'Newport is making a bid to be the Marie Kondo of technology: someone with an actual plan for helping you realize the digital pursuits that do, and don't, bring value to your life.'-Ezra Klein, Vox Clear out all the junk that has haphazardly piled up on your devices, get back in touch with what you actually want to do with your time, and then put these tools to work making your life more joyful instead of allowing them nudge you into a joyless, distracted, screen-addled existence.A New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and USA Today bestseller Gather the courage to start from scratch. If you want to rediscover joy in your cluttered digital life, half measures are unlikely to work. In addition to emphasizing the hunger so many now feel toward rethinking their relationships with their screens, I learned an important lesson from their experiences: Marie Kondo is on to something. I thought a couple dozen brave souls might take on the challenge. This trick maintains the relationship-building value of movie night, while avoiding using reruns of “The Office” as a mindless escape from issues that would benefit from direct confrontation.Ī little over a year ago, I asked my readers if anyone would be willing to attempt this digital declutter and then send me some thoughts about the experience. Similarly, I’ve heard from multiple declutter veterans who tamed a Netflix binge-watching addiction with a simple rule: They never stream shows alone. You might instead remove the Facebook app from your phone and enforce a simple schedule in which you log on to the site on your desktop computer on Sunday nights to review the latest announcements from the group. If Facebook groups are key for keeping up with a community group that’s really important to you, for example, don’t allow this reality to justify mindless Facebook browsing during every moment of boredom.

'Digital Minimalism,' by Cal Newport Penguin Random House

And when you do add back such a tool, don’t allow its use to be unrestricted - instead place some careful rules about how and when you use it to maximize the deep benefits it provides while minimizing its costs. Like a Kondo aficionado carefully deciding what shoes to put back in the closet, only add back digital tools that significantly support one of these values you recently identified during your self reflection.

At the end of the digital declutter, you must resist the urge to simply return to the same digital life you fled a month earlier.

Digital minimalism by cal newport