000 | This idea that I'm looking at this too much, so what I need to do is just get away from this. I just need to white knuckle.

00:01:21.000 | No more Instagram. No more TikTok. No more Twitter. No more phone. Let's just not read that phone.

00:01:26.000 | And they would see it over there, and they would just try to prevent themselves, clench up and prevent themselves from grabbing the phone.

00:01:32.000 | And you know what? It rarely worked. Because it would still be sitting there. There'd be something they'd want to see.

00:01:38.000 | So why don't I just check it one more time? And they look a little bit, and then a lot more, and then the phone is back into their life.

00:01:45.000 | The other response to this increasing uneasiness about our technology use was the delusion that we could fix it by fixing the programs, by fixing the apps, by fixing the phones.

00:01:59.000 | That yes, I'm using this too much. It's making me unhappy, but we can correct this issue.

00:02:03.000 | If we just had slightly better content moderation on Twitter, if we kept the wrong people from saying the wrong things,

00:02:10.000 | it would go back to being something that doesn't make me feel incredibly stressed out and emotionally nervous and innervated by just looking at it.

00:02:17.000 | If we just got the rules just right, if I just had the right app on my phone that showed me a tree every time I turned it on,

00:02:24.000 | and I could see the tree get bigger if I waited more time, then I would change my habits, and I would stop using the phone so much.

00:02:30.000 | We had this delusion response that yes, this phone is causing trouble, but we can fix it.

00:02:36.000 | The tech is just a little bit flawed, so with a couple more tweaks, this will work.

00:02:41.000 | Obviously, this response did not solve our uneasiness as well.

00:02:45.000 | We've tried everything for years, and we still keep coming back to the phones. The phone still makes us unhappy.

00:02:53.000 | So what's going on? Why did those responses not work?

00:02:56.000 | One of the big arguments I make in my book is that they are too well engineered to capture our attention.

00:03:04.000 | This has become more well known in recent years, especially with documentaries like The Social Dilemma.

00:03:11.000 | But back when I was writing this book, this was less well known.

00:03:14.000 | The amount of energy and money that was invested in trying to make it nearly impossibly compelling to stare down at this little glowing piece of glass.

00:03:25.000 | Part of this had to do with the interface design itself, the colors that were used in the notification and alert badges,

00:03:32.000 | the satisfying feel of an infinite scroll, or a slot machine style refresh.

00:03:38.000 | Is there a new tweet? Is there a new post I can look at?

00:03:42.000 | Then there was the whole algorithmic backbone to these services, where us as the users were reduced to these vectors of numbers

00:03:52.000 | that could be processed by complex algorithms and neural networks to figure out exactly what to show us

00:03:59.000 | that would make us scroll one more time or click one more time.

00:04:03.000 | It was an arms race against an incredibly well-funded enemy.

00:04:08.000 | And of course, we were going to lose. And that seems to be what happens.

00:04:12.000 | The other issue that kept us coming back to the phone, why the detoxes didn't work, why we couldn't just tweak our technology out of it.

00:04:18.000 | And this is something a lot of people weren't admitting about themselves, is that this phone was actually servicing a psychological need for them.

00:04:27.000 | It was filling in the existential void they did not want to stare into.

00:04:34.000 | There was things in their life that they were unhappy about, things they did not want to acknowledge,

00:04:38.000 | things where they had regret or where they had shame or where they had anxiety.

00:04:42.000 | And you know what? The algorithmically enhanced pacification offered through these appealing, colorful, lit pieces of glass

00:04:50.000 | could distract you for just a little bit.

00:04:53.000 | And to take that out of your life, to take that out of your life cold turkey when you try a detox week or a detox weekend,

00:04:59.000 | where you add that app on your phone that's going to encourage you not to use it, was a terrifying ordeal.

00:05:03.000 | Because it was serving a purpose. It was pacifying us. It was keeping us from having to actually confront the existential void.

00:05:11.000 | So we continued looking at our phones. We continued being uneasy about how much time we were spending.

00:05:16.000 | We continued feeling bad as we came out of the experiences.

00:05:21.000 | One too many yelling matches on Twitter.

00:05:24.000 | One too many senses of inferiority after seeing a well curated life on Instagram.

00:05:30.000 | So what is the solution then?

00:05:33.000 | Well, in my book I said, you need a philosophy of technology use.

00:05:39.000 | A philosophy that makes sense of how you use technology as part of a larger, well-developed theory of a life well lived.

00:05:47.000 | And the philosophy I preached to accomplish this goal I called digital minimalism.

00:05:54.000 | Now the idea behind digital minimalism is straightforward, but it is often misunderstood.

00:06:00.000 | So let me start by saying what digital minimalism is not.

00:06:03.000 | It is not minimization. That is a different word.

00:06:07.000 | A lot of people see this title and say, oh, what Cal is preaching is less is better.

00:06:12.000 | The fewer pieces of technology you use, the better you are.

00:06:16.000 | You want to minimize the amount of technology in your life. And that is not what I preach.

00:06:19.000 | I am a computer scientist. I make my living doing research on technology and writing articles about the impact of technology on society.

00:06:26.000 | I am a nerd. I like technology.

00:06:28.000 | No, digital minimalism has nothing to do with minimization, but has everything instead to do with intention.

00:06:34.000 | A digital minimalist starts with a well-formed vision of what they want their life to be.

00:06:39.000 | What do they value? What do they want to spend their time doing?

00:06:44.000 | They then work backwards from this vision to figure out what technology they want to use.

00:06:50.000 | So for each of the things they value, they say, what is the best use of technology to support or amplify this thing I care about?

00:06:58.000 | So the digital minimalist is seeking out technology.

00:07:01.000 | They see technology as being fundamental to making their life better, but they do it with care.

00:07:07.000 | If I know this is important to me, then I can be very selective about what technology is going to support this.

00:07:14.000 | And then if I know why I'm using this particular technology, it is quite easy to put rules or fences around my technology use.

00:07:22.000 | To focus on the advantages and to get away from the hidden traps.

00:07:28.000 | So, for example, if social connection is very important to me, I like being around people, let's say I like also exercise.

00:07:36.000 | And I'm really into, just to pick an example, bike riding.

00:07:40.000 | Well, I might look and say, what's a good use of technology to help this?

00:07:43.000 | Well, maybe there's a Facebook group for a cycling group in my town, and they trade rides.

00:07:49.000 | And you can find people at the spur of the moment who want to go on a ride with you or have discovered new things.

00:07:54.000 | That is a great use of technology to support this thing I care about, social connection and exercise.

00:07:58.000 | So you bring Facebook groups into your life.

00:08:00.000 | But if you know that's why you're using Facebook, it's very easy to say, well, why would I stare at a news feed as well?

00:08:07.000 | Why would I see what my uncle thinks about QAnon or the political thoughts of my niece?

00:08:14.000 | That has nothing to do with my goal here of supporting social connection and cycling.

00:08:18.000 | So then you get a browser plugin that scrapes the news feed right off your screen.

00:08:23.000 | And then when you log into Facebook, which you only do on your computer, you can go straight to your group and get exactly what you want out of it.

00:08:29.000 | And none of the stuff you don't.

00:08:31.000 | It's not on your phone because why? You're not looking at your news feed because why?

00:08:36.000 | You are putting technology to use on behalf of you.

00:08:40.000 | You are not making yourself a gadget in the giant attention economy machinery that is these technology companies' ultimate goal.

00:08:48.000 | That is digital minimalism.

00:08:50.000 | Thing after thing in your life, you asked a question, how can I best use technology to support this thing?

00:08:55.000 | And if this is why I'm using this technology, what are the obvious rules to put on it?

00:09:01.000 | Now, the key corollary to this is that after you've made those decisions, here's what I want to use and why.

00:09:07.000 | You have to be comfortable missing out on everything else.

00:09:13.000 | Just because there's some new tool that was invented doesn't mean it's your job to go try it out.

00:09:18.000 | Apple, I'm glad you invented the Apple Watch. It's not my job to figure out why it's useful.

00:09:22.000 | TikTok, I'm glad you got 600 million users, but it's not my job to figure out what's on there.

00:09:27.000 | I know what I'm about. I know what I'm interested in. I'm using tech to help it.

00:09:32.000 | I have rules around it that evolves relatively slowly.

00:09:34.000 | That is the life of the digital minimalist.

00:09:36.000 | It's intentional. It's careful.

00:09:39.000 | But it's also exuberant and it's focused on building the best possible life.

00:09:45.000 | Now, the reason why this works is behavior changes that are focused on supporting something positive are very sustainable.

00:09:53.000 | If I have a set of rules about how I use technology that supports a vision of my life that I truly deep in my bones want and crave,

00:10:04.000 | then it's very easy when I have a craving to look at some social media service that's not part of my plan to be like,

00:10:12.000 | "No, no, I'm not going to do that because I'm so committed to this plan I have, because I'm so committed to this positive vision of my life."

00:10:18.000 | On the other hand, if you're trying to change your behaviors to avoid the negative, you say,

00:10:22.000 | "I don't like how much time I spend on Twitter, so I'm trying not to use it."

00:10:25.000 | That is not sustainable because your brain will say, "But it's not that bad."

00:10:30.000 | And you know what? This guy met a professional associate on Twitter.

00:10:35.000 | Maybe that'll happen to you. Let's just go peek. Let's just go peek.

00:10:39.000 | Six hours later, there's blood coming out of your eyes as you're yelling with emojis at a 14-year-old in Kansas to do better.

00:10:49.000 | So avoiding negative behavior is good luck.

00:10:52.000 | Pursuing a positive vision, yes, that's human nature one-on-one.

00:10:56.000 | So that's the digital minimalism vision.

00:10:59.000 | Now, if you think it's going to be difficult to get started because you don't even know your answers to the question of what you care about,

00:11:05.000 | what do you want to spend your time doing, I did have in my book a practical suggestion.

00:11:09.000 | I called it the 30-day digital declutter.

00:11:13.000 | Notice I'm not using the word detox. I do not like that word.

00:11:16.000 | Declutter is the word I focused on, and the idea there was simple.

00:11:21.000 | Take 30 days. Step away from all of these optional personal technologies for those 30 days.

00:11:28.000 | Social media, online news, streaming video.

00:11:32.000 | And during that time, aggressively reflect and experiment to rediscover what it is you care about,

00:11:39.000 | to rediscover how it feels to be doing these deeper, more quality activities that are meaningful to you.

00:11:44.000 | And you will come out of those 30 days with much more self-awareness,

00:11:47.000 | and you will be prepared then to answer the question of what technology do I want to bring back, and how do I want to use it?

00:11:54.000 | So it's a good way to jumpstart a digital minimalist life.

00:11:59.000 | In my book, I talk about an experiment where I had 1,600 people go through that 30-day declutter,

00:12:07.000 | and a lot of lessons were learned.

00:12:11.000 | So that's what I have to say. That is the answer I formed.

00:12:14.000 | What do we do about the uneasiness about how much time we spend on these things?

00:12:18.000 | We build a better life. We build a more intentional life.

00:12:21.000 | We put this to work for us. I don't know about you.

00:12:25.000 | I am not interested in clocking into Mark Zuckerberg's data factory.

00:12:29.000 | I don't think it's my job to give Elon Musk a better network graph that he can monetize with ads.

00:12:36.000 | I want to live the best life possible, and tech will help me, but it will do so on my terms.

00:12:40.000 | That's digital minimalism.

00:12:42.000 | If you are uneasy about your relationship with your tech, I think it's an idea that you should consider.

00:12:48.000 | [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:12:51.360 | (upbeat music)

Digital Minimalism with Cal Newport

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