It’s the last Sunday in September… We are approaching the last quarter of the year, and currently, it’s less than 100 days until the end of the year. Counting in months, 3 months seems like a lot of time, but realizing that it’s just 90 days on the calendar gives it a feeling of urgency. Something to do with the relativity of time?

Regardless of how it feels, 2021 is racing to the finish line. Are we also running through our goals, or have we run out of fuel already? I hope it’s not the latter:)

Now to today’s gist…

Digital Minimalism Experiment

A few months ago, I wrote a 3-part series on the topic of Digital Minimalism. I had read a book of the same name by Cal Newport, and I shared a few thoughts on it. The book addresses the side effects of modern-day digital hyperconnectivity on our productivity and general wellbeing. If you haven’t read it yet, I highly recommend you check it out, and in case you missed the blog series, I’ll attach the link as well.

In the last part of the series, I referenced some practical tips from the book, which I had implemented myself, and found helpful. I also mentioned an experiment proposed by the author, which he tagged “digital declutter”.

The Agenda

Cal Newport proposed the “digital declutter” as the first step towards digital minimalism. The decluttering process involves a 30-day break from ‘optional technology’. I’ll go ahead and quote it in Cal’s words…

The Digital Declutter Process:

1. Put aside a thirty-day period during which you will take a break from optional technologies in your life. 
2. During this thirty-day break, explore and rediscover activities and behaviors that you find satisfying and meaningful. 
3. At the end of the break, reintroduce optional technologies into your life, starting from a blank slate. For each technology you reintroduce, determine what value it serves in your life and how specifically you will use it so as to maximize this value.

At the time of reading, I was unable to jump on the experiment immediately due to some circumstances, so I bookmarked it for later. I’m looking to devote the month of October to this cause.

“Optional technologies” refer to digital apps, sites, and tools delivered through a computer or mobile phone screen, that we can step away from without causing any major problems to our professional or personal life.

In my case, apps like WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, etc., fall under this category. Instagram also counts as optional, except for when I’d have to update my photography portfolio there. I haven’t entirely defined my ‘optional technologies’ yet, but I’ll figure that out before October comes around. I intend to be radical with it.

Staying Accountable

If you’ve been following this space, you would know that I’m big on accountability. It is one of the pillars on which this blog was built, as I try to stay accountable to y’all. There’s something about having some person or persons other than yourself keeping an eye on your actions — or inactions.

When I first considered taking on the experiment, my first instinct was to embark on it silently and maybe make my reviews afterward. I had done something similar back in May 2020. It was the peak of the pandemic, and the media was getting more and more toxic by the day. I decided to unplug for a while and proceeded to disconnect from the media space for an entire month. It was a blissful experience.

However, the circumstances are different this time. It is almost impossible to completely disappear, as I have a commitment to show up here every week. So I decided to make it even more interesting by sharing weekly updates on the process here on the blog. I’m thinking of making it a series of some sort, and I’m not exactly sure how that’ll go, but it should be interesting.

Just to be clear, I’m not taking on the declutter experiment in a bid to create some content on here. As I mentioned earlier, I’d have preferred to just embark on it silently. I am only looking to maximize the process by staying accountable on here, as that’s what this space is all about.

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