What is digital minimalism? (+How to de-clutter your digital life)
If you want to stop spending hours doom-scrolling TikTok or are tired of reading negative news on Facebook practicing digital minimalism is what you need, and you’re in the right place. Today we’re looking at digital minimalism and easy ways to declutter your digital life.
With the growing increase in apps, services, and social media, we are now spending more time online and scrolling our feeds than ever before – to give you an idea of just how addicted we have become to our smartphones, the average person spends 4 hours and 37 minutes on their phone everyday. And as we have become consumed with social media and with being online, this – just like everything in life that we do too excessively - has negative effects. As a result, many people can’t help but feel overwhelmed and even addicted to their mobile phones.
Because of this overconsumption and spending too much time in front of screens, people are choosing to reduce their digital consumption and make more mindful choices when it comes to how they interact and use digital platforms.
What is digital minimalism
But what is digital minimalism? Let’s take a look at how Cal Newport describes it:
“Digital minimalism is a philosophy that helps you question what digital communication tools (and behaviors surrounding these tools) add the most value to your life. It is motivated by the belief that intentionally and aggressively clearing away low-value digital noise, and optimizing your use of the tools that really matter, can significantly improve your life.” - Cal Newport.
The term digital minimalism refers to the practice of being aware of not only the positive impact communication and digital technologies have on your life but more importantly, the negative impacts, and actively making changes to reduce this. Don’t worry - digital minimalism is not about deleting all your apps and stopping all online activity but rather about being more mindful when it comes to the digital services you use like social media, and trying to find a balance.
An example of practicing digital minimalism could be deleting TikTok and Instagram, two highly addictive social platforms. Or if you don’t want to say goodbye to the social apps completely you could set timers for how long you scroll them per day.
A great community to join is the digital minimalism subreddit. On this group, people share ideas, tips, and useful advice.
Tips to declutter your digital life
If you’d like more time to do what really matters or to just be more present, practicing digital minimalism could be just what you need. As mentioned before, there’s no right or wrong way to do it – we’d recommend checking out these tips to declutter your digital life and make adjustments as needed :) Like deGoogling and switching to privacy focused alternatives, it’s a journey, not a sprint.
Social Media
The best option would be to delete the social media platforms you use, especially the ones you use too excessively. If you’re not ready to take such a big step, we’d recommend making these small changes which will still help:
- Delete the mobile app, and try to only access it through a laptop or tablet
- Unfollow brands, pages, and celebrities
- Unfollow or remove friends you no longer speak to or don’t want to see in your feed
- Leave any groups you no longer need
- Delete any old posts, photos, or shares on your profile
- Set a screen time limit for your social media platforms
Facebook collects scary amounts of your data, if you still want to use Meta’s platform we’d recommend improving your Facebook privacy settings.
- If you use Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo, delete them and switch to an email provider that does not serve you annoying ads.
- Choose a mailbox like Tuta Mail which is secure, private and has no ads or tracking
- Unsubscribe from newsletters, ads, and promotions
- Clear out your mailbox by deleting what you no longer need
- Move important emails to designated folders
- Empty your spam and trash regularly, or choose a provider like Tuta Mail which has an auto-delete after 30 days for these folders.
Want to delete Gmail? Watch this quick how to delete Gmail guide on YouTube.
Instant messenger
- Now that Whatsapp has Meta AI and you can’t delete it we’d recommend switching to a private Whatsapp alternative like Signal
- Archive chats you would like to save but don’t need to see
- Delete any chats you no longer need
- Leave and delete groups you no longer in use
Mobile apps
- Think twice before rushing to download a new app
- Delete the apps you no longer use
- Turn off notifications for your apps; only keep notifications for what you really need like your Tuta Calendar
Browser
- Don’t use Google Chrome, rather choose a privacy browser with built-in ad blocking.
- Delete browser tabs no longer in use
- Star or bookmark important pages you’d like to visit again
Files
- Store files according to folders
- You can store files locally or if you’d like to reduce clutter on your desktop, you could store them in an encrypted drive solution.
- Keep your downloads folder organized
- Regularly empty out your trash bin
Photos
- Like files, you can store your images in a drive
- Delete photos you no longer need or want
- Pictures on mobile devices accumulate fast, so regularly de-clutter your photo album.
Why are people practicing digital minimalism
We now spend more time than ever before doom scrolling social apps. This is one reason people are actively choosing to cut back on the time spent on their mobile devices and online.
There are numerous reasons the digital minimalism movement is gaining popularity and people are starting to reduce their digital consumption. From becoming more aware of big tech’s unethical practices like app tracking and data mining, to realizing that too much of their day is wasted doom-scrolling online. Below we take a look at some of the most popular reasons people are actively choosing to reduce digital consumption.
• Privacy Concerns
A big reason people are choosing to stop using big tech services and deGoogling is due to privacy concerns. Big tech corporations like Google and Facebook are free, but make their profits off selling user data. So as people become more aware that they are the product and that they have very little data protection online, they are actively choosing to stop supporting tech giants and opt for smaller privacy-focused alternatives instead.
• Information overload
If you’ve opened up Facebook just to see a negative advertisement or headline, you’re not alone. While scrolling social sites like TikTok or Instagram is a distraction, it’s common to feel completely overloaded with information. Information that’s often negative and controlled by an algorithm that chooses what you see.
• Improve mental health
Another reason people choose to take digital detoxes or reduce social media consumption is to improve their mental health and mood. Studies have even shown that social networking contributes to the increasing mental health crisis especially in today’s youth.
• Time management
Platforms like TikTok and Instagram are designed to be addictive and keep users scrolling – if you’ve ever spent hours scrolling online only to realize you just wasted an hour or two, you’re not alone. By practicing digital minimalism, you can have more time in the present, and less time wasted on the digital world. This is a huge benefit because you can take back your time and focus on what really matters – maybe it’s going for a walk or having coffee with a friend.
Small signs of change: a better web is possible
The internet has become overrun by big techs like Google and Meta which put profits over people. Companies like these do everything they can to keep you on their platforms because this is how they make money. This is not only unethical, but creating apps that are addictive has been proven to have negative consequences as we mentioned earlier.
While you can start practicing digital minimalism you will be happy to know that change is coming to the internet, too, as Big Techs are increasingly coming under fire and being forced to change – like the DOJ’s antitrust decision to break up Google’s monopoly.
Tuta Mail is built by Tuta, the German-based company known for its encrypted tools that are quantum-proof, open source, and private by design.
Even better, privacy-focused alternative services that are open source and do not put profit first are on the rise. For example Tuta Mail - the end-to-end encrypted mailbox with no tracking or ads. Apps like Tuta Mail give you more power over your own data and more choice when it comes to how you interact and use digital tools
Whether you practice digital minimalism or are about to start, we have the perfect email solution to help - Tuta Mail. No ad, no tracking, just email. Give it a try, it’s free!
