#479: Becoming a Digital Minimalist [RE-BROADCAST]

The Art of Manliness

Society & Culture, Education, Philosophy

4.7 • 14.5K Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2020

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

This is a re-broadcast. The episode originally ran in February 2019. Practicing minimalism with your possessions has been a trend for the past decade, and it can be a worthy practice, as long as you use it as a means to greater efficacy outside your personal domain, rather than just an end in itself. But there's arguably a minimalism practice that's even more effective in achieving that greater efficacy: digital minimalism. My guest has written the definitive guide to the philosophy and tactics behind digital minimalism. His name is Cal Newport and this is his third visit to the AoM Podcast. We’ve had him on the show previously to discuss his books So Good They Can’t Ignore You and Deep Work. Today, we discuss his latest book, Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. We begin our conversation discussing why digital tech feels so addicting, why Steve Jobs didn’t originally intend for the iPhone to become something we check all the time, and why the common tips for reducing your smartphone use don't work and you need to implement more nuclear solutions instead. We then discuss the surprising lesson the Amish can teach you about being intentional about technology, how cleaning up your digital life is like decluttering your house, and why he recommends a 30-day tech fast to evaluate what tech you want to let back into your life. Cal then makes an argument for why you should see social media like training wheels for navigating the web, how to take those wheels off, and why you should own your own domain address. We end our conversation exploring what you should do in the free time you open up once your digital distractions are tamed, and the advanced techniques you can use to take the practice of digital minimalism to the next level. I think you'll find this a tremendously interesting and important show. Get the show notes at aom.is/digitalminimalism.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey guys, Brett here. We're taking a break the rest of the week. We got the Independence holiday here in the United States this Saturday.
0:05.2	So we're taking a small small vacation. So we're re-broadcasting episode number 479,
0:09.6	becoming a digital minimalist with Cal Newport. Originally published February 2019, it was our most downloaded episode in 2019.
0:17.6	If you don't feel good about your relationship with the technology with social media,
0:21.0	a lot of great insights. You're going to enjoy this episode if you haven't heard it. If you already heard it, great reminders.
0:25.4	Let's do it again and found some stuff that I could work on. We'll be back Monday with a new episode.
0:29.6	For those United States, have a happy Fourth of July.
0:46.8	Brett McKay here and welcome to another edition of the Art of Manliness podcast.
0:50.4	Practicing minimalism with your possessions has been a trend for the past decade and it can be a worthy practice
0:55.2	as long as you use it as a means to greater efficacy outside your personal domain rather than just an end in itself.
1:00.2	But there's arguably a minimalism practice that's even more effective in achieving that greater efficacy.
1:04.5	Digital minimalism. My guest has written a definitive guide to the philosophy and tactics behind digital minimalism.
1:10.2	His name is Cal Newport and this is his third visit to the AOM podcast.
1:13.5	We've had him on the show previously to discuss his books so good that can't ignore you and deep work.
1:17.8	Today we discuss his latest book, Digital Minimalism, Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World.
1:23.1	We begin our conversation discussing why digital tech feels so addicting,
1:26.3	why Steve Jobs didn't originally intend for the iPhone to become something we check all the time,
1:30.4	and why the common tips for reducing your smartphone use don't work,
1:33.2	and why you need to implement more nuclear solutions instead.
1:35.7	We then discuss the surprising lessons the AOMISH can teach you about being intentional about technology,
1:40.0	how cleaning up your digital life is like decluttering your house,
1:42.8	and why he recommends a 30-day tech fast to evaluate what tech you want to let back into your life.
	...

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