Reviews

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World by Cal Newport

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jlsjourneys's review against another edition

5.0

This resonates with my way of thinking, but I loved this book. Social media - and technology in general - can be amazing tools to serve our most important goals of connection, but we've mostly bought the lie from the social media companies that using those tools is the equivalent of connection. (Spoiler alert: it's not.) Key messages: be very clear on your goals for technology & then be ruthless in evaluating whether the tools you're using are actually meeting your goals. One surprising part of this book I wasn't expecting and really valued: a whole section about crafting high quality leisure time. My active practice of Sabbath (ceasing from productivity once/week) gives me a little pause on the very achievement oriented leisure goals, but I still found it practical and helpful. Worth the read! (Or, in my case, audio book listen.)

kmcquage's review against another edition

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It is always unsettling to me to read a book where the author is clearly aware of the fact that he is not including me in his audience, and then blithely continues to do so throughout. For all the good points in the book (particularly the difference between connection and conversation, and using tech to support your goals instead of as an end in itself) there was little acknowledgement of how femmes manage relationships. The best general example is the reference to the Arts and Crafts movement being part of a chapter about working with one's hands, but he talks mostly about manly welding and woodworking, with no reference whatsoever to traditionally feminine crafts, or to more frequent domestic work, such as cooking. The best relationship example is his advice to call your cousin on the phone instead of looking at baby pictures on Instagram. Those things are not mutual exclusive, and they serve dramatically different relationship purposes! I want to be clear that I saw no evidence for this in the work, but I am reminded of all the news articles about people quitting Facebook who then rely on their spouses for family news and calendar management. Most of what social media does is ease things we were already doing. Instagram and Facebook do a good job of replacing my mom's newsletter of our childhood events, or the random envelopes of photographs I used to get in the mail. Neither of those things prevented her from also speaking on the phone to people. The difference is really in the ubiquity of these things in our lives, which raises different questions. The practical suggestions to shift one's life more toward face to face or voice contact to keep relationships fully engaged are great. So are the suggestions about rearranging leisure time. But I couldn't help but notice all throughout that I was not part of his imagined audience.

vlnntnn's review against another edition

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adventurous informative reflective relaxing fast-paced

4.25

ccaitlinranae's review against another edition

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3.0

this book singlehandedly made me lower the accounts i follow on instagram by over a thousand, delete 10 of my apps and turn off all social media notifications. i knew i used my phone (mainly social media) an alarming amount but i never really gave thought to changing it, and when i did, the thought of going cold-turkey made me so worried i dismissed the thought immediately. newports way of handling digital minimalism was simple and easy to understand- as well as extremely inspiring. i only write reviews for books that truly impacted my life and ‘digital minimalism’ most definitely did. i highly recommend this book to everyone, whether you are active online or not!

justin92's review against another edition

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5.0

Couldn't put this book down. It took about 7 hours in one day but it was great. The breakdown it gives on mental patterns and how companies use those biological features against you is worth reading the book.

However, Cal goes further and offers a step-by-step guide to figure out what portions of digital is worth keeping and what portions are not. This is not a scorched-earth or detox policy. This is a full break and then slowly add portions back as you decide if they offer more benefit than harm.

One minor drawback is that Cal doesn't specifically go into what to do if a person has a FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) problem. Still not enough to lessen my review rating though. I will just look for a good book on FOMO since that is one of my reasons for digital addiction.

100% getting a physical for this and looking to read Cal's previous book Deep Work.

hanvshka's review against another edition

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3.0

Actually, I only read the first half that talked about the 30 day digital detox and a bit about how to reintegrate social media into one's life. The rest seemed unnecessary to me personally.
I did try the 30 day detox and it did work some wonders for my Instagram usage so I am happy about that.