In this era of digital maximalism, where you’re expected to be actively present on different fronts, it is suggested to follow minimalism to avoid unnecessary digital clutter.
Well, if you’re wondering what these terms mean? Here, I’d help you out, Digital Minimalism is a practice of consciously using technology, at the bare minimum level. It involves cutting various apps, and digital habits that are unnecessary and are hampering productivity, and on the other side digital clutter refers to the disorganization that happens because of excessive usage of technology, Flooded inboxes, full cloud storage, and excess data everywhere. It causes nothing but a mess. And to avoid digital clutter, we practice digital minimalism.
When you’re working from home, you are bound to use technology, apps, and gadgets during working hours. It is how you manage its usage so that it doesn’t lead to burnout, decrease your efficiency, or digital cluttering. Today, in this article we’ll understand the role of digital minimalism in remote work efficiency.
Signs that you need digital minimalism
1. You constantly switch between the tabs even when not required.
2. You have a habit of consuming online content even at the oddest of hours
3. You keep checking your inboxes even without receiving notifications
4. You feel tired and drained after using the screen.
5. You do not feel productive, even while spending almost the whole day working
6. You have a difficult time resisting phone usage.
How to achieve digital minimalism?
1. Conduct Digital Audits
The first and foremost step in changing any habit is to track what you are currently doing. Know what you’re doing wrong first, if you don’t know what is wrong, it is impossible to change it. Keep track of the apps, platforms, and extensions that you use. And ask yourself, is it necessary? Am I using it productively? Are there any redundancies? Can the work be done efficiently if I discard that particular app or platform?
2. Set boundaries for using digital tools
Set proper hours for using these tools, as office hours are defined, your screen time needs to be defined as well. It helps you stay focussed and not drain you.
One of the best ways to do so is, to turn off notifications, emails, and calling post office hours, unless it is very important. Let people know about the hours you’re available
3. Digital Declutter
As your home requires daily cleaning, so do your devices. You will find them overflowing with emails, notifications, and data at times, and it gets super hard to manage it all at once.
So timely cleaning and uninstalling not-so-relevant things from devices becomes important, moreover, it then becomes easy to keep it all organized.
How does it help?
1. Limiting passive digital consumption
Digital minimalism helps you to limit your digital consumption. Being from this generation, we’re bound to use devices, even if we don’t want to. Gone are those days of paper and prints, everything has gone digital. Amongst all of this, we tend to check our Instagram, YouTube, and news feeds and scroll unnecessarily in terms of short breaks.
Breaks are meant for relaxation, instead, they lead to burnout and leave the person feeling tired. Instead of spending hours on breaks, one can do some physical activity or involve oneself in painting, cooking, journaling, or whatever helps them relax. Digital minimalism plays a great role over here.
2. Digital Detox
Digital detox is the newest talk of the town, and people tend to celebrate it by posting on socials about how great it was for them. Isn’t it hypocrisy? Isn’t it truly undermining the whole purpose? Don’t fall into that trap. It’s a vicious cycle, people leave it for a few days, then get back onto it. If you want to inculcate and minimize it in your life, you need to make rules that can be followed regularly. Create time blocks, where you’d avoid devices. And try to give that time to yourself and your family. It will build healthy bonds and relations. You’ll start feeling happy both physically and mentally.
3. Embracing single tasks
Doing work while watching series or listening to music, is what most people practice these days in the name of enjoying, without realizing that it affects their efficiency, it breaks down focus and puts into multiple things altogether, refraining you from giving your best. The work that might have taken simply an hour to be done, might end up being done in 3. It is simply a waste of time. Digital Minimalism, promotes you to focus on the work that you’re doing.
Final Thoughts
Do not be a part of the herd. Value your time. Use it wisely. In today’s busy life, where hours pass like minutes and where tech has taken over almost everything, try to make time for something useful, and productive, instead of wasting it on screens.
Learn to know the difference between what is good and what is bad for you. If not in the short term, these screens are going to affect you in the long term. Don’t let it hamper your productivity. In offices, you do get time to socialize or to stay focussed on single work, but the same becomes a challenge for someone working from home. Exercise control of your own life and see wonders happening.
