What It Means
Digital minimalism is a way of using technology on purpose. Author Cal Newport describes digital minimalists as people who carefully curate their technology so it best supports the things they value. His book Digital Minimalism puts the idea into practice with a 30-day digital declutterDigital declutteringClearing out what has piled up on your phone, computer and accounts, or Cal Newport's 30-day break from optional tech that brings back only what earns its place. See more.
Try It: Sort Your Apps for a Digital Declutter
For each example, decide: does it clearly support something you value, or is it optional? Optional ones sit out the 30 days.
Nothing paused yet. Newport's declutter asks you to step away from optional tools, such as social media.
At the end of the 30 days, let a paused tool back only if you can name a clear reason it supports something you value.
How People Say It
- "I deleted everything but maps and messages for a month."
- "I'm doing Cal Newport's declutter."
- "The apps came off my phone and I haven't missed them."
The Breakdown
The 30-day digital declutter, as Newport's book describes it
- List the optional technologies in your life, such as social media and streaming services.
- Take 30 days off those optional tools.
- Use the time to find activities you enjoy and value, offline.
- At the end, start from a blank slate and let each tool back only if you can give a compelling reason it supports something you care about.
- For each tool you keep, decide how and when you'll use it.
Steps 3 and 5 are Buhata's own additions to Newport's outline.
Try it today. Use the sorter above to draft your list, then pick a start date for your 30 days.
Keep or pause (Buhata's own questions)
| Question | If yes | If no |
|---|---|---|
| Does it clearly serve something I value? | Keep, with a plan for when | Pause |
| Would work or family be hurt without it? | Keep | Pause |
| Do I open it mostly out of habit? | Pause | Keep for now |
Where It Comes From
Cal Newport laid out digital minimalism in his book Digital Minimalism, published by Penguin Random House. While researching it, he ran a declutterDeclutteringClearing out what a home no longer needs by sorting belongings into what to keep and what leaves the house, one small area at a time. See more experiment with readers, and his site reports it grew to more than 1,600 participants.
Good to Know
Newport's declutter is about optional tools. Anything your job or family depends on stays, though you can still decide when to check it. If you're setting rules for children's screens as well, the screen-free timeScreen-free timeSet times or places in a family's day, like meals, bedrooms or the hour before bed, when phones, TVs, tablets and games stay off. See more page covers the American Academy of Pediatrics' family media planFamily media planA written set of family rules about screens and media, such as screen-free times and places, that each household makes to fit its own routines and values. See more guidance.
FAQ
What is digital minimalism in simple terms?
Using only the technology that clearly supports what you care about, and dropping the rest. Cal Newport describes it as being intentional about the tools you let into your life.
How long is the digital declutter?
Thirty days. Newport's plan is a month away from optional technologies, followed by letting back only the ones with a compelling reason.
Do I have to quit social media?
Not forever. In the declutter, social media is one of the optional tools you set aside for 30 days, and you bring it back only if it earns a clear place in your life.
Do It in Buhata
Habit streaks and Notes
Add "No optional apps today" to Habit streaks (Plus) in Buhata and tick it each day of your 30-day declutter.
Open BuhataRelated Terms and Categories
- Deep work
Focused, distraction-free time spent on a mentally demanding task, a term from author Cal Newport's 2016 book Deep Work.
- Screen time
The time a child spends using screens such as TVs, tablets, phones, computers and game consoles, counted across a day or a week.
- Doomscrolling
Scrolling on and on through bad or upsetting news and posts on a phone or computer, often for longer than you meant to and in a way that's hard to stop.
- Dopamine detox
A popular name for a break from quick-reward habits like scrolling, though Cleveland Clinic notes it doesn't lower or clear dopamine from the brain.
Sources
Cal Newport, "On Digital Minimalism" (calnewport.com); Cal Newport, "My New Book: Digital Minimalism" (calnewport.com); Cal Newport, "Some Thoughts on Transitioning to Digital Minimalism" (calnewport.com); Penguin Random House, "Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport"
- calnewport.com/on-digital-minimalism
- calnewport.com/my-new-book-digital-minimalism
- calnewport.com/some-thoughts-on-transitioning-to-digital-minimalism
- www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/575667/digital-minimalism-by-cal-newport
Last updated .