Digital Minimalism: On Living Better with Less Technology
Cal Newport
A practical guide to outwitting the addiction specialists who have you in their sights.
Information from the publisher
Learn how to combat screen addiction and get your technology use in check
The urge to pick up our phones every few minutes has become a nervous twitch that shatters our time into shards too small to be present. Our addiction to tech leaves us feeling exhausted and overwhelmed. But it doesn't have to be that way.
In this timely book, Professor Cal Newport shows us how to pare back digital distractions and live better with less technology.
Introducing us to digital minimalists – the calm, happy people who can hold long conversations without furtive glances at their phones or obsessively document everything they eat – Newport reveals how to live more intentionally in our tech-saturated world.
By following a thirty-day 'digital declutter' process, you'll learn to:
- Rethink your relationship with social media
- Prioritize 'high bandwidth' conversations over low quality text chains
- Rediscover the pleasures of the offline world
Take back control from your devices and become a digital minimalist.
Reviews
“I challenge you not to devour this wonderful book in one sitting. I certainly did, and I started applying Cal’s ideas to my own life immediately.” — Greg McKeown, author of Essentialism
“What a timely and useful book! It’s neither hysterical nor complacent – a workable guide to being thoughtful about digital media. It’s already made me rethink some of my media use in a considered way.” — Naomi Alderman, author of The Power
“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, founder of Vox.com
“This book is an urgent call to action for anyone serious about being in command of their own life.” — Ryan Holiday, author of The Obstacle Is the Way
“Digital Minimalism is a welcome invitation to reconsider how we want to use our screens rather than letting the screens (and the billionaires behind them) make the call.” — KJ Dell’Antonia, author of How to be a Happier Parent
“Cal Newport has discovered a cure for the techno-exhaustion that plagues our always-on, digitally caffeinated culture.” — Joshua Fields Millburn, The Minimalists
“Digital Minimalism is the best book I’ve read in some time about our fraught relationship with technology. If you’re looking for a blueprint to guide you as you liberate yourself from the shackles of email, social net-works, smartphones, and screens, let this book be your guide.” — Adam Alter, author of Irresistible
“You’re not the user, you’re the product. Hang up, log off, and tune in to a different way to be in the world. Bravo, Cal. Smart advice for good people.” — Seth Godin, author of This Is Marketing
“I hope that everyone who owns a mobile phone and has been wondering where their time goes gets a chance to absorb the ideas in this book. It’s amazing how the same strategy can work for both financial success and mental well-being: Put more energy into what makes you happy, and ruth- lessly strip away the things that don’t.” — Pete Adeney, aka Mr. Money Mustache