“If you want a fulfilling profession, pursue your curiosity.”
—The Minimalists
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The True Cost of Using My Phone
How minimizing my mobile device made it more valuable than ever before
By Paul Wallas
As someone in their mid-30s, I lived in a world before mobile phones dominated the mainstream consumer. I remember what it was like to be bored. I remember having faith in friends to remember plans. And I remember a world before Google, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I also experienced smart phones changing that world forever. I remember the feeling of suddenly having what was essentially a supercomputer in my pocket.
Over time, I slowly began to forget the feeling of boredom as it was replaced with my choice of entertainment apps. I no longer required the same faith in friends to remember plans, because I could simply drop them a text or request their location via WhatsApp. Stuck for an answer to a question or a problem? No problem, I could Google it. My phone was this amazing device that provided entertainment, knowledge, communication, and more.
As someone in their mid-30s, I now reassess areas of my life a little more often than my younger self did. Do I want to learn new hobbies? How do I want to best spend my time? Do I still enjoy my current hobbies? These are questions I ask myself a little more frequently, and recently, my answers have begun to change.
Since the introduction of the Screen Time feature on my phone, I’ve been questioning the true value of using my device. I thought to myself, “If each minute spent using my phone equates to $1, am I getting value for my money (my time)? Am I getting any return on the money I spend? Do I have anything to show for my expenditure or am I simply wasting my money?”
In short, my answer was “No." It therefore made sense for me to reassess exactly what I wanted from my phone and how I could reduce my daily screen time to ensure my interaction was more valuable.
I decided on two ways to reduce my screen time:
1. Reduce my total number of apps
My first step was to order my existing apps into three categories:
Apps I used daily
Apps I used weekly
Apps I rarely used
I rearranged the apps I used daily to be displayed on my home screen. I then questioned their value and my reason for using them. Did I use them as a pacifier to replace boredom? Did I use them out of necessity? Did I use them as learning material? I deleted all that were used as a pacifier. This included Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. This was difficult but I knew I only wanted to use apps that would help me learn or grow as a person.
I asked the same question for apps I used weekly. Once I had deleted those apps that were not proving value, I re-organized those that remained into a single folder named “Apps.” I ordered these apps based on usage. For instance, apps used for work were prioritized ahead of all others. I deleted all other apps that my phone allowed me to.
2. Replace existing apps with those that offer greater value
Once I had minimized my total number of apps, my next step was to specifically and intentionally re-arrange those that remain on my home screen. I replaced apps I used to interact with daily with those I wanted to interact with on a more regular basis and those that would provide greater value. For instance, one of my intentions is to learn French so I placed the Duolingo app where the Facebook app used to reside. Now, instead of opening Facebook in a state of boredom, I open Duolingo and develop my language skills.
My phone is more valuable than it has ever been, and, in a way, it has begun to justify its hefty price tag. My phone is no longer used as a pacifier or as an entertainment piece; instead, it’s something that helps me grow and develop as a person. Although the time spent on my phone has decreased, the value of my time has increased remarkably. I spend time on fewer and more valuable apps, and I feel a greater sense of achievement as a result.
Almost all of my screen time is now spent using my phone for the right reasons—the reasons that help me develop and advance as an individual.
Dare to Be Bare
How inner and outer minimalism invited peace during our apartment lockdown
By Anna Elin Kristiansen
“Brace yourself,” I said to my husband after the news that we were going to become quarantined for several weeks had streamed out of our living room, “for we are going to see a spike in divorce rates.”
It is a sad fact indeed that we keep busy to put up with each other. I know; I used to be part of the bustling brigade of professionals, hurrying back and forth between the nursery, the office, the store, the playground, hardly stopping to draw breath, let alone examine my behaviour. Irritation was always easily ignited, often poured out over the people closest to me.
Last year, I abruptly left busyness behind and spent many months recovering from a stress breakdown, searching through my deepest, darkest chambers for weakened wood in need of repair. As a result, we made a conscious choice to enter Minimalism Ville and stop spending our money on material goods, trips and cream-on-cake sensory enhancers that kept us running the rat race. Our frugality had forced us to live in closer proximity, relying on ourselves for work that needed doing around the house and using our imagination to come up with family outings that cost nothing. In return, it had given us time.
Examining my life at the seams when I had been too busy to tackle this task for years was a daunting, frightening task. And now, countless humans around the globe have been thrown into similar soul-searching as they spend long stretches in family house arrest. Without a routine to escape into, the foundation of our home life slowly lays itself bare. Without a seemingly stable structure to our lives, stressors such as looming layoffs and potentially plummeting house prices awaken our less charming traits from their slumber. When life slows down, truth shines through the cracks, mercilessly illuminating the flaws on our naked bodies.
I thought we were in a good place to weather our enforced lockdown, but as I have come to realize, life likes to throw us the challenges we need to keep humble and agile. Pandemic-enhanced stressors took their toll on me and I could easily have become swept up in the Corona frenzy.
Turning to minimalism, I tried to find a path leading back to peace, come what may. Like many others, I started ridding our apartment of unused debris, sorting through and clearing out to make our living space more harmonious and functional. Our space may have been confined, but it now felt less like a temporary prison and more like a comforting cocoon. In a rare stroke of brilliance, I started employing the same cleaning/clearing tactic to my mind. Having minimized my desire for stuff, a busy schedule and real estate goals meant I had already stripped down to a more true and naked human form. However, the lockdown showed me that I still needed to shed one layer of clothing.
Contrary to the belief I have held most of my adult life, I now know that unhelpful emotions should not be left alone to gather dust on my innermost shelves. They need to be brought out into the light and examined before I bid them goodbye. Whenever a less pleasant feeling arose—say, fear—I would acknowledge it, find the underlying cause, and then clear it out by putting it into honest words. Inner and outer minimalism started merging. Instead of adding stress to our mental family clutter I found myself growing calm as the days turned into weeks and we were still confined to our apartment.
Laying myself bare was difficult; I had to become vulnerable. But without negative states occupying mental space, my mind became clearer and more peaceful. The calm that descended on our house brought forth a sense of optimism and a desire to be kind, to be helpful, to be victorious in the face of suffering.
Drawing on that newfound optimism, I think we all find those feelings when we strip down and lay ourselves bare. We just need to declutter, sort through, clear out and—most importantly—let go.
A Little More of Less
A few other articles we think you might enjoy…
The Joy of Bone-Exhausting Work by Leo Babauta
Maintaining Your Peace While Getting Work Done by Amanda McKee
Support as a Business Model by Carl MH Barenbrug
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