Digital minimalism is having a moment. Again. Every six months someone writes a book about it, it trends on Twitter for a week, and then everyone goes back to doomscrolling. I’ve been through three or four of these cycles and I can tell you: most of what passes for advice on this topic is either obvious ( delete apps! ) or unsustainable ( use a dumbphone! ).
Here is what actually worked for me after years of trying and failing.
Turn Off Everything
Notifications are the single worst thing about modern phones. Not social media, not screen time — the constant buzzing that trains you to check your device every three minutes. I turned off every single notification except phone calls from my wife and calendar reminders. That’s it. No WhatsApp pings, no email badges, no news alerts.
The first two days felt like withdrawal. Then I stopped caring. Nothing important was missed. Turns out nobody needs to know about a Slack message within 30 seconds.
One Screen of Apps
I keep exactly one home screen of apps. Everything else goes in a folder called “Stuff” that I rarely open. The home screen has: phone, messages, WhatsApp, camera, maps, banking, calendar, Spotify, Notes, and Firefox. That’s it. If I need anything else, I swipe to search.
The friction of searching instead of tapping makes a real difference. Half the time I realize I don’t actually need the app.
Use Paper for Thinking
I tried every note-taking app. Notion, Obsidian, Bear, Apple Notes, Google Keep. They’re all fine. They’re also all on a device that has the entire internet on it. Every time I open a notes app, there’s a chance I end up somewhere else.
Now I use a pocket notebook. A5, grid lines, cheap. When I need to think through a problem, I write it down. No tabs, no notifications, no algorithm waiting to steal my attention. The friction of handwriting slows me down in a good way — I think more carefully about what’s worth writing.
Batch Everything
Email: twice a day. 9am and 4pm. Social media: once in the evening, 15 minutes max, timer set. Messages: I check them when I feel like it, which is usually 3-4 times a day, not 40.
Batching sounds boring because it is. That’s the point. When you batch, you stop reacting and start choosing. I don’t read emails as they come in because most of them don’t need a response within the hour. ( The ones that do? People call me. )
Delete the Obvious Time Sinks
This is the part where someone tells you to delete Instagram. Fine, do that if you want. But the real time sinks are the ones you don’t notice. For me it was: Twitter ( obviously ), Reddit ( I told myself it was for “research” ), and YouTube ( I’d open it for one thing and lose 45 minutes ).
I didn’t delete YouTube because I genuinely use it for tutorials. But I removed it from my home screen and logged out. The extra step of logging in is enough friction to stop the mindless scrolling.
What I Actually Measure
Screen time is a terrible metric. Some days I’m reading a long article and my screen time is high — that’s fine. Some days I’m scrolling Twitter for 20 minutes and my screen time is low — that’s not fine.
What I track instead: how many hours of deep work I got done ( I use a simple timer, not an app ), whether I read for 30 minutes before bed, and whether I finished the day feeling like I did something useful. That’s it. Three data points, no dashboard needed.
Conclusion
Digital minimalism isn’t about having less technology. It’s about having technology that serves you instead of the other way around. I still use my phone plenty. I just use it on purpose now.
The steps that actually moved the needle: turn off notifications, limit your home screen, use paper, batch your digital tasks, add friction to time sinks. Everything else is noise.
Start with notifications. Do it right now. The rest follows.