Digital Minimalism

[benjy]

After the healthy thread on minimalism started 4 years ago, I think it is time we discuss digital minimalism.

There is a book, I haven't read it yet. For me it all started a few months ago with a video about the effects of technology on teenagers. Watching that video made me sick, and I have been thinking a lot about the time that is consumed in our digital world.

Until a few weeks ago, I would consider myself a slightly less than average user of social media and technology in general. We own 1 TV, and really don't watch it much. It was the cell phone that bothered me. After a long day at work and after putting the kids down, I would spend an hour or two consumed in nothingness.

A few questions:

How much time do you spend on your phone every day?
Do you use any apps to measure usage? Has that been helpful?
Do you think that smartphones really add value to your life?
Have you taken any steps towards digital minimalism? What has worked? What hasn't?

This is the video I was referencing:

 

[benjy]

As mentioned above, I typically use my smartphone randomly throughout the day and to unwind in the evening, maybe ~2 hours/day on average? My go to's are pinkbike, social media, youtube, and I have a weird obsession with cheap housing (paying cash for a home in the middle of nowhere using equity from my current home).

For a few months I have been thinking a basic phone was the way to go. A few things held me back - group texting and vanity. I really didn't want to be made fun of for having a flip phone. I was really hoping the Light Phone II would have MMS available, and I think that would have checked all my boxes.

Last week while out mountain biking, I destroyed my Pixel 2. Good opportunity to make a change!

Instead of a basic phone I decided to use a smart watch (Samsung Galaxy) as my primary device. For the last year I had been wearing a Garmin Fenix which is about the same size as the Samsung, so no big change there. There are two major drawbacks to this... speakerphone only, and it's a pain to reply to texts. The solutions to these issues were both solved by T-Mobile's DIGITS service. I can receive calls and texts from my PC at home and work. So if a call comes in, I can answer it on a bluetooth headset while at work. Anywhere else I don't care. With texting - I can reply from the watch, but if its more than a few words, I go to the PC.

I went with Teltik, a T-Mobile MVNO. I'm only a few days in, but so far this solution seems like a good one. I spent $330 on the watch, and the phone plan is more $ than I was paying on Google Fi, but in the end I decided this wasn't about saving $.

I will still surf, but needing to be at the PC means I have to be much more intentional about it. No picking up the phone while I'm hanging out with the kids. If an urgent text comes in, I can either reply from the watch if I'm out and about, or go to the PC. We'll see how this works long term, but so far I'm hopeful.

 

[Caleb]

For making a living on computers and due to my role, really needing to be pretty tied to connectivity, I use my phone very little. I do have an Apple watch, and since I'm 100% in the Apple eco-system, I can take or make calls from any device (phone, watch, computers, etc) and the asme with texts. For my job, being able to use a Smart phone actually allows me to be more involved with family when I'm with them. I can do anything I need to from my phone and I don't have to pull my laptop out or go to a desktop. As part of the Apple eco-system, they have the Screentime app that will break your phone usage down by app and in total how much time you spend on it. I'm almost alway under an hour a day...usually closer to 30m or so. You can also limit usage, so if you find you use Facebook too much, you can put a limit on it so you know when you've hit that.

I've killed my social media accounts, that stuff was just drama and 90% of the people are just lying trying to make their lives sound amazing but we all know everyone's lives all suck about the same I haven't missed not having Facebook, etc at all. I do get annoyed when people think Facebook is a legit means of communicating, things like my 20th high school reunion is in a week and the only place it's been announce is on Facebook, my wife is still on so we found out. Our cabin's association communicates through Facebook...which is funny because it's mostly a bunch of old people...but I guess that does fit Facebook. I had some friends from my childhood and from high school I used FB to keep in contact with them but they've got my number if they need something from me. I do dream of the day I can go back to a flip phone and get rid of this stuff forever.

My one vice is I love media. I have quite the setup with my movies, tv shows, music, etc. However, I find by doing this I spend less time just browsing tv. I get what I want to watch, watch it commercial free, and turn it off. No more flipping through channels.

 

[DAA]

My iPhone says I'm averaging 64 seconds a day of screen time. I was surprised it was that much.

- DAA

 

[Stephen]

How much time do you spend on your phone every day?
Do you use any apps to measure usage? Has that been helpful?

No idea on my usage. I know that there are apps and such, but I don't really bother with that stuff. Here's a screenshot of my iPhone and you can see how few apps I really have:

Do you think that smartphones really add value to your life?

To my life, yes and no. Its great to have the worlds information in your pocket at all times along with a great camera. But, at the same time, its an unnecessary distraction at times. So I think on a whole, its a wash in adding value to my life.


Have you taken any steps towards digital minimalism? What has worked? What hasn't?

I deleted FaceSpace in May of 2016. I didn't use it much before then, but I totally blew it away and never looked back. Instadim I deleted in March of 2017. I liked the idea of Instagram, but I'd waste way too much time looking at pictures of Group B rally cars on a tiny screen. Its way cooler to look at car pictures on my computer monitor!

Aside from that, I guess I was an early adopter of the digital life, and an early leaver by and large. I'm a Systems Administrator by trade, so eight hours a day I'm working on computers. But when I'm home, I don't use my computer a ton. Subconsciously, I've sorta limited myself to what is useful to me on a day to day basis. Streaming music is fantastic. As much as I love throwing an LP on for the nostalgia's sake, I like just having Amazon music streaming to my receiver all day while I'm home. Don't have to flip a record over every half an hour.

Plex. I love my Plex and having access to others. Got rid of all other streaming services pretty much because there is no reason to pay for that if I don't need to.

On my phone, the killer apps that I have a hard time letting go of are OneNote and Google Maps. I've thought long and hard about the Light Phone II as well, and once its been out for a bit and the reviews are in, I might give it a try. But I love OneNote and Google Maps, they are so handy to have access to wherever.

I guess at the end of the day, "digital minimalism" is what you make of it. As I said, I kinda subconsciously found myself downsizing so that my life was more they way that I liked it. I think I'm going to go put a record on now...

 

[Herzog]

Love this.

I'm a web developer by day but I also have my hands in nearly every stack... from ui to hardware, yet I find myself despising most technology more and more. I get much more enjoyment being out in the shop making real tangible things. I used to play video games (pc) often but now I don't touch them.

My smart phone helps me not have to lug a laptop around for simple common things but I'm getting to the point to where I try not to carry it with me much.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

We don't have cable or video games and neither of us use anything made by Apple, and hardly use social media aside from a few off-road and fishing/hunting pages on FB. Recently we really started limiting our television time, mostly for the kids. Part of this extends from wanting to lose weight, but mostly because we have watched how lazy technology has made nieces and nephews, or at least how lazy their parents have allowed them to become. When our kids are old enough to earn money they will decide if they want to spend it on technology or other things.

 

[N-Smooth]

I went camping with family & friends Fri-Sun and barely used my phone the whole time. It's hard to worry about social media and all that nonsense when you're enjoying time with people you care about IN PERSON.

I also really like the Screen Time reports on my iPhone because when I see my usage went up from the week before I just make note of it and try to do better. Really the biggest thing is something my wife told me. She said "I don't want our kids to remember us as the parents that were on their phones for their whole childhood." That comment kicked me right in the gut and I do my best to really be with them when we're together.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I went camping with family & friends Fri-Sun and barely used my phone the whole time. It's hard to worry about social media and all that nonsense when you're enjoying time with people you care about IN PERSON.

I also really like the Screen Time reports on my iPhone because when I see my usage went up from the week before I just make note of it and try to do better. Really the biggest thing is something my wife told me. She said "I don't want our kids to remember us as the parents that were on their phones for their whole childhood." That comment kicked me right in the gut and I do my best to really be with them when we're together.

Makes it much easier when we camp in the Uintas without any signal.

 

[Spork]

I've attached to the notion of be aware of where you are and what you're doing. If I'm eating dinner with the family the phone doesn't belong, if I'm sitting on uta and have the choice of being on my phone or looking at the poop from the homeless along 200 south then I'm on my phone. I have a set of websites I visit and have given up finding anything with meaning further on the web. I wish there was something else out there but looking out the window is starting to be more interesting.

 

[DaveB]

I don't even have a cell phone

 

[DAA]

My oldest, bestest friend, my age, has never owned a cell phone, or a computer.

- DAA

 

[J-mobzz]

I use my phone constantly. Directions, work, instant access to information, shopping and Rme. But most important staying connected with my family. It’s really amazing how this little thing allows me to stay connected to my kids. Before I had kids I was busting chops on a friend of mine that I look up to a great deal as a dad for his kids having cell phones. Be just looked at me and said dude we are a family I’ll use anything I can to stay connected to them. Well check mate how do you argue with that.

 

[jeep-N-montero]

I use my phone constantly. Directions, work, instant access to information, shopping and Rme. But most important staying connected with my family. It’s really amazing how this little thing allows me to stay connected to my kids. Before I had kids I was busting chops on a friend of mine that I look up to a great deal as a dad for his kids having cell phones. Be just looked at me and said dude we are a family I’ll use anything I can to stay connected to them. Well check mate how do you argue with that.

Interesting how the overall teen death rate as well as obesity were lower before cell phones, back when parents took the time to speak with their kids about where they were going and when they would be back, and kids actually made friends who they played outside with.

 

[J-mobzz]

Interesting how the overall teen death rate as well as obesity were lower before cell phones, back when parents took the time to speak with their kids about where they were going and when they would be back, and kids actually made friends who they played outside with.

I talk to my kids way more than my dad ever was able to talk to me. Fortunately it hasn’t replaced being a parent and my healthy and non overweight children are able to use the technology for things like editing the video they made of us riding bmx bikes at the dirt jumps Saturday into a memory I will be able to look back on and cherish forever.

 

[glockman]

I talk to my kids way more than my dad ever was able to talk to me. Fortunately it hasn’t replaced being a parent and my healthy and non overweight children are able to use the technology for things like editing the video they made of us riding bmx bikes at the dirt jumps Saturday into a memory I will be able to look back on and cherish forever.

I have been reading Enlightenment now recently. It is a pretty amazing and insightful book about how we all romanticize our childhood and how much better pretty much every aspect of human well being is now vs the past aside from one small time frame for one given indicator or another. For instance, parents now spend an average of 4 hours a week more with their children than they did in the golden era of Americana known as the 50's.

Technology is fantastic if you don't use it as a crutch. I call my adult kids all the time and talk to them way more than my dad did when I was their age and he is an amazing human being and father. I text them, we share pictures of things we are doing. I am connected to friends and family that I don't see in person as often as I'd like, that is great for me. I can't drive over to my aunt's house every week and see what she is up to or how she is doing but I see that on social media and when we meet in person every couple weeks, we talk about what we are doing and we catch up.

I use Facebook to argue with stupid people way to much. BUT, those discussions have helped me open my mind to the fact that I may be wrong about some things. I didn't always use it that way and it can easily be an echo chamber, again, it's all in how you use it.
I communicate with the offroad and desert racing communities on FB all the time. Making sure I am not on my phone at dinner or when my kids are home is something i have to be mindful off but it's one of 10,000 things I have to be mindful of around my wife and kids. Parents have always been distracted, in the 50's and 60's it was with working to put food on the table, do laundry or wash the dishes, things technology does for us now to a large extent.

Finding addresses, tracking my miles ridden and progress on a bike, exploring the backcountry with mapping apps, watching Youtube videos on how to fix household and automotive things, watching videos on how to make or build different things (welding, woodworking), tracking my car maintenance, looking up torque specs or fluid capacities. My smart phone is priceless for these things. Sure I could replace the 5x7x1/2" device in my pocket with a laptop, multiple books, a GPS, and a notebook/pen but why? it is soo much easier.

To me, this resistance to tech and the thought that it is somehow morally superior to obstain is the newest form of virtue signalling. If it works for you, by all means do it. But the thought that I am less of a parent, less of a person, less physically or mentally fit because I use a smartphone is BS. - I should add, the smartest, most efficient and fittest people I know use tech as a tool.

 

[Caleb]

To me, this resistance to tech and the thought that it is somehow morally superior to obstain is the newest form of virtue signalling. If it works for you, by all means do it. But the thought that I am less of a parent, less of a person, less physically or mentally fit because I use a smartphone is BS.

100% Yes!

 

[Unimog]

I'm glad someone spoke up. I completely get device technology addictions, but I was just thinking that if I didn't have a smartphone and other equipment and use it consistently and wisely, there is no way I could serve many hours a week in my church, work a full time job remotely, and still fulfill the one-on-one time that I believe it takes to be a good father, husband, son, and employee. These are tools that make all of these things possible, including the ability to sit on my couch and eat ice cream with my 13 year old while simultaneously being sure that all the people that I work with are not waiting for or needing something from me. Just like any tools, they can be abused, but that doesn't warrant me throwing them away.

 

[Herzog]

If people have an addiction or what they would consider a problem with tech and want to work on bettering that in order to improve what they think needs improving, I don't see that as virtue signaling. I see that as people recognizing a personal problem and talking about finding more balance in their own personal life. It inherently has nothing to do with anybody else. I don't see pointing fingers. Sharing experience and ideas online is what we all do here, which wouldn't be possible without said tech which is pretty funny anyways.

 

[glockman]

Absolutely, there are people who have problems/addictions with tech. I didn't mean any malice towards Benjy or anyone else in this post. Do what makes you happy.
I was thinking of one person I worked with who didn't miss an opportunity to tell you he doesn't have a TV yet plays video games on his computer for hours a day. And was a condescending ass about it.
People like Dave's friend who never got on the bandwagon are a totally different thing in my mind. Just making a different choice.

Didn't mean to come off so defensive.