Where did real life go? Nowadays, people spend more and more time on digital devices. It pains me to see many people letting their lives fly by before them. Imagine yourself on your deathbed—will you be grateful that you spent so much time scrolling mindlessly on social media? Obviously not. In this article, I will present the advantages of a minimalist digital lifestyle and how you can implement it.

Focus on What Matters

As Jordan B. Peterson tells us in the 7th rule of his book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, we ought to pursue what is meaningful, not what is expedient. My greatest wish is for humanity to achieve all they can and reach their full potential. On that topic, I recently heard Chris Williamson mention that many people have forgotten the fact that they have forgotten their dreams. This truth saddens me to a great extent.

Many people are having their lives stolen from them, and they don’t even realize it. For a moment, pause and remember what life was like before all of these distractive technologies entered our lives; conversations were rich, open, and fulfilling. Nowadays, it has become common to see young couples staring at their phones at the restaurant instead of sharing a loving and meaningful conversation.

For young men and even men of all ages, liberation is the ability to control our sexual energy. Porn has killed us, myself included; I was a slave to porn from the moment I entered collège to the beginning of 2023. The advent of high-speed internet and smartphones has made access to unlimited, free, hardcore pornography more effortless than ever. You are just four letters away from the enemy anywhere, anytime. Today, I am still learning to fill this hole alternatively with godly activities.

For young women, the equivalent of porn is social media usage. Many young women are prone to body dysmorphia or difficulty accepting their looks. Social media make us compare ourselves 24/7, which is the worst thing that could happen to these young women. To make matters worse, girls tend to favor visually oriented platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. Recent mental health data clearly shows a clear correlation between the time spent daily on social media and depression. The negative impact is more significant for girls (Millenium Cohort Study).

The Negative Side-Effects on Focus

In many of his books, Cal Newport argues that the key to productivity is one’s ability to focus. Today, the short video format has become dominant, making it harder for people to focus and produce meaningful change. We are becoming so used to being rewarded repeatedly in seconds that people have never had so much difficulty focusing on one thing.

Somebody can only produce meaningful things with a developed ability to focus. It’s the ability to focus on one thing that leads to greatness. However, I see countless instances of people being unable to concentrate daily. Even in church, I frequently see many young people having to check their phones during service, making it evident that they are addicted.

With that decreased ability to concentrate, our ability to notice subtle cues such as body language, facial expression, and voice tone goes away. It negatively impacts our ability to connect with other human beings; awareness of these cues helps us be more empathetic. Moreover, we struggle with any activity requiring significant bandwidth use. However, we should remind ourselves again that we create meaning in these activities.

Set the Example

Something illustrates my political view: Be the change you wish to see. I am often frustrated with so many Christians saying they have faith but don’t “carry their cross” daily. I don’t believe that you can say that you love him with all of your heart and at the same time act against his teachings; Luke 9:23-24 illustrates my point: “Then, speaking to all, he said, ‘Anyone who wants to be a follower of mine, must renounce self and take up the cross every day and follow me. For whoever wants to save life will lose it; but whoever loses life for my sake, will save it.’”

As Albert Bandura’s social learning theory teaches, we learn from observing others. Children mimic their parents’ behavior; therefore, if you want your kids to behave a certain way, you must do it yourself first. It may sound harsh, but it’s the truth.

Additionally, I recently heard Jordan B. Peterson say that we have more influence than we may think. He suggests that we might impact 1,000 people in this life; therefore, if we behave with exemplarity, we motivate more people than we think to follow in our footsteps. Unfortunately, the other way around is also accurate.

The Protocol to Reclaim Your Life

In his excellent book Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World, Cal Newport introduces the concept of the 30-day digital detox. This protocol encourages us to limit our technological use to strictly necessary usage for 30 days. Strictly necessary means that if we stop using it, it might have unintended consequences, such as job loss or a familial challenge.

What about this friend I talk to every day? Taking a break is a great way to assess how the relationship is going. If he is truly a friend, this experience will draw you closer. On the other hand, if the relationship is not deep, you will have more time to focus on the loving people around you. As always in life, less is more—quality over quantity!

What do you do now that you have done 30 days without optional technologies? You may consciously reintroduce some technologies that are aligned with your values. It must serve something you deeply value (offering some benefit is not enough), be the best way to use technology to serve this value (if it’s not, replace it with something better), and have a role in your life that is constrained with a standard operating procedure that specifies when and how you use it.

We often hold this misconception that Amish people are entirely anti-technology. The truth is that they are meticulous about introducing new technologies to their community. They start with the things they value most. They then work backward to ask whether a given new technology performs more harm than good concerning these values. This example can inspire us to do the same: to only what brings real value to our lives. The rule, of course, is not constrained to technology only.

The Changes I Made

What changes look like for me? As I said earlier, I want to set an example. After some trial and error, I don’t use social media anymore. I still have my accounts, but taking the leap of faith and deleting them might happen soon. Also, I subscribe to a few newsletters about personal development.

Furthermore, I share audio messages with a few close friends daily. I prioritize audio recordings over simple texts as they have an element of nuance that isn’t found in simple texts, thanks to voice tone. Finally, I use ChatGPT to close some gaps in my knowledge. But my primary source of knowledge is books.

I hope this article inspires you to make conscious choices and live a more prosperous life. If you decide to tackle the 30-day challenge, please get in touch with me to share your experience.

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