In today’s world, it feels like we can’t get away from our devices. We always have to be tuned in, and it feels impossible to shut our brains off. If we disconnect from the world of social media, we not only miss out on the news, but also entertainment, friendly banter, and life updates. The whole world has moved online, and it feels like there’s nothing that can be done about it.
In a lot of the world, this is causing people’s health and well-being to suffer. Quality of life has gotten higher across the globe, and people fritter away their time and money as a result. It’s kind of a sad state of affairs. How many minutes of human life are being wasted? The technological gains we’ve made make this fact more even more brutal. It’s like we’re giving up on ourselves right before we have the chance to achieve perfection.
It was only this year that I grew tired of wasting my life. I was smoking a ton of weed and tobacco while watch YouTube videos all day, and each day felt as though it were droning on and on. Life felt pointless, and I knew I needed to change.
I first tried finding my answers online. This worked, in a way, but the entertainment rabbit hole quickly swallowed me up. I found myself watching nonsense on YouTube and frittering away my time on social media. I unwittingly combatted this with digital minimalism.
For me, digital minimalism means simplifying your online life. Most people are on every social network, and they text. This is a pretty crazy way to live, when you think about it. If one were to spend an hour a day on each platform available, they would be spending north of 5 hours just on social media! It’s impossible to spend all day checking social media without sacrificing productivity.
Generally speaking, I am not on social media. I publish to Medium and YouTube, but I am not active on platforms such as Instagram or Snapchat. It’s a pretty great way to be. I don’t get bothered with bullshit from “friends”, I don’t have to watch any stupid “news”, and I’m not losing track of moments or conversations between apps. I log into Twitter and WhatsApp to talk to my friends and watch stuff on YouTube. Everything else is work.
You don’t need much to make connections in this world. With modern technology, you’re much better off going outside than spending too much time on social media. Social media isn’t genuine, and most of the people you meet on there hate their lives. A bit of YouTube and Twitter is cool, but the amount of time I spend on these things is minimal, because I’m living a well-rounded life.
My circle of friends has gotten smaller. That’s because most people are chronically online, or not working hard enough on themselves. Both of these situations are exacerbated by the digital environment, which tells us to seek comfort and pleasure at all costs.
It’s hard to fully explain what it means to focus on digital minimalism. We can’t escape from using our cellphones and computers but using them too much is messing up our lives. Our attention span, emotional control, and happiness are all being messed up by these devices. When you minimize the content you consume, you essentially declutter your mind. Give it a try. Think of the digital services you access. Do they serve you? Cut down on what you can. It will improve your life dramatically.
By Rising Current on .
Exported from Medium on November 8, 2024.
