Why I Deleted My Social Media Apps After Reading This Book
My social media apps have now been deleted from my mobile devices. And honestly, I feel both low-grade anxiety as well as a sense of freedom that I haven’t experienced in a while.
For me, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, and many of the other digital platforms I’ve engaged with over the years have always felt like an enormous time suck. I’ve allowed them to gobble up massive bandwidths of my attention and energy - two to three hours of my precious time gone in a flash.
So how did I get hooked in the first place? My simple answer is that these digital ecosystems appeal to my need for personal connection. I genuinely love connecting with new people all over the planet whose lives I’m curious about. Those who offer intellectual depth to my life particularly enamor me.
Sadly, I crave the endorphin rush of likes, comments, and views that social media platforms like Instagram have to offer. And my obsession with checking my apps repeatedly has only accelerated with the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions in place this year. But I know that there is generally no depth to these virtual encounters.
In feeling the full weight of this existential conflict, one that collides with my desire for life mastery and a world-class existence, I turned to a book entitled “Digital Minimalism: Choosing A Focused Life In a Noisy World” by Cal Newport. It certainly didn’t disappoint.
Here is the gist of the book’s message
Our phones and apps are intentionally wired by the Silicon Valley tech gurus to keep us addicted to our digital devices and apps.
This is creating unconscious levels of stress and anxiety that prevent us from reaching our fully realized selves
With this consuming so much of our time and mental bandwidth, we are unable to be alone with our thoughts. This lack of mental space hinders our creativity and critical thinking abilities
In short, all of this can lead to an unfulfilled, dissatisfied life. Newport, in fact, through his research suggests that social media is a pathetic substitute for an actual, deep friendship where bonds are cultivated through real, human interactions like phone calls.
Newport in his book goes on to extol the virtues of solitude, focus, and deep work — critical elements he says in achieving peak performance and success in one's personal and professional life.
He affectionately refers to social media as “junk food” — eliciting a similar life diminishing effect as say a greasy burger as a fast food joint. In other words, these digital platforms often hinder our ability to focus on our best work and what we deeply care about and value.
Newport calls his approach to wean off of this lifestyle “digital minimalism,” which involves the use of technology with more intention and purpose. It’s an approach he says is far more realistic than the popular digital detoxes espoused in some circles where users are encouraged to completely unplug.
This leads me back to the point I made about deleting my social media. In truth, there are two that I kept —LinkedIn and Facebook —largely because of their importance to my work as an Independent Journalist and Global Book Ambassador. I am, however, challenging myself to use these tools in a more intentional and purposeful way moving forward.
For me, one of the other highlights of Newport’s book was his exploration of the concept of solitude which he defines as “freedom from input from other minds.” He says that amid this world of digital devices, it is crucial for humans to have this on a regular basis.
Finally, he discussed how the enormous swaths of time we’ll have once we’ve unclenched from social media can be repurposed for greater things in our lives. Like rediscovering hobbies, activities, and behaviors we enjoy and find meaningful. For me, this includes soul-filling activities like reading more books, listening to music I enjoy, cooking, and spending more time doing fun stuff with my sweetheart
In the end all of this about the opportunity to put greater energy into things that are more valuable, meaningful, and fulfilling— that give you a higher return on life.
I’m in. How about you?