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45 Digital Minimalism tips from Reddit (2023)

By / Last Updated On: February 3, 2023

Wondering how to do Digital Minimalism the right way? Yes, you are at the right place to learn about it.

We have gone through hundreds of Reddit threads to find out the practical way to implement Digital Minimalism.

What is Digital minimalism?

Minimalism itself means simplicity or tidying up the things that are not useful. Digital minimalism intends the same idea to build a better relationship with technology.

Here are 101 digital minimalism tips to reduce your screen time and to build a better and healthier relationship with technology

14 tips to implement digital minimalism in your computer

Let us start with setting up the computer. Here are some tips to attain digital minimalism with your computer.

  1. Set a non-distracting, non-clashing wallpaper.
  2. Uninstall the unwanted softwares from your computer

Files

  1. Delete all the files that you don’t need.
  2. Organise the files by creating a folder in Finder, Windows File Manager, Dropbox, Google Drive, etc.
  3. Make Content Searchable: Label the folders and files with relevant names. So you can find anything that you want easily using search. Do not label the folders vaguely. 
  4. Fewer Folders: Create fewer folders like “Work”, “Personal” etc. So you will not get confused.
  5. Upload the files into iCloud/Google drive
  6. Empty the Trash Bin: Keep your trash bin clean.
  7. Empty the Download folder: Delete or move the files from the “Download” folder.
  8. Make use of the feature: Apps like google drive have many features that help the users in any way. Allowing access to the files is one of them. Instead of owning the file, you can access that file with the owner’s permission. It will make it less stressful.

Photos

  1. Delete: Go through your photo library and delete the unwanted photos
  2. Use iCloud/Google Photos: Use iCloud/Google photos to store the Photos.
  3. Create folders: Create folders to organise your photos. Use date/event name to create folders. It will help you to get the file quickly when you needed.
  4. Keep a local backup: Try to keep a local backup for your photos.

4 tips to practice Digital Minimalism with Internet

The Internet has become an essential part of our daily life. If you didn’t use it wisely, it would become more stressful.

Here are some tips to attain digital minimalism on the Internet.

  1. Limit your usage: Know your daily spending on the Internet or any browsers/social media apps. That will help you to limit the use for the next time.
  2. Make a list of all your passwords on paper.
  3. Use a password that is related to the website but avoid frequent replacements to make it easier to remember
  4. Stop receiving personalized Ads. You can opt out, from receiving personalized ads by doing the following
  • Google account: Sign into your Google Account > Settings > Ads Settings > Ads Personalization > Turn OFF.
  • iOS: Settings > Privacy > Limit Ad Tracking > ON.
  • Android: Settings > Google > Ads > Opt out Ads Personalization > OFF.

8 tips to practice Digital Minimalism with your Social Media

Here are some tips to attain digital minimalism on Social media.

  1. Turn off all the notifications.
  2. Make your account private: Make your social media accounts private. That will help you to control unwanted interactions.
  3. Unfollow/Unfriend: Unfollow/unfriend the celebrities, influencers and people that didn’t add value to your life.
  4. Limit your screen time on social media: Always try to limit the screen time on your social media accounts.
  5. Delete old conversations: Delete all the old conversations in your social media accounts.
  6. Go through your profile and delete unwanted posts, likes, retweets, saved posts, searches etc.
  7. Delete the app: Delete the social media apps from your phone and access it on a computer browser. By doing so, you will be able to reduce the number of times you check social media when you are bored or have nothing else to do.
  8. Delete/Deactivate Social Media Accounts: So many social media platforms are available on the Internet. But you don’t have to be active on every platform. Delete/Deactivate the accounts that you didn’t use.

7 tips to practice Digital Minimalism with your Email

Here are some digital minimalism tips when it comes to Email.

  1. Approach Zero-Inbox method: Zero-inbox method is an Email management method that aims to keep the inbox as empty or almost empty as possible. It helps you to organise your mail and will not miss any important Mail.
  2. Keep the least amount of mail in your inbox: Always keep the least amount of mails.
  3. Unsubscribe: Unsubscribe the unwanted things like newsletters, notifications etc. Block all the ads and promotions
  4. The organisation of Mail: Organise your email by creating folders and labelling them. Also, you can organise the mail by the level of importance. It will help you to send replies to the mails easily.
  5. Send fewer Mails: Did not need to send replies to each mail you get. Especially if it goings to be “Thank you”.
  6. Check twice per day: Only check mails twice per day.
  7. Get Up: If that’s all right to interact personally rather than mail, get up and talk with them.

8 tips to do digital minimalism with Mobile phone

Mobile phones have become a vital part of everyone’s life. Here are a few tips for digital minimalism for your phone.

  1. Delete Apps: Start with deleting the least using apps and the apps you will not use anymore. Try the browser version of the apps if you have any urgent.
  2. Delete social media: Social media isn’t a bad thing, it has many good sides. But the unlimited use of it is a bad habit. Delete all the social media apps and use the browser version to limit the usage.
  3. Home screen: You feel like the home screen has nothing to do with you, but it has. So put a nice wallpaper and keep only important apps in your dock.
  4. Organize the apps: Organise the apps and label them like Finance, Music etc on your phone.
  5. Clean Up Contacts: Go through your contacts and delete the contacts that you don’t need anymore.
  6. Make use of widgets: Widgets can be added to your phone’s homepage to access certain apps without opening the app itself.
  7. Remove Notifications: Notification has an important role in controlling your screen time. Except for the notification of phone calls, text messages and other necessary app notifications, turn off all other app notifications. When you want to check something, open the app and check it. 
  8. Do Not Disturb: Use the not Disturb mode after you finish your work, so you can have some time with yourself.

3 Pro tools to implement Digital Minimalism

  1. Use a password manager like 1Password or BitWarden. You can also sync it with iCloud Keychain.
  2. Use Ad Blockers.
  3. Use VPN to prevent tracking.

1 Bonus Digital Minimalism Tip

Instead of the above tips, you can take a 30-day break from all the optional technologies.

Ensure that these options technologies don’t disrupt your daily functions in any way.

A 30-day break might feel like a drastic step, but it’s necessary to drop all the technologies from your life for 30 days and focus on yourself.

Wrapping Up

Digital minimalism is not attained in one day. Digital minimalism is a process that helps you prioritize your purposes, core values and find how technology is affecting them. It is mandatory to clear out the things that don’t add value to your life.

Hope you get an idea about creating a focused digital minimalistic life. Kindly let us know if you have any queries.

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