We should all practice digital minimalism

I just returned from a 48 hours digital break. No emails, no FaceTime, no social media, no disturbing presidential tweets, no online shopping carts. Even Siri was on mute. Before you ask, let me spoil it for you: it felt great.

Venture out of your screen, there is beauty beyond pixels | Illustration: Nooreen Javid

As the early signs of fall are showing up on the East Coast of the US, I signed up for a two-day trip in the upper Hudson Valley, a four-hour drive from New York City. My friend has a CSA membership and the farm growing the produce shipped weekly all over the five boroughs, Windflower, was hosting its annual reunion for members and friends. I don’t know how it works for you but for me, as soon as I turn the wall calendar page to “September”, my brain starts racing. In France, we call the beginning of this month la rentrée, which refers to everyone returning to town from summer holidays and the start of the school year. Almost like a mini-season of its own, stuck between summer and fall. September reminds me that half of the year is definitely gone and that, well, December is just around the corner. This year, instead of doubling down on the “to-do-before-the-year-ends” list, I decided to put over-planning and over-achieving away. This farm trip was the perfect excuse. Setting my intentions before heading North, I realize that I wanted to break — figuratively!- two things:

• Break the routine, which is not only my online habits but also all my offline habits.
• Break the constant brain stimulation (or is it brainwashing?) that we endure, mostly online but not only. I figured that the limited perimeter of the farm would enable me to think without external influence and see what ideas resonate the most.

Okay bye

It seems that the common denominator of my intentions was escaping the “online”, hence going screen-free was necessary. There was network coverage on the farm and its surrounding, but since I was camping on-site I left all my devices in Brooklyn. The exception was my iPhone, which I turned off throughout the weekend and only used a few times as a camera.

Digital minimalism is a religion in the tech capital of the world

Scientists have demonstrated for years the negative impact of the web on our mental health. And it’s no longer a secret that parents living and working in the Silicon Valley are restricting or banning access to technologies for their kids, worried for their psychological and social development. On the Mountain View campus of the Waldorf School of the Peninsula, the most sought-after private school for Google, Apple, eBay, Amazon & Co executives, children are not allowed to engage with technology until they reach 11. However, digital minimalism as defined by its founding father Cal Newport is not about refusing to use technologies. It’s about spending limited, focused time online “on a small number of carefully selected activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else.” The underlying message is that we should approach technology with a human-centric perspective, where we empower ourselves to decide how and when to use it.

Alright you need a screen break

Are you ready to leave your screens?

A survey from Deloitte reported that Americans check their smartphone on average 52 times per day. Needless to say that interrupting this habit, even for a limited period of time, is not an easy one. In my experience, there was no downtime at the farm with lots of activities and people to meet, so I had no craving to check my phone. To make yours successful and stress-free, I’m happy to share here a few valuable insights.

Before you turn-off:

• Spend some time planning your break, preferably in writing. One week before heading to Windflower, I decided that I would go screen-free and I journaled some of the specific goals I had in mind for myself. Writing creates accountability between you and your actions, without the need of involving a person.
• Let your relatives and close friends know, and tell them when you will be available again. Otherwise they may worry to see their emails/texts/calls unanswered.
• Don’t handle any important or sensitive matter right beforehand, such as submitting a job or an apartment application. You don’t want to put yourself in a situation where you are expecting answers — and cannot check them.

While you are offline:

• The best practice is to completely switch off your devices. Why put your smartphone on airplane or silent mode or your laptop on sleep if you are not going to use them anyway? If this seems too radical, you can always carry around a vintage flip phone for emergencies.
• Go back to your written goals anytime you need to remember them, or re-assess them. That’s the reason you wrote them down.
• Focus on what you have around you, versus what you want. This is counterintuitive to the web culture, that gives us unlimited access to anything, anytime. Taking a break is the opportunity to value human connections and interact with your environment.

When it’s time to reconnect:

• Get back online with a sense of priorities, to avoid falling into a browsing hole. Maybe communication (emails, messages, etc.) is your most important online activity? Then start with this first, and define ahead the amount of time you will be spending on it.
• Take some time to reflect on your offline experience: did you meet your goals? What did you learn? What did you miss most? Are you going to rethink your online habits going forward?
• Plan your next break!