30-day plan to declutter your digital life
Don't let digital clutter take over your life. Follow this Georgetown professor's 30 day plan to organize your digital life, and your real life will thank you.
When Newport tested his digital declutter with 1,600 volunteers, many of them got back into reading, knitting, sports leagues like ultimate Frisbee and basketball, community groups, woodworking, writing poetry, and creating art.
“A lot of people were surprised to discover how much digital technology had pushed analog activities out. They were really excited to rediscover how much they enjoyed going to the library and coming home with a stack of books,” he says. “High-quality leisure is a really big upgrade over low-quality digital streams.”
High-quality leisure is a really big upgrade over low-quality digital streams.
He says that this transition tends to be easier for older people than for younger people. That’s because older people have histories with these activities. They didn’t have a digital life as children or young adults.
A lot of younger people have always been immersed in the digital life, so without their technology they are left with a void. They have to experiment to figure out what offline activities they enjoy.
Think about how and when you will use technology, based on your own values. Do you need to scroll through Facebook so your college roommate knows you “liked” the photo of her baby? Maybe you could call her. Or maybe you could plan a visit with her and her baby.
Here are some ways people have focused their technology use to the activities they value while eliminating the mindless scrolling and browsing:
Newport notes that a lot of people struggle with this challenge. He says those who succeed see it as a declutter, rather than a detox. “If you treat it like a detox, cleanse, or break you’ll almost certainly slide back. Detox isn’t useful without a systematic plan for change,” Newport says.
If you see the 30 days as a break, it gets hard to keep up your motivation. If you plan to go back to your old habits, why take a break at all?
“It’s like decluttering a house. You don’t just randomly throw out stuff. You take everything out and then see what you need. You clear everything out, and build it back up from scratch,” Newport says.
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