Author: Cal Newport

My interest in this book stems from being a follower of Newport for many years and being one of his test subjects in part two of this book.

I wasn’t sure what to expect as he’s been speaking about this subject for quite some time on his blog. However, the disparate thoughts and research notes on his blog all crystallized into a coherent message for the book.

For that, it was worth picking up.

Digital minimalism, as he defines, is not the outright rejection of technology. Rather, it’s the purposeful use of technology in a way that provides great benefit rather than a minor convenience.

In other words: use what’s necessary and disregard the rest, which is quite different than a digital detox.

It should be no surprise he disavows any minor benefit social media may offer, especially being a person who has never created an account on any platform (pretty impressive for a computer science professor who also authors mainstream books). What’s interesting is he approaches this subject from a mental health perspective.

While he does offer actionable advice and a strong argument to move towards digital minimalism, his book was a great reminder for me on the benefits of staying away from technological novelty.

As a teacher, I see the warning signs of the detriments of hyper-connectivity in young people. Each year, it becomes more difficult to break students from their devices and the number of young people addicted to them is rising (clinically – I don’t throw the word addiction around lightly).

His voice is one of many who are calling us to re-evaluate our relationship to our devices. I can’t say for certain whether digital minimalism is the solution, but following its path may set a good example of why it needs to be done.