What I learned from a digital declutter
I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.
—Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.
— Simone Weil
As most everyone knows by now, I am back from an intentional time of rest & renewal. Yesterday, I shared how this time in the wilderness helped me relearn what it means to be human.
Well before my time away, I had been wrestling with the purpose of social media in my life. I have struggled to figure out why I use it and how to use it in healthy ways. While it offers some quick emotional “hits” (sometimes anger, other times affirmation or envy or excitement, etc.), I have wondered if it really adds value or meaning to my life or rather it takes my time and attention away from what matters most. Reading Cal Newport’s book, Digital Minimalism, really helped drive this idea home.
Some reading this may have mastered the art of social media presence. You have a way of engaging & not engaging that aligns with your values. If so, great! [Please share your approach - I’d love to hear about it.] That has not been my experience though. I have felt misaligned, and wanting realignment, I decided to practice what Cal Newport calls a “digital declutter”. I removed whatever digital media is not essential and am only bringing back what offers unambiguous benefits. Cal writes, “…minimalists don’t worry about missing out on small things; what worries them much more is diminishing the large things they already know for sure make a good life good.”
Here is what I learned during the declutter:
Information overload is not good for me. I did not miss it. There are just a lot of things I do not want or need to know, and sometimes seeing everyone’s thoughts about everything is overwhelming and crowds out the Voice I most need to hear. With less noise, I had more space to pay attention to my own thoughts & feelings before getting input from others. For an Enneagram 2, this is super helpful!
I did not miss feeling pulled in so many directions. In the words of Glennon Doyle, my digital declutter made me feel like “an input junkie thrown into detox.” I realized that deep connection is a value of mine; constant connection is not. I value being accessible; not being instantly or always available. I have prided myself on being quick to respond to messages, but have realized that instant availability interferes with giving my full attention to whatever I am working on or whoever I am choosing to spend time with at that moment. I have experienced social media as a place that values doing (look what I did today! here is what you should do, too!) over being. As a natural doer, I need more space that nurtures being.
I did not miss mindless scrolling. I took the time I usually spend scrolling to read, walk & journal more. I really enjoyed reading mostly fiction for a change!
I do see the potential value in social media as a place to see & connect around some things. It is a helpful tool for learning about community events, for connecting around causes, for being a voice for an alternative way of being/living/engaging faith. I love how many people have found The Well through social media. The question for me remains: can I use it as this kind of tool without letting it eat away at my time and attention from the deep work? (Deep Work is another of Cal Newport’s books and deep work requires uninterrupted concentration!). I’ll be experimenting soon.
I want to be a digital minimalist. I want to re-engage with tools that support my values and I’m still working that out (and probably always will be). I want to log in with purpose, not out of compulsion. Thanks to Kate (my youngest daughter), I found Notion and I’m using it to better organize my time and to get more clear about my priorities and projects. I will slowly bring back some social media with clear parameters grounded in my “why” for being there. I want to safeguard my attention for the things I care most about.
I love how sabbatical has left me feeling less urgency to figure things out quickly and more at peace with taking it slow.
I’m holding on to that.
What about you?
How might decluttering make room for something deeper, healthier & more in tune with your values to emerge?