{"id":30951,"date":"2021-03-24T10:03:59","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T14:03:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=30951"},"modified":"2021-04-04T13:19:14","modified_gmt":"2021-04-04T17:19:14","slug":"deep-work-and-digital-minimalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/deep-work-and-digital-minimalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Deep Work and Digital Minimalism: Less Screen Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What is digital minimalism<\/a>? How can practicing digital minimalism increase your deep work?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Deep work and digital minimalism go hand-in-hand. Digital minimalism is Cal Newport’s term for cutting back on screen time and optimizing you internet usage. This allows you to minimize your distractions and increase your focus at work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keep reading for advice on how to practice<\/a> digital minimalism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Practice Digital Minimalism<\/strong> for Deep Work<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A key to spending more time in deep work is to avoid distractions that take you out of deep work.\u00a0That’s why deep work and digital minimalism go together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For many people, the greatest distraction is the Internet, and particularly social media. The book Deep Work <\/em>dedicates a chapter to ridding yourself of social media as a distraction. If social media isn\u2019t a big problem for you, some of these principles can be generalized to your personal distraction demon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Problem with Social Media<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Social media, and much of the Internet in general, is designed <\/em>to get you addicted to its content. These are lightweight whimsies, unimportant distractions derailing you from meeting your true goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like shallow work, social media is insidious in that it seems like you\u2019re doing productive things, when really the gains are minor. <\/strong>For example, people believe that Facebook connects them to people or surfaces relevant news. This sounds good in principle, but the real result is superficial. The acquaintances you\u2019re making are shallow and unlikely to be the center of your social life – for people you really care about, you\u2019ll arrange to see them outside of Facebook. Similarly, the news you\u2019re digesting may be fun to read, but they mostly don\u2019t move you closer to your major life goals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To counteract this, some people have declared Internet sabbaticals, where they go completely off the grid for a month. Cal Newport thinks this is missing the point \u2013 it\u2019s not necessary to be a Luddite, just like artisans don\u2019t forego all tools made of metal. Social media has its uses – they just need to be carefully considered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Justify Your Internet Usage<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When deciding whether to use a tool like social media, many people use the \u201cany benefit\u201d argument – a technology tool is justified if it conveys \u201cany benefit at all\u201d from its use<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But this dilutes your focus, since concentrating your time on the most effective tools will make you more productive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to the \u201cany benefit\u201d justification, make a well-reasoned argument about the tool\u2019s benefits, cost and the opportunity cost<\/a><\/strong>. This will maximize your output.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how:<\/p>\n\n\n\n