My Guide to Digital Minimalism

Or How I'm Trying to Escape the Attention Economy Without Becoming a Digital Hermit

Earlier this year, I realized I had a problem. I’d reach for my phone to check the time and find myself twenty minutes deep in YouTube videos about camera gear I didn’t need. I’d sit down to write and end up browsing shopping sites instead. I’d end the day feeling like I hadn’t accomplished anything meaningful. Sound familiar?

As a parent with limited time and mental energy, I couldn’t afford to have my attention hijacked by algorithmic manipulation. I needed a system that would let me harness technology’s benefits while avoiding its traps. What I have been trying to create is a framework that uses technology strategically while embracing constraints that actually enhance creativity and focus.

When the Tools Become Masters

The irony of modern productivity tools is that they often make us less productive. Our smartphones, designed to be helpful assistants, have become slot machines in our pockets. Our computers, meant to amplify our capabilities, constantly tempt us away from deep work.

For parents especially, this digital fragmentation is devastating. We already have limited windows for focused work. When those precious moments get consumed by digital distractions, we lose more than productivity. We lose the opportunity for the kind of sustained thinking that leads to meaningful work and personal growth.

The solution isn’t to abandon technology entirely. It’s to redesign our relationship with it so that we control the tools instead of letting them control us.

Single-Purpose Devices, Multi-Purpose Life

The foundation of this system is simple: each device should serve one primary function excellently, without bleeding into other areas of life. This prevents the cognitive overhead of constant decision-making about what to do with a multi-purpose device.

Here’s how I’m rebuilding my technology stack around this principle:

The Writing Stack

Primary Tool: Supernote Nomad with Bluetooth keyboard

This is my dedicated writing environment. No web browsers, no video apps, no shopping temptations. Just a blank page and my thoughts. The e-ink display is easy on the eyes during long writing sessions, and the ability to switch between typing and handwriting keeps the creative process fluid.

The constraint is the feature. When I sit down with my Supernote, there’s literally nothing else I can do except write. This eliminates the decision fatigue that comes with opening a laptop and facing infinite possibilities for distraction. And this could as easily be done with your computer. Just shut off wifi access and pull up a blank page if you’re the disciplined sort.

The Photography System

Primary Tool: JPEG-only workflow with occasional RAW backup

This is the hardest change but potentially the most liberating. Time will tell.

I spend more time editing photos than taking them, which is a form of compensation for not getting out enough to photograph due to the realities of my working life. But this is often time that yields diminishing returns and just puts a bandaid on a wound I’d be better served to address by making intentional time for my photography.

The new rule: shoot in JPEG, accept the results, move on. If a photo needs extensive editing to be good, it probably wasn’t a good photo to begin with. This constraint forces me to become more intentional about lighting, composition, and timing, which are the fundamentals that matter more than any post-processing technique.

I still shoot RAW+JPEG as insurance, but I’m going to resist the temptation to edit unless the select is meaningfully part of a project that requires it.

The Communication Filter

Primary Tool: E-ink phone (BigMe HiBreak Pro) for personal use

Not all friction is bad, or at least that is the bet I’m taking for now. I just purchased this phone since my iPhone is years out of date and cracked to the point that it is barely serviceable. Rather than getting the latest iPhone, I decided to go a different direction this time.

The slow refresh rate and monochrome display of an e-ink phone creates exactly the right kind of friction I’m hoping will slow my impulse to pull the device out of my pocket at every opportunity. It sufficiently handles essential communications as far as I can tell but makes mindless scrolling nearly impossible.

I’ll keep my old smartphone on standby for work requirements in case the enterprise Microsoft tools that need full functionality don’t work on the BigMe, but my personal digital life will now happen on the deliberately limited e-ink device, and maybe it will make it less enticing for my kids to try and hijack my phone all the time as well :)

The Memory System

Primary Tools: Field Notes journals with printed photos

Instead of scrolling through Instagram for visual stimulation, I now print my favorite photos with my little Polaroid Hi Print and Canon QX20 and paste them into pocket notebooks with handwritten notes. This satisfies the same psychological need for sharing and documenting my life that I get from Instagram, but creates permanent, meaningful records instead of ephemeral digital churn.

The Connected Technology Strategy

Technology becomes powerful when it serves your predetermined goals rather than creating new dependencies. Here’s how to use it strategically:

Batch Hours

Designate specific times for computer connected work: personal email drafting, research compilation, administrative tasks. Outside these windows, I try to live in pure focus mode without any digital assistance. It helps that my work computer is over engineered on security so it further limit my consumption during the day as well.

I’ve noticed that constant context-switching has been the biggest factor that destroys my sustained attention throughout the day, and working like this will hopefully eliminate or at least reduce this issue.

Books Before Browsers

When I need information, my goal is to consult relevant books first before resorting to internet searches, YouTube or AI queries. Not for everything of course, but for deeper topics that I want to understand, Libby (the app where you can access public library books and resources) is my best friend. This slower process often yields deeper understanding and prevents the shallow, reactive learning that comes from instant digital answers.

The Workflow: A Day in the Attention Economy Resistance

Early Morning (5:30-7:00 AM): Deep work session with Supernote. No devices with internet connectivity. Pure creation time before the day’s demands intrude.

Throughout the Day: When questions arise, jot them in a physical notebook rather than immediately reaching for digital answers. I also track my impulses and note every time I want to reach for a phone or the web for something. Just noticing helps me retrain my impulses and form better habits.

Evening (8:00-9:00 PM): Photo selection and enrichment ritual. Review the day’s photos on my phone (in airplane mode), select the best one, print it, and paste it into the Field Notes journal with written reflections. Update habit tracker in Supernote. Look at a photo book. Take an online course. Watch a movie. Read a book. Go to bed.

To combat another issue of mine, which is getting a dopamine hits from online shopping, I also now ask myself these questions as well.

The Pre-Purchase Questions To Save Your Attention and Wallet

Before buying any new gadget or tool, ask yourself:

1. Does this solve a specific, clearly defined problem I’m currently experiencing?

2. Will this reduce my overall cognitive load or add to it?

3. Am I buying this because I’m bored or seeking novelty?

4. What am I hoping this will make me become? (We often buy identities rather than tools as I mentioned in my last YT video)

5. Will I still find this essential a year from now?

The best purchase is often no purchase. Your current tools are probably more capable than you’re fully utilizing.

The Path Forward

This isn’t about becoming a digital hermit or rejecting technological progress. It’s about being intentional with tools that were designed to be addictive. The goal is to create technology habits that serve our deepest values rather than hijacking our attention for someone else’s profit. Admittedly it’s an experiment, but one I feel increasingly passionate about and I will do my best to bring you along the journey here and on YT in the event that it is helpful.