What if scrolling online didn’t encourage your technology addiction but instead empowered you to unplug, focus on what truly matters, and rediscover the joy of genuine connections? Well, it can! By logging off social media and checking out one of these blogs about digital minimalism instead, you can regain control over your technology usage.
The best digital minimalism blogs share advice and inspiration to help you disconnect from technology and reconnect with the people and things that truly matter to you. Whether you’re looking for ways to boost your productivity, leverage apps and digital tools to enhance your well-being, or are in need of tips to help you through a digital detox, these blogs have you covered.
Keep reading to discover the best blogs about digital minimalism to read in 2024!
What is Digital Minimalism?
Digital minimalism is a philosophy and lifestyle that advocates for intentional and mindful use of technology to enhance one’s well-being and productivity – not hinder it. Coined by author and computer science professor Cal Newport in his book “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World,” this concept is a response to the often overwhelming and distracting nature of technology.
At its core, digital minimalism encourages you to:
- Evaluate Digital Tools: Take a look at the digital tools, apps, and platforms you’re using regularly. Then, figure out which ones bring value to your life and which ones are just a source of distraction.
- Set Clear Boundaries: Set some clear boundaries for your tech use by scheduling specific times for checking emails and social media.
- Engage in Offline Activities: Make time for offline activities to foster a more fulfilling and balanced life.
- Focus on Quality Content: Be picky about what you read and watch online and choose content that’s actually worth your time instead of mindlessly scrolling through everything.
- Digital Detox: Every now and then, give yourself a break from your digital devices.
Remember, digital minimalism is not about rejecting technology altogether but rather about consciously choosing which aspects of technology to incorporate into your life and which aspects to limit. By doing so, you reduce stress, create more time in your schedule and cultivate a more meaningful and intentional relationship with technology.
10 Best Digital Minimalism Blogs to Follow in 2024
Are you ready to become a digital minimalist?
If so, here are the 10 best digital minimalism blogs to follow in 2024.
1. Study Hacks
Best for | Productivity
To kick things off, let’s talk about Study Hacks by none other than Cal Newport.
In my eyes, Cal is basically the godfather of digital minimalism since he popularized the term in his book “Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World“. His passion about digital minimalism is super apparent in his writing and he’s gained quite a large following because of it!
Study Hacks was launched back in 2007 but today, over 2,000,000 people visit Study Hacks for weekly posts about technology, productivity, and living in an increasingly distracted world. If you like his insights, consider joining the thousands of people who are subscribed to his weekly email newsletter by filling out the form on his website.
Let’s say you’re more of a listener than a reader? Check out his podcast, The Deep Life for more digital minimalism inspiration.
Recommended reading:
2. Stay Grounded
Best for | Technology insights and quick reads
Stay Grounded by Justin Hanagan is full of quirky insights as well as tips and tricks to help readers navigate the ‘least cool cyberpunk reality imaginable’ (aka our modern world) – his words, not mine. Justin writes about the effects of technology on mental and societal health. He also writes about the ‘AIR Method‘ a step-by-step guide he created to help individuals see their smartphones as a tool, not a distraction.
He typically publishes content every Saturday, but sometimes it’s every other Saturday. Regardless, his posts are always worth the wait.
What’s even better is that “Stay Grounded” is ad-free, making your browsing experience especially enjoyable.
Recommended reading:
3. This Too Shall Grow
Best for | Digital wellness, mental health, mindful UX and privacy
Clo S., the founder of This Too Shall Grow, is a certified digital wellness coach and retired UX researcher.
I believe her experience in UX, also known as user experience, sets her apart from other writers in the digital minimalism space.
Why? Well, user experience is the art of designing websites, mobile apps, and software that are easy to navigate and provide a positive experience for the users. So, good UX is what makes a user return to a website or mobile app over and over again and is therefor linked to phone addiction.
In her blog she explores this concept and many others to help her readers build better relationships with their devices.
Clo also has a weekly newsletter that you can subscribe to from her website. According to her reader, Amir, it’s “one of the few newsletters I consistently read as soon as it drops due to quality of the content, wit and excellent design: thistooshallgrow.com/newsletter by @Clo__S.”
Recommended reading:
- 6 ways to apply Mindful UX to your Daily Life
- How to take Better Breaks (and actually take them)
- What happened when I stopped using Emojis
4. Moving Offline
Best for | Dumbphones, personal stories and insights
Let’s go down memory lane for a moment. Can you think back to the first cell phone you ever had? It was likely a flip phone with a horrible camera and no internet. You may be glad that you never have to use one of those again. But there are actually a lot of people who are trading in their smartphones for these so called ‘dumbphones’ in an effort to regain control over their cell phone usage.
Jose Briones has a blog and YouTube channel where he reviews different dumphones to help his audience buy the right one for them. He’s also created some helpful tools like the Dumphone Finder and Dumphone Quiz that you can find on his website josebriones.org.
On his blog, Moving Offline, you can also find articles about productivity and digital simplification.
Recommended reading:
5. Barefoot Minimalists
Best for | Minimalism, digital wellness, personal growth
Now, I can’t resist a bit of shameless self-promo, so here goes!
At this very moment you’re reading my blog, Barefoot Minimalists. Here I write about minimalism, digital wellness, frugal living and so much more! My goal is to inspire simplicity in all aspects of life – from your wardrobe and home to your finances and, of course, digital devices.
But even if you’re only interested in digital wellness, I’ve got you! Navigating my blog for digital wellness tips is simple. Just click the ‘digital wellness’ tab in the top menu and it’ll filter out all unrelated articles. I hope you stick around!
Recommended reading:
- 15 Tips to Cut Down on Mindless Scrolling and Phone Usage
- 10 Ways Grayscale Mode Broke My Cell Phone Addiction
- 8 Common Excuses for Phone Addiction: Are You Guilty?
6. Christina Crook
Best for | Productivity and digital wellness
According to Harper’s Bazar, Christina Crook is the “Marie Kondo of digital.”
Christina wears many hats – she’s a digital mindfulness guru, author, speaker, and podcast host. She’s also the brain behind The JOMO Method™ (that’s short for Joy of Missing Out), a genius way to help people hone in on the relationships and work that matter most to them.
Her blog features articles about productivity, digital wellness and more. Her writing style is personable and informative – I’m obsessed!
Recommended reading:
- 4 Quick Digital Well-Being Wins
- How to live joyfully in a digital age
- Learning from The Social Dilemma
7. Center for Humane Technology
Best for | Technology policies, current events and insights
Ever heard of The Center for Humane Technology? It’s a 501c3 nonprofit organization on a mission to align technology with humanity’s best interests. They envision a world where technology respects the attention of its users, improves well-being, and strengthens communities. It’s a pretty cool organization, if you ask me.
On their blog you can find articles about technology policies being implemented and insights. So, if you’re interested in politics, subscribing to their newsletter is a great way to stay in the know about what’s happening in regards to global tech policy. However, if politics isn’t really your thing, this blog may not be the right fit for you.
Recommended reading:
8. Mindful Techie
Best for | Productivity, work-life balance, trainings and courses
Meico is a recovering workaholic and a certified mindfulness teacher. He’s also the founder of Mindful Techie™, which is much more than just a blog. Here he not only writes insightful articles but also holds wellness retreats and provides tailored training courses. His mission? Empowering individuals to rediscover balance in their lives by improving their relationship with work, life, and most importantly, technology. He also discusses the link between technology and mental health challenges/disorders like stress and anxiety which I find super fascinating.
If you work remotely, I highly encourage browsing through his blog. After all, his insights may just be the secret to thriving in your career.
Recommended reading:
- 3 Simple Ways to Create More Tech-Life Balance Today
- 3 Ways to Conquer Tech Exhaustion in the Virtual Workplace
- How Changing Your Password Could Change Your Life
9. Digital Detox
Best for | Weekly newsletter and digital detox tips and tricks
Digital Detox is all about helping people disconnect from technology so that they can reconnect with what’s important to them. Their primary focus is developing retreats, camps and workshops to help individuals through a ‘digital detox’. But, they also have a blog and newsletter!
It’s unclear how often they post to their blog but they do have a handful of really great articles on there. You can also subscribe to their weekly 2 minute newsletter for digital detox challenges and inspiring stories.
Recommended reading:
- Delete These 10 Addicting Games From Your Phone Right Now
- Unplugged: 5 Ways to Avoid Looking At Your Phone Every 5 Minutes
- Never Break Up Via Facebook. Like, Ever.
10. Time to Log Off
Best for | Digital wellness tips and tricks, quizzes, workshops and insights
Last but not least is Time to Log Off.
Time To Log Off was founded in 2014 by digital entrepreneur and author Tanya Goodin.
As an award wining author, you bet she’s a great writer which is what makes her blog articles so engaging and fun to read. Unfortunately, her last article was published in January – so, nearly 8 months ago. It looks like she may have taken a break from posting. But even though she hasn’t published fresh content to her blog in a while, I think the posts she has up are still super relevant and worth reading.
Recommended reading:
- The Connection Between Technology Overuse and Stress: How to Take Control
- Six Signs of a Compulsive Phone Checking Habit
- Is Your Phone Habit Wrecking Your Memory?
In Conclusion
So there you have it, the best digital minimalism blogs to read in 2024. Whether you’re looking to boost your productivity, break your cell phone addiction or downgrade your smartphone to a dumbphone, these 10 blogs will inspire you to regain control over your digital life.
Is your favorite digital minimalism blog missing from this list? If so, let me know in the comments below!
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