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+#+title: Digital Minimalism
+#+date: 2023-10-04
+#+description: My personal retrospective on digital minimalism.
+#+filetags: :personal:
+
+I've written [[/wiki/#digital-garden][a note about minimalism]] before,
+but I wanted to dedicate some time to reflect on digital minimalism and
+how I've been able to minimize the impact of digital devices in my life.
+
+#+begin_quote
+These changes crept up on us and happened fast, before we had a chance
+to step back and ask what we really wanted out of the rapid advances of
+the past decade. We added new technologies to the periphery of our
+experience for minor reasons, then woke one morning to discover that
+they had colonized the core of our daily life. We didn't, in other
+words, sign up for the digital world in which we're currently
+entrenched; we seem to have stumbled backward into it.
+
+/(Digital Minimalism, 2019)/
+
+#+end_quote
+
+* The Principles of Digital Minimalism
+As noted in Cal Newport's book, /Digital Minimalism/, there are three
+main principles to digital minimalism that I tend to agree with:
+
+1. Clutter is costly.
+   - Digital minimalists recognize that cluttering their time and
+     attention with too many devices, apps, and services creates an
+     overall negative cost that can swamp the small benefits that each
+     individual item provides in isolation.
+2. Optimization is important.
+   - Digital minimalists believe that deciding a particular technology
+     supports something they value is only the first step. To truly
+     extract its full potential benefit, it's necessary to think
+     carefully about how they'll use the technology.
+3. Intentionality is satisfying.
+   - Digital minimalists derive significant satisfaction from their
+     general commitment to being more intentional about how they engage
+     with new technologies. This source of satisfaction is independent
+     of the specific decisions they make and is one of the biggest
+     reasons that minimalism tends to be immensely meaningful to its
+     practitioners.
+
+* Taking Action
+In order to put the logic into practice, I've created a few new habits
+and continued performing old habits that are working well:
+
+** Using Devices With Intention
+- I already rarely use "social media", mostly limited to forums such as
+  Hacker News and Tildes, so I've just tweaked my behavior to stop
+  looking for content in those places when I'm bored.
+- Use devices with intention. Each time I pick up a digital device,
+  there should be an intention to use the device to improve my current
+  situation. No more endless scrolling or searching for something to
+  interest me.
+
+** Prevent Distractions
+- Disable (most) notifications on all devices. I spent 15-30 minutes
+  going through the notifications on my phone, watch, and computer to
+  ensure that only a select few apps have the ability to interrupt me:
+  Calendar, Messages, Phone, Reminders, & Signal.
+- Disable badges for any apps except the ones mentioned in the bullet
+  above.
+- Set-up focus profiles across devices so that I can enable different
+  modes, such as Personal when I only want to see notifications from
+  people I care about or Do Not Disturb, where absolutely nothing can
+  interrupt me.
+- Clean up my home screens. This one was quite easy as I already
+  maintain a minimalist set-up, but I went extreme by limiting my phone
+  to just eight apps on the home screen and four in the dock. If I need
+  another app, I'll have to search or use the app library.
+- Remove the work profile from my phone. This was a tough decision as
+  having my work profile on my device definitely makes my life easier at
+  times, but it also has quite a negative effect when I'm "always
+  online" and can see the notifications and team activity 24/7. I
+  believe creating a distinct barrier between my work and personal
+  devices will be beneficial in the end.
+
+** Creating Alternative Activities
+This is the most difficult piece, as most of my hobbies and interests
+lie in the digital world. However, I'm making a concerted effort to put
+devices down unless necessary and force myself to perform other
+activities in the physical world instead.
+
+I've started with a few basics that are always readily available to me:
+
+- Do a chore, such as organizing or cleaning.
+- Read a book, study a piece of art, etc.
+- Exercise or get outdoors.
+- Participate in a hobby, such as photography, birding, disc golf, etc.
+- Let yourself be bored and wander into creativity.
+
+* Making Progress
+I'll be taking notes as I continue down this journey and hope to see
+positive trends. I've always been a minimalist in the physical world and
+it feels refreshing to filter out the clutter that has come to dominate
+my digital life over the years.
+
+I'm excited to see where this journey leads.