Light Phone creators Hollier and Tang started
their presentation with this bitter truth that,
your time is equal to their money.
Means, as much time you will give,
that much money they will earn.
This is called the Attention Economy.
And we are living in
an attention economy.
Where bidding is done
on people’s attention.
The media companies who can grab
as much attention of their users.
that media companies will earn more.
I have no problem with
this business model.
I have problems only with
digitally addicted users.
Those who use this technology
like a digital zombie.
Author noticed that,
After coming the touchscreen mobile, many people
in the world only stick with their mobiles.
So he takes the decision that,
This is the best time,
People should be taught the principle of
“Digital Minimalism” to protect from this cyber distraction.
The author says that people join Facebook because they
can connect with their friends, by living in different cities.
But don’t maintain an uninterrupted conversation
by sitting with friends at the same table.
Because they give more importance to their
smartphone’s notification than the person near them.
HBO popular show
“REALTIME WITH BILL MAHER” had told in his show,
“Checking your like
is the new smoking”.
Because checking the likes
of your photos again and again,
and checking views of your
status again and again,
is bad for the health of your
brain than smoking cigarettes.
Nowadays, parents give smartphones
and tablets to their children to sit silently.
But they don’t know that the things they have given
to their children are more addictive than drugs.
According to the research done shortly,
The thing that affects
our life most is the Screen”.
And this addictive property
of the Screen is not an accident.
But it is a carefully engineered design,
that attract us to check
again and again.
Screen colour influences us much.
That’s why the most
icons of your apps,
will be Red, Green, or Blue.
Because mobile screens are addictive
due to the material design and these colours.
Do you know?
Facebook notification
symbol colour was blue.
By which it can match with
the Facebook blue theme.
But people were not clicking
on that notification.
After understanding colour psychology.
They did notification symbol colour from blue to red.
Then people started
clicking on it themselves.
Our brains try to maintain
our social status since ancient times.
So Aristotle had told that
“Human is a social creature”.
and due to this fact,
To balance a social life,
people believe conversation
and digital connection as one thing.
which is not true.
Conversation means
talking face to face.
In which Eye contact, Tone of voice,
and Facial expression are included.
And this is the best way to
maintain our social lives.
While digital connection means texting,
emojis, posts, stories, etc. are all fake.
If I tell the example,
On the birthday of your friend’s baby,
by writing “So cute, and Happy Birthday”.
Wish after going home will be
more humanly and effective.
The digital connection can
be a supporter of conversation,
But never be an alternative.
People think if they are not connected
every time then they will be disconnected.
But the truth is that,
by living digitally less
available to people,
Your relationship becomes more strong.
Because, if you will be
digitally less connected.
and when you will meet face to face,
then you will have much more things to share.
But if you are daily connected,
after meeting face to face,
there will be no work other
than fingering your mobile.
Because already you both have
news of every moment of each other.
What does he do, where did he go,
what had he done, etc?
Whatever you think but
data say clear that,
As much as people
will connect digitally
that much, they will lead to isolation.
Due to always available
and cheap digital technology.
This distraction has made
people addicted and mentally pauper.
Some data tells,
People spend 1 minute of
every 5 minutes on social media.
Smartphones usages have
doubled in the last few years.
And the average person spends
2-3 hours daily seeing a mobile screen.
So the time come to end this
madness and redesign our life.
Because if we don’t do this.
In future Instead of
“Smoking is injurious to health”,
“Smartphone addiction is
injurious to mental health” will come.
So to effective use
of digital technology,
We must know the principle of
“Digital Minimalism”.
Digital Minimalism is a philosophy.
That will help you to
choose digital tools,
that can add more and
more value to your life.
For being a Digital Minimalist.
First, you have to learn to
use technology intentionally.
Whenever you pick up the phone then,
remember, for what purpose you have picked.
After completing that purpose kept
it immediately wherever it was.
By which you can get rid of
the distractions loophole.
In most cases, we use technology
for short-term emotional relief.
We should use digital devices to create
something instead of cheap emotional relief.
that is important, meaningful
and valuable for us.
Cal Newport says,
“Humans, Deep Down are, Craftsman”.
Who wants to create
something on any level.
Want to write poetry by programming.
or making a plane by
pin or something else.
By which he can give something
to the world by creating.
So our primary goal should be to use
the technology to create something.
And to get this level.
We need to set some boundaries.
To give time to our families,
or for studies,
keep the phone in the
drawer in airplane mode.
You can go for an evening walk
by leaving your phone at home.
Fix a time in a week, to delete unused apps,
unnecessary documents, or photos.
Take a lunch break in the
afternoon without your phone.
The addictive app that you
can open in your browser,
uninstall that from your mobile.
and only use it on your laptop.
If possible, live far from the news,
but instead of fake breaking news and
online news read-only trusted newspapers.
By which you can get
genuine information.
The WhatsApp group you need,
and you get valuable
information from the group,
only join that group.
and bye all other WhatsApp groups.
At last, I only mean to say that,
Digital Minimalism means not
that stop using all digital technology.
Being a digital minimalist means,
how and when you
use the digital world.
by monitoring it continuously,
to use it for your benefit.
By being a Digital Minimalist, you will be able to
give more time to your most valuable things.
Eliminating digital distractions from your life is the best
powerful weapon to increase your productivity.
That is also belive by authors
like Robin Sharma, and Cal Newport.
These are all things I have told you from the latest
book by Cal Newport “Digital Minimalism”.
That taught us to give time
to ourselves in this tech world.
If you don’t want to become
a slave of technology.
And want to use
technology effectively.
Then you must read the book
“Digital Minimalism”.
Whose link is given in the description.
And if you found this blog useful then
to support me, please share this blog.
and don’t forget to comment
your views on this topic.
Thank You.
