Digital Minimalism

Author: Cal Newport
released: 01-01-2019
First Read: 2021
Last Read: 15-09-2025
Link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40672036-digital-minimalism?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=Wjr49xSMqs&rank=1

I first read this at the end of my second year of university. Afterwards I deleted a lot of my social media and felt much better for it. I now try to have intentionally with my digital and non-digital life. This and Exurb1a's videos had a big influence on this for me. These concepts are always on my mind and it is probably about time I gave this book another read.

The idea of intentionally with technology has had a big impact on me and was one of the core ideas when I was writing Life is Better this Way, Digital Minimalism likely had an impact on this.

15-09-2025: I just finished rereading this in a couple of days. It's interesting how many great ideas Cal has and how many I had forgotten. I know I have let a few more things back into my life in the years since I read this that are giving me less befits that they should. I'm going to try to strip things back again.

A few quotes that made me think:

Sean Parker (Founding President Facebook): The thought process that went into building these applications ... was all about: "How do we consume as much of your time and attention as possible"

Solitude can be banished in even the quietest settings if you allow input from other minds to intrude.