I’ve been reading a book called ‘Digital Minimalism’ by Cal Newport lately (and I will talk more about this soon, along with another book called ‘Atomic Habits’ by James Clear). One of Newport’s central ideas is that in order to change our relationship with technology, and especially the ‘always online’ part of technology, is to quit our use of most of it for at least 30 days. A full detox.
But he also goes to great pains to say that this is not enough. During this detox period, we have to also figure out what we value (in life) and how our apps and digital sources either support this, or not, and how. In other words, we have understand why we use these technologies in the first place, and then post-detox, we can add back only what supports what we truly value for specific reasons. This is a redefinition.
It struck me that rarely do we take this approach in general, and perhaps we should. In my new position as ‘someone in midlife’, I have certainly had my share of moments re-evaluating what’s important. And of course, most of us during this relentless pandemic, have found ourselves questioning whether parts of our new reality might actually be a better ‘normal’. The pandemic was sort of a detox (from a whole variety of things), and it’s been long enough that we’ve had time and opportunity to re-evaluate as well. Surely, we’re now at a point where we can decide what to add back that supports what we value - and only that.
Not only does this feel rather radical somehow (which I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t), but also we’re not actually taught how to do this. Why, I wonder.
Would this not be a useful skill to teach kids in high school? How to tap into what you value and how to organize your life so that your actions and behavior support these values? I wonder how many kids would choose different majors, or even different colleges, not to mention careers.
And then how could we help each other also understand that what we value now will change as we age, and as circumstances shift? Inevitably, there will be more evaluation and more redefinition throughout life. And that’s not only ok, but a way of living that is likely to make us happier, and the world safer and healthier…..because it’s hard to imagine that we don’t all value clean air and forests and green space and decent healthcare.
So, how about we get all deliberate following our pandemic detox, and really take some time to tap into what we value? And then how about we add back behavior, habits, and activities that only support those values? What would that even look like? And what would it really change?
We’re going through some of this in our own lives - sort of by chance - right now. And we often find ourselves in discussions about how to fund and schedule more travel and time with our closest friends for example.
But I think we can do better than the ‘by chance’ thing. I’m going to be looking into the different ways people approach this, and I’d love ideas from this crew! Comments open to everyone!