We all have 24 hours a day and night and have the same time. Whether we are a farmer or if we are a king, everyone has their own time, problems, and stress.
Of course nowadays, when everything is digital and online. Digital minimalism is a great way to reduce stress. This story is based on my own experience, so it may be different for each person.
Decluttering items
Throw it in the trash
One of the ways to digital minimalism, we must get rid of everything that is unnecessary and have only what is most needed. We have to declutter all items, that we don’t need in our life. Throw in the trash, leaving only the things we love.
In digital terms, of course, we have to delete all files except those that are needed. Only install necessary applications, and purchase software licenses if possible. Because by buying a software license means we respect the maker and will respect the time as well.
The right license
Because if we all use pirates, it usually takes a long time to find the serial number :D. We can get it but we have to go through a fake site and maybe the software itself has been infected with a virus or malware, which can be costly and time-consuming. So it will be a problem later.
But not because of that, maybe I think if this software is an important part of a career why not? we have to use the licensed one. Yes, buying a license is one way of digital minimalism, I guess. If we can afford to buy and use it ourselves, then we are entitled to purchase a license.
If we buy a license, it means the software is useful for us. So that we can easily uninstall other software that is not needed. I myself bought a license for the following software because I think it is important.
I only installed essential applications and purchased a license for this software such as Xee for lightweight image viewer on Mac, and Internet Download Manager on Windows only.
By the way, I have never bought software that costs more than 2 million because everything is free on Mac –at least it looks free– although only basic functions like preview can be used to edit images or notes for my to-do list.
Less is more
It looks less, but it’s actually more useful. At least I think so because I’m also one of those people who practice digital minimalism. So, what is digital minimalism?
It’s about living with intention. You make room — space and time — for the things you love and eliminate everything that distracts us from them.
Dan Silvestre
We all understand these two words, right? Digital and minimalistic. But if you want details on digital minimalism, you can buy books by Cal Newport.
Internet
The internet is a digital life as a big monster or friendly creature. He can be a dangerous giant and a creepy “monster” or a very profitable “good friend”. How can the internet not become such a harmful monster if we become victims of cyberbullying or data theft?
Of course, that is just an example of the internet being outrageous. Minimalism is the key, one of the wise ways to use the internet. And also we should use Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram wisely.
Digital Minimalism
For me, digital is everything related to our laptops and gadgets, including smartphones, television, and the internet. Minimalism means minimal or slight disruption. We can associate minimalism with design principles, simple and hassle-free.
Take a look at this blog, I really like this beautiful theme. I bought this theme and made more customizations to make it simpler and more minimalistic.
Even on mobile phone, I changed the menu to be simpler and made sure everything was simple and minimalist.
Files and folders
We can do digital minimalism with files and folders by keeping it as simple as possible. Try to remove anything unnecessary. This is less stressful than your files and folders are messing around all over the place. It will be hard to find it later.
Control every aspect of your desktop, use search to launch applications. And move the important files to the cloud. I usually use iCloud but mostly use GDrive to declutter my desktop and back up my most valuable files.
Backup to cloud
If your files are too large to back up, you can use an external drive and use it as a file storage area and stay organized.
By freeing our lives from digital distractions, we can continue to do something useful and reduce stress. Digital minimalism can make our lives valued all the time.
How about you? Can you apply digital minimalism to reduce stress? Or maybe it’s difficult because you can’t leave the internet and social media?
