Digital Minimalism in Everyday Life: Overcome Technology Addiction, Declutter Your Mind, and Reclaim Your Freedom

by James W. Williams, Amy White

Do you feel like you are wasting too much time on your smartphone? Do you feel like your digital technology use is becoming too habitual?
Don't worry. You're not alone.
If you feel like your gadgets are stealing a lot of your time, focus, and energy, then this book, Digital Minimalism in Everyday Life, may have the solution for you.
Do you recognize any of these situations?
If this is you and you get lost in a maze of gadgets, apps, and digital technology, then the concepts, tools, and tips you will learn from this book, Digital Minimalism in Everyday Life, will help you set things straight. Who knows, you may even find that life is easier and so much better with less, not with more.
What You Will Discover in This
Is this practical guidebook for you? If you have felt that there is something wrong about your smartphone habits- you're losing sleep, feeling stressed, and not getting things done at work or in your personal life -then maybe the solutions here are the very things you need right now.
The tips and strategies described in this book are easy to understand and follow, and they are well-rounded, covering all the details on what to do. They have been drawn from the author's personal experience and mentoring by experts and coaches.
Scroll up and click "BUY NOW" to reclaim your freedom from digital technology!

Genres: Self Help, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published August 7, 2020

Reviews

[Jamie Bee]

Some Good Food for Thought, But...

This book certainly does have some food for thought, getting us to think about our reliance on technology and social media. Does it really benefit us? He does have some straightforward strategies to approach digital decluttering on your devices and embracing digital minimalism on a broader scale. Some of what he talks about, though, seems like they are simply applications of contemporary self-help buzzwords to the idea of digital media. Of course, even decluttering and minimalism are such words, but others included in this book are the idea of a digital detox, habits, and mindfulness. After a certain point, I found myself wondering what the next buzzword would be!

But I found more serious issues with this book. I was somewhat alarmed by the introduction where the author stated that he is basing this book's ideas on someone else's book, Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism. I don't know the extent to which he simply used this man's work and ideas, but the fact that he brought this up so quickly is disturbing. You might want to read the original work rather than a watered-down and filtered version by this author!

I found the structure of the book a little shaky in places. For instance, in the first chapter, he goes back and forth between talking about general minimalism and digital minimalism. I think he just should have started broadly and worked his way down instead of going back and forth.

This book certainly had issues with repetitiveness, errors, and contradictions. Sometimes the repetition was literally right next to each other, while other times the author stated and restated the same thing in different chapters. I also found his writing to be wordy; “why say something in 5 words if you can say them in 20?” seems to be his motto. His writing style is certainly a little convoluted at times. The book certainly had errors with grammar, punctuation, spelling, and usage—enough to be distracting at times. Some spelling errors actually made it hard to figure out what the author was trying to say—that's bad! In one sentence, he started with “we” but then flipped to “you” by the end of the sentence.

I also thought that he didn't explain certain things well. For instance, I was wondering at the purpose of the cuddle or hug curtains that he mentioned. Only by looking at the references in the back did I realize that this was because of our current pandemic. That should have been mentioned or explained within the book itself. The author sometimes contradicts himself. The biggest one was when he said that he wasn't going to talk about technology addiction specifically—leaving that to Cal Newport’s book on the topic—but there's actually an entire chapter on it! Because of all these issues, I do not feel like I can recommend this book.

[Ocean]

Possibly useful for older people who fall into the traps of social media but I feel like if you're young you're already familiar with fomo, digital detox and all the other buzzwords this book is filled with.
We all know that working out or meditating is a healthier activity than mindlessly scrolling our phones for an hour it doesn't really make it easier to stop though.

The tone felt paternalistic which I did not enjoy either. Do not recommend there are better, more useful books on the subject out there!

[Joseph Tang]

先是心态上得调整，并不是每次提醒都那么重要。
然后行动上调整，鸡肋弃之，保留最小资源够用即可的原则。
最后是用上用搜索式而非浏览式，并做现实生活中的实际良好行为或习惯适当替换。


◆ Chapter 1: What Is Digital Minimalism?

>> make purposeful and well-intentioned use of your digital devices instead of impulsive usage


◆ Chapter 2: The Trap of Technology Addiction

长期一贯的行为形成习惯了之后，自然会造成生理及脑部结构变化的。
>> Internet addiction has been found to create structural changes to the brain and also cause chemical alterations [25]. The structural changes affect a person’s ability to connect with attention, cognitive control, emotional processing, and decision-making [26].


◆ Chapter 3: How to Do a Digital Inventory and Declutter

这一点还是很重要，最小投入原则。防止自己陷入为了使用而使用的境地。
>> Don’t buy your digital media—rent it as much as possible

低频使用的就让它们别那么触手可及。
>> Use the web/mobile version for apps you don’t use frequently

每个领域方向保留一个必备的应用即可，减少使用成本。但这个领域最好是结构化拆分好。
>> Choose only one or two social media channels


◆ Chapter 4: The Why and How of a Digital Detox

这种思维和习惯需要改掉才行，特别是避免对应的职业或岗位。
>> FOMO is short for fear of missing out.

>> Try a new thing. For you to completely quit an old habit, you must replace it with a new one.

[Gummih]

I read this book for a book club. On the day of the book club, having finished the book, I was feeling a bit conflicted about showing up because I didn’t have much positive to say about the book, checking in at around 2,5 stars for me. That’s when it dawned on me that this was the wrong book, I had managed to read the wrong book!

The assigned book was Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World and from what I’ve heard (I attended the book club!) it is a very good book, you should probably go read that book. I know I’m going to.

[Dr. Manisha]

Many of us have faced the challenge to keep ourselves away from a smart phone. It is very difficult to practice digital detox or digital minimalism . James W. Williams and Amy White give provide practical ideas to practice digital minimalism in their book "Digital Minimalism in everyday life"
I liked the way the book takes the reader from the concept of minimalism to how to know if we need digital detox or not to finally ways to practice digital minimalism .
The book is not only to be read but practiced in real life.
I recommend the book to those who wish to control their social media , use of technology or practice digital detox.

[Manisha Patil]

I started feeling guilty for overuse of smartphone at the end of 2021. While searching for books on Amazon I saw the title Digital Minimalism in Everyday by James W. Williams and Amy White. In fact we all are facing the problem of digital addiction and its impact on our health and career.
I liked the book because it is written in a very lucid manner and easy style. It starts with the concept of Minimalism and then discusses about the the need and ways to practice digital minimalism.
It inspires to practice the simple techniques in real life to make our life more productive and happy.

[Claire]

The idea about writing about digital minimalism in a book is a good one but the execution could have been better. I found certain things quite contradictory… telling you not to use your phone too much etc, but then saying that it’s ok to use apps to help you minimise your phone usage! The book was littered with things like that. Certain hobbies the author said was a better thing for you to do is not the case for some people. So, the sentiment in this book was a good one, I just didn’t always agree with the alternatives given.

[Morabito]

It’s a mix of mindfulness, digital minimalism, minimalism, and wellness. It offers a series of tips that, honestly, are quite obvious and could be found in any online article. For me, it’s not so much about being given tips, but about helping change the way we think about technology, but this book does none of that. There isn’t the slightest hint of reflecting on anything different about technology.In short, it goes here and there without discovering anything new under the sun. A rather poor and dull book.

[Chandra Jordan]

informative

This was Very informative. It covered all the bases Of a digital Detox and although it did not apply to every aspect of my life, I found enough skills I believe I can use to successfully digitally deacons

[Benjy Wertheimer]

Good Resource

A really good resource to help us digitally declutter our lives and live more fully and mindfully... found it quite helpful.

[Kanbre]

Very short read. Gives great tips on how to do digital minimalism. I loved the tips it gave to help ease anxiety and stress induced by computers and phones.

[Derek]

Helpful but somewhat simplistic guide to addressing the deluge of infotainment that social media and digital content providers are sending your way.

[Devanathan]

This book is so insightful and Prescriptive, offers ways to get rid of Digital Technology Addiction.

[Maegan Gregory]

Dumbest book ever

[Nadia Haile]

the book was written before the lockdown and the rise of AI, which makes it slightly dated. Good tips about meditation and declutter regardless

[Rachel Plant]

This was a 3 star for me. Some bits were useful but a lot of the book focused around mindfulness techniques which wasn’t what I was looking for.

[Alperen]

Good book with useful information.

[ajay Kumar]

the whole book looks like a blog / long form article converted into book; lot of ideas are impractical

[Lotus]

I just finished to entirely read the whole book. And I will read it again. The feeling is great.