Digital Declutter Rules đź“ť
Version: 3.01 Last Updated: 2024-02-13
This is a list of rules that will guide me during my Digital Declutter phase.
Changelog:
- The only change I've made for Version 3.01, is removing restrictions for Crunchy Roll when viewing something with my family, especially my kids who've shown an interest in anime.
- The notable rule additions/changes I've made for Version 3.0 are removing restrictions when doing an activity with other people. For instance, playing video games and streaming videos are no longer restricted if I'm doing the activity with my family.
What is a Digital Declutter?
A Digital Declutter is an exercise I read about in Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism book. It's almost like a Digital Detox or a Digital Sabbath. The main differences are that you do it for at least 30 days, and that you are replacing addictive digital activities with analog activities. For instance, instead of browsing social media at night, you read books, or learn a new craft like cooking, or you learn how to play a musical instrument like the guitar, etc...
The easiest way to understand it is to look at the rules listed below. But of course you don't have to follow the same rules I made for myself. You can create your own set of rules and do it at your own time. My main motivation for sharing these rules online, was to invite people to give the Digital Declutter exercise a try. If you have any questions regarding this, you can find ways to contact me on this page, but sending an email is the best option.
Messaging Apps:
- Text Messages/iMessage: Allowed
- Facebook Messenger: Allowed, but can only check it once a day.
- Microsoft Teams: Allowed (needed for work)
- Everything else: Not allowed
Emails:
- Mobile Phone Apps:
- Outlook: Allowed (needed for work) but can only be used during daytime, except on support calls.
- Yahoomail: Allowed (needed for two factor authentication) but can only be used during daytime.
- Protonmail: Not allowed
- On PC: Allowed
- On Tablet: Not allowed
Web Browsing:
- Mobile Phone Apps:
- Safari: Not allowed, except for when I really NEED to lookup something and for going through already open tabs.
- On PC: Allowed (but see further restrictions below)
- On Tablet: Not allowed, except for when I really NEED to lookup something.
Reading Blogs/Journals/Websites:
- Mobile Phone:
- Safari: Not allowed, except for going through already open tabs.
- Feedly: Allowed
- Are.na: Allowed
- On PC: Allowed but only limited to educational/career topics, like those on software development and productivity/self-improvement.
- Jalopnik: Not allowed
- Speedhunters: Not allowed
- The Truth About Cars: Not allowed
- Read.write.as: Not allowed
- Micro.blog: Not allowed.
- ESPN: Not allowed
- News sites: Not allowed
- Articles/posts from Are.na and Feedly: Allowed
- On Tablet: Not allowed
Posting to Blogs/Journals:
- No blogging allowed.
Reading/Educational Apps:
- iBooks: Allowed
- Kindle: Allowed
- Audible: Allowed
Social Media Apps and Websites:
- No social media use allowed.
Video Games:
- Mobile Phone Games: Not allowed
- Xbox: Allowed at night for a max of 1 hour of play time during weekdays when playing by myself. Allowed with frequent breaks on weekends when playing by myself.
- An exception here is if I'm playing a game with my kids and/or wife, then there is no restriction.
- PC Games: Same restrictions as Xbox.
Video Streaming Apps:
- Netflix: Allowed during weekdays for at most 2 episodes or 1 documentary/movie when viewing by myself. Allowed on weekends with less restrictions when viewing by myself.
- An exception here is if I'm viewing something with my kids and/or wife, then there is no restriction.
- Crunchyroll: Not allowed, except if I'm viewing something with my kids and/or wife, then there is no restriction.
- YouTube: Only allowed for viewing educational content.
- Pluralsight: Allowed
Music Apps:
- Spotify: Allowed
- Pandora: Allowed
Misc Apps:
- Weather App: Allowed
- Apple Notes: Allowed, except when I have a pocket notebook on me.
- OneNote: Allowed, except when I have a pocket notebook on me.
- Obsidian: Allowed to work on my notes.
General Rules:
- Apps or services that are categorized or used as tools will be allowed, like the Calculator, Calendar and other such apps.
- Apps or services that have infinite pools, ie. apps with infinite news feeds, will not be allowed.