It’s possible to have relationships online – that’s not in dispute. It’s time away from building real friendships and growing real relationships.

Liking a friend’s post about their vacation isn’t the same as having a discussion about the trip. One thing that stuck with me was the idea that all that time spent on them makes it feel like we’re connected to people, but in reality, we aren’t. He’s careful to say that social media (or any service that we mindlessly consume) aren’t bad, but our relationship with it can be unhealthy. This is the content treadmill that has no end and is dangerous to get on. There’s always something new to read, someone new to follow, or a subreddit I haven’t yet explored. After that, I go back to Twitter and see what’s new since last time. I check Twitter, then Facebook, then Reddit, then Instagram. We pick our phones to fill time, creating a loop of services that provide us with variable rewards that keep us coming back for more. To list out what Cal mentions about social media addiction is basically just looking in the mirror for me and many people. This book forced me to do that – and I didn’t like what I saw. It’s been a while since I took a good inward look at my social media habits. I also write about the month I spent trying my own “Digital Declutter” – a concept thoroughly explored in Digital Minimalism. This post is a review of that book, but also my take on digital minimalism as an early retiree. The day it came out I queued it up on Libby and anxiously awaited listening to the audiobook.Īfter waiting 7 weeks for my copy, I binge-listened to it ( it’s only 6 hours, 59 minutes) during a long day hiking and running a few errands (on my usual 1.5x speed). What’s even better is that it allows you to read books but also download audiobooks!Īfter reading Cal Newport’s Deep Work and connecting with his concept of focused, attention driven progress, I couldn’t wait to check out his newest book Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. Since these are checked out from your local library, all books are free. Libby is a free app (iOS, Android & Windows) that connects to your local library account and allows you to read books.

One of my favorite discoveries of the last year has been Libby.

Digital minimalism review