Note: This article is the second in a multiple part series that covers Cal Newport’s new book Digital Minimalism: Choosing a Focused Life in a Noisy World. The first article can be found here and covers in greater detail the four key areas of focus to achieve Digital Minimalism, as outlined by Newport. The four key areas are: 1) Spend Time Alone, 2) Don’t Click Like, 3) Reclaim Leisure and 4) Join the Attention Resistance. Today I’ll be focusing on the concept of reclaiming leisure.

Newport’s thesis on digital minimalism:

Our current relationship with the technologies of our hyper-connected world is unsustainable and is leading us closer to the quiet desperation that Thoreau observed so many years ago. But as Thoreau reminds us, ‘the sun rose clear’ and we still have the ability to change this state of affairs. To do so, however, we cannot passively allow the wild tangle of tools, entertainments, and distractions provided by the internet age to dictate how we spend our time or how we feel. We must indeed take steps to extract the good from these technologies while sidestepping what’s bad. We require a philosophy that puts our aspirations and values once again in charge of our daily experience, all the while dethroning primal whims and the business models of Silicon Valley from their current dominance of this role; a philosophy that accepts new technologies, but not if the price is the dehumanization Andrew Sullivan warned us about; a philosophy that prioritizes long-term meaning over short-term satisfaction. A philosophy, in other words, like digital minimalism.

Today is a victory over yourself of yesterday, tomorrow is victory over a lesser foe
- Miyamoto Mushashi

There’s a reason I named my website Attentive Man. The name is very personal and stems from the fact that I was extremely inconsistent and often a downright failure when it came to being attentive. This lack of attentiveness was often in all areas, from my interpersonal relationships, to my relationship with my wife and even periods of inconsistency in the areas of engagement with my clients.

The idea of engagement was key. For all the times I was engaged with my family and professional life I would go through periods where I was completely disengaged. It was based on often not having my priorities straight, but it was also based on the fact I had really bad habits when it came to organization and focus. Things that come so naturally to people like my wife (thoughtfulness, organization) just don’t come natural to me. As a result, my wife and I weren’t flying in formation as a couple or as a family. The sad part was this pattern had gone on for years. I would have periods of improvement and then revert back to inconsistency. We men have to be engaged partners. We have to be engaged fathers. We have to be engaged employees and business partners. You can’t be partially engaged. So what was the answer?

Cal Newport: On Reclaiming Leisure

The Need for Better Habit Forming: the Origin of Attentive Man