Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World
by Cal Newport

Book description from Goodreads:
Minimalism is the art of knowing how much is just enough. Digital minimalism applies this idea to our personal technology. It’s the key to living a focused life in an increasingly noisy world.
In this timely and enlightening book, the bestselling author of Deep Work introduces a philosophy for technology use that has already improved countless lives.
Digital minimalists are all around us. They’re the calm, happy people who can hold long conversations without furtive glances at their phones. They can get lost in a good book, a woodworking project, or a leisurely morning run. They can have fun with friends and family without the obsessive urge to document the experience. They stay informed about the news of the day, but don’t feel overwhelmed by it. They don’t experience “fear of missing out” because they already know which activities provide them meaning and satisfaction.
Now, Newport gives us a name for this quiet movement, and makes a persuasive case for its urgency in our tech-saturated world. Common sense tips, like turning off notifications, or occasional rituals like observing a digital sabbath, don’t go far enough in helping us take back control of our technological lives, and attempts to unplug completely are complicated by the demands of family, friends and work. What we need instead is a thoughtful method to decide what tools to use, for what purposes, and under what conditions.
Drawing on a diverse array of real-life examples, from Amish farmers to harried parents to Silicon Valley programmers, Newport identifies the common practices of digital minimalists and the ideas that underpin them. He shows how digital minimalists are rethinking their relationship to social media, rediscovering the pleasures of the offline world, and reconnecting with their inner selves through regular periods of solitude. He then shares strategies for integrating these practices into your life, starting with a thirty-day “digital declutter” process that has already helped thousands feel less overwhelmed and more in control.
Technology is intrinsically neither good nor bad. The key is using it to support your goals and values, rather than letting it use you. This book shows the way.

Why does the nominator think this would be a good book for the Campus Read?
Newport is a professor of computer science at George Washington University. He has written widely for a general audience about the negative effects of social media, various internet activities and e-mail on our lives. With a number of personal examples and accounts from people from diverse backgrounds, Newport raises serious questions about how our online activities are depriving us of a meaningful life focused on work, leisure and relationships that really matter. I considered nominating his earlier book, “Deep Work” or his upcoming book, “The End of e-mail.” These books highlight how our online activities interfere with our productivity and include accounts of persons who have “renounced” the online world.
I think Newport’s ideas are challenging in that they make the reader uncomfortably aware of how much of our limited time on this earth is spent online. What are we NOT doing with our lives because of our devotion to the internet ?