Sign up for Dashlane and get 10% off the premium subscription: I have a weird relationship with technology. I like how it makes my life simpler and more effective. I like how I can read the news on my phone instead of having to buy a newspaper; I like how I can watch Netflix anywhere, or play video games anywhere, or use my thermomix to make a recipe from scratch without breaking a sweat. But at the same time, it's also overwhelming. I'm constantly surrounded by so many screens, noises and artificial light all the time and I feel like I miss feeling bored or just hearing silence or just plain music - no audiobooks, youtube videos or podcasts playing in the background.
One of my resolutions this year is to continue reducing the time I spend in the digital world. I've done a couple of digital minimalism videos before because I think it's something that everyone needs a little bit so this is like a journal of my progress throughout time. But now, for someone who has a desk job and has to stare at a screen for 7 to 8 hours every day it's very difficult to know exactly where to cut, and how. I also decided to minimise the ridiculous amount of information I have stored, either in flash drives or in the cloud. I feel like an hypocrite trying to minimise things in the physical world while hoarding files on my phone or iCloud.
One of the basic habits I've implemented is no phone near bed. This means that instead of scrolling through social media or watching YouTube videos, I will read or write before I fall asleep as much as possible. This also has the added bonus of making me force myself to get up to turn off my alarm at 6 am instead of stretching my arm and snoozing it.
This year I also want to keep my morning as tech free as possible and that's something I've been struggling with lately, since I find it very easy to watch Youtube videos or a series while having breakfast.
I've thoroughly deleted most of my apps and reorganised my home screen to hide social media and other secondary entertainment apps that i don't want to immediately click just for the sake of it every time I unlock my phone or iPad.
I like to keep my laptop equally uncluttered and only keep the files that I'm currently working on while organising everything else within the file system. Only the most important files in my laptop are backed up to an external hard drive and when I no longer need a file, I'll delete it from the drive, the computer and any cloud service it's being stored in.
I've also managed to cut on most of my subscriptions for apps or entertainment services. Besides Netflix, which I watch very regularly, I only subscribe to a media service when there's a show I really want to watch and after that I'll immediately unsubscribe. Besides that I basically keep Spotify for music and podcasts.
And speaking of Spotify, the biggest change I've made recently is trying to stay in silence more often. I was trying to constantly hear podcasts or YouTube videos while doing more menial tasks but I now like to do that during my commute to and from work and avoid grabbing my phone every time it's quiet to get bombarded by more information. While I'm doing chores or cooking I prefer now to just get in touch with my thoughts for a while or playing some music.
What I also did last year was minimising the amount of productivity tools I use and I started relying on my digital calendar, Notion and a to-do app to manage all tasks and events. This has become specially important for me because having to constantly migrate between computers and devices during the day, including going to meetings or having to work in other places basically destroyed my previous planning routine. no longer I have the space to carry a bulky planner or the time to organize and keep a bullet journal. I've been forced to select a couple of apps to get organized while making sure they are accessible in all the devices I use.
FTC: This video is sponsored by Dashlane.
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