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The cover of Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World

Cal Newport, 2019

Cal Newport shows how many apps and social media services are designed to capture our attention, and offers a thirty day digital declutter and practical habits for taking back control.

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14 parts, about 23 minutes to read.

Why read it

  • Lays out digital minimalism, a philosophy of using a few carefully chosen tools that support your values and happily missing out on the rest
  • Gives a thirty day digital declutter with rules, exceptions and a three question screen for deciding what technology to bring back
  • Argues that phones strip away solitude and real conversation, and offers high quality leisure, hands on projects and not clicking Like as fixes

Who it is for

  • People who feel worn down by constant phone checking
  • Readers who want more solitude, conversation and hobbies
  • Heavy social media users who want to cut back

What the summary covers

  1. Introduction1 min
  2. A Lopsided Arms Race3 min
  3. Digital Minimalism2 min
  4. Thoreau's New Economics1 min
  5. The Return Curve1 min
  6. The Amish Hacker1 min
  7. The Digital Declutter2 min
  8. Reintroducing Technology1 min
  9. Spend Time Alone2 min
  10. Solitude Deprivation2 min
  11. Don't Click "Like"2 min
  12. Reclaim Leisure2 min
  13. Join the Attention Resistance2 min
  14. Conclusion1 min

Recommended by

  • Adam AlterAuthor of Irresistible
    Cal Newport’s Digital Minimalism is the best book I’ve read in some time about our fraught relationship with technology…
  • Greg McKeownAuthor of Essentialism
    I challenge you not to devour this wonderful book in one sitting. I certainly did, and I started applying Cal’s ideas to my own life immediately.
  • Seth GodinAuthor of This is Marketing
    You’re not the user, you’re the product. Hang up, log off, and tune in to a different way to be in the world. Bravo, Cal. Smart advice for good people.
  • Ryan HolidayAuthor of The Obstacle is the Way
    This book is an urgent call to action for anyone serious about being in command of their own life.
  • Joshua Fields MillburnThe Minimalists
    Cal Newport has discovered a cure for the techno-exhaustion that plagues our always-on, digitally caffeinated culture.
  • Naomi AldermanNew York Times bestselling author of The Power
    What a timely and useful book!

About the author

  • Cal NewportProfessor of computer science at Georgetown University and nonfiction author
    • Undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College in 2004; PhD in computer science from MIT in 2009 under Nancy Lynch
    • Joined Georgetown as assistant professor in 2011, tenured 2017, full professor 2024
    • Academic research on the theory of distributed systems
    • Eight books, over 2,000,000 copies sold in more than 40 languages
    • Contributing writer for the New Yorker and host of the Deep Questions podcast

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