AKA yes, I have a flip phone, please don’t snatch it, but consider getting your own. 

I’m the only person I know who has a flip phone. A lot of my peers and family scoffed at me for getting one. I understand why many think its impractical. It doesn’t have GPS, it can’t update me on the weather, and I can’t receive pictures on its native messaging app. But to me, having a smartphone was more impractical. Getting a flip-phone wasn’t a manifestation of some weird snowflake complex but an effort to put a hard stop to distraction. When it came to limiting distraction on my smartphone, deleting social media, muting its colors, silencing notifications, wasn’t enough for me; especially when I was convinced, I needed certain functions on my smartphone (e.g. a browser). Having poor self-control, I believe having a flip phone is the best for me. 

What is Digital Minimalism? 

To answer this question, first we have to define minimalism. Many of you may think of minimalist interior design and architecture. This is not the minimalism I am talking about. Minimalism is about mindfulness: being present in your own life through intention. Digital minimalism is the application of intention and therefore focus to one’s own technology and its use to create a more meaningful day-to-day. I hated how derailing my smartphone and online habits were to my life; I was constantly grieving, whining, and sighing to myself about how much time I’d wasted online.  Adopting minimalism wasn’t a conscious decision, I only wanted to live life with intention; I only wanted a change. Getting a flip phone was a huge relief for me and I want to share this relief with others. So, here is my guide on creating focus in your life by changing your digital habits. 

Step 1: Think to yourself, “This is a problem.” 

Many don’t want to admit to themselves that they have a problem. From what I’ve seen, most of you are clocking in an average of 7 hours of screen time, just on your phone, every day. Our generation has many terms for the over-use of social media and internet forums, (terms like chronically/extremely online and… brainrot…) and we are able to make self-deprecating jokes about our own internet usage but continuously fail to make a change. When we recognize that a habit is bad for us, yet continue it anyway is because we think (or convince ourselves) that this is our only way of living. Understanding that a habit is bad for you, and repeating it anyway, is a telltale sign of addiction. 

Step 2: There’s a way out. 

You don’t have to buy a feature phone (a non-smart mobile phone) to kick your habits. Don’t buy something you’re not going to find useful. Instead, research your options. I recommend augmenting your current smartphone and see if this leaves you satisfied. Delete apps. Make a list of the apps that are eating up the most of your time. Ask why. Decide if you are proud of those reasons, if they are meaningful to you. Decide if you need this on your phone. Ask yourself if there is a device you have at home that you can use to access the same app or website. When I deleted YouTube and Instagram off my old smartphone, I told myself I was only allowed to access them on my computer that I left at home. As these websites became less accessible to me, I started to take less interest in opening them in the first place. I regained focus. This is digital decluttering. 

Step 3: Fill your time. 

You’re going to be bored. You will get frustrated and be tempted to backslide. When this happens, ask yourself if distracting yourself is really going to solve anything. Remember: the wrong choice is always easiest to make. Either because it’s familiar, or convenient, or cheaper. Shein isn’t popular because they make durable, high-quality fashion. They’re popular because it’s cheap, if you discount the costly impact on our ecosystems and the costs of inhumane work environments. In the end what are we left with? A piece of crap top, a global health concern, and the ills of abusive labor. Is this really the best option to wearing the clothes we already have, borrowing clothes, and thrifting locally? No. It’s your job to remind yourself of the role you play in the world around you, because one day the consequences will stop being abstract and intangible. You will have that hangover. You will have high cholesterol. You will have lung cancer. You know you will regret this, so don’t do it. Do something else. Decluttering digitally does not mean abstaining from the internet, it means removing aimlessness from your habits and introducing intention. You are allowed to get online to read about the things that interest you or search up tutorials. Go make plans with your friends, go to your local library, exercise, or stop procrastinating on work or hard tasks. As you fill up your time with things that are fulfilling, you will feel less temptation to backslide. 

Step 4: Understand that motivation is a myth. 

 You will want to choose the easy option. You will want to procrastinate. You will want to eat junk. You will tell yourself, “Today is a special day,” or “just one more won’t make any difference.” You might complain about not having motivation, but no one has this legendary motivation.  In the book, Hello, habits: A minimalist’s guide to leading a better life, the author includes an excerpt from Haruki Murakami’s book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. The excerpt is Murakami describing an interview he had with Japanese Olympic Runner, Toshihiko Seko. He asks him, “Does a runner at your level ever feel like you’d rather not run today, like you don’t want to run and would rather just sleep in?” Murakami then describes Seko’s answer: “In a voice that made it abundantly clear how stupid he thought the question was, [he] replied, ‘Of course. All the time!’” You don’t need motivation, you need momentum. Forcing yourself to commit to a habit or change and then reminding yourself why you need this change. I wake up at 5:00 every morning and what gets me out of bed is knowing if I don’t get out of bed, I won’t stretch, and if I don’t stretch I won’t achieve a good workout, and if I don’t get in a good workout I won’t want breakfast, and then I’ll have a headache for the rest of the day, making it impossible to think or focus, making my work pile up, making me stay up trying to catch up. It seems kind of silly, but by not getting up at the time I planned, my schedule is thrown off and today is guaranteed to not go the way I need it to, creating bigger problems down the line. I’m in bed by 9:00 and this is how I can ensure I can get up at 5:00 and not screw up my day as soon as it’s started. Over time, you will start to repeat this habit without a thought, making it less taxing than it seems now or when you first start. This is achieving momentum. 

Step 5: Reap the Rewards 

 By using your time in a way that you find fulfilling, you will gain better self-confidence and esteem. You will become closer to a goal and find yourself achieving more goals. Everyone’s journey is different, but you may find yourself applying these tactics on other habits outside of your technology, and become healthier, or more friendly, or more organized, or more creative. The purpose of digital minimalism is to put forward focus on ones own habits and quality of life. 

Step 6 (Optional) : Consider getting a flip phone. 

After I had deleted most apps off my phone and changed the background to a dull grey, I still wasn’t happy. For some reason, needing to carry it around irritated me. I hated the notifications I’d get from texts, I hated the bright screen, I hated how big it was, I hated having a smartphone. It was too overwhelming and part of this frustration came from the fact I didn’t know how to prioritize my attention any further on the device. Getting a flip phone seemed like the best fix, and the relief I felt was immediate. People can still reach me, but now it feels more intentional, more meaningful. I still get irritated with the notifications on this phone, but all it takes is putting it on silent. I don’t think about my phone at all anymore, and in comparison to the way I felt before, I feel incredibly relieved. 

Conclusion 

Digital minimalism, for me, has created a gorgeous sense of calm in my life. I no longer feel a pressure to stay connected or up-to-date on social media and I think less about the weight and noise of my phone. Everything has focus now. I’m getting a better idea of what is truly important to me; I’m getting better at dedicating myself to those things. These steps can be applicable to other addictions or unwanted behaviors. The key is honest self-reflection, self-esteem, and a commitment to self-discipline.