Digital Minimalism

To summarize the main points about this step:

The digital declutter focuses primarily on new technologies, which describes apps, sites, and tools delivered through a computer or mobile phone screen. You should probably also include video games and streaming video in this category.

Take a thirty-day break from any of these technologies that you deem “optional”—meaning that you can step away from them without creating harm or major problems in either your professional or personal life. In some cases, you’ll abstain from using the optional technology altogether, while in other cases you might specify a set of operating procedures that dictate exactly when and how you use the technology during the process.

In the end, you’re left with a list of banned technologies along with relevant operating procedures. Write this down and put it somewhere where you’ll see it every day. Clarity in what you’re allowed and not allowed to do during the declutter will prove key to its success.

This is exactly what happened with Anya, a participant in my experiment who is from Belarus but is currently studying at an American university. As she told the New York Times in an article about my experiment, taking a break from online socializing with her international friends helped her “feel more invested in the time I spend with people. . . . Because we [interacted] less frequently, we [had] this idea that we want to make the most of the experience.”

Amish commitment to the biblical tenet to “be in the world, but not of it.”