Mini-Review: 'Digital Minimalism' by Cal Newport

Having finished this book on Sunday — my first physical book read this year — I have thoughts about the contents.

If you’re after a self-help book, the bad news is that you’ll have to wade through quite a bit of historical context for the advice that Mr Newport gives.

If, like me, you’ve already stepped away from social media, this book will be preaching to the choir, but it may help you understand why you made the right move.

If you’re an introvert, or not blessed with money and free time, some of the suggestions for analogue replacements may rub you up the wrong way. In his defence, however, Mr Newport stressed that these are suggestions only, not commandments. Everyone’s needs and responsibilities are different, so for some may not be possible or desirable to detach completely from the digital world.

In that respect, it’s a bit like The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo — lots of good advice, not all of which you’d want to heed in your daily life.