Digital Minimalism Setup
Objective #
This document is to separate digital tech usage, with the aim to pursue digital minimalism.
What is digital minimalism? #
I love the minimalist lifestyle, and I'm currently living it.
The lifestyle make sense, we only need to posses the things that we actually use, duh.
We probably won't use the things in our storage that hasn't seen any daylight for a long time.
That's minimalism, separating and removing the distractions.
Digital minimalism have the same goal, but achieve it differently.
Since most digital devices can do the same thing compared to each other, and they can do alot of things, we tend to keep our devices count to the minimum.
We get the best laptop and phones, and stuff all of our digital activities between those two.
This creates efficiency, because we can access everything with a flick of a finger.
But this ease of transition also opens unlimited possibility to be distracted.
With a flick of a finger, we can switch seemlessly from one productive task to another.
But with a flick of a finger, we can also switch from one distraction to another.
I don't know about you, but my mind tends to lean towards being distracted.
It would instinctively flick to a distractive app or website, rather than a productive one.
Maybe I've been trained to do so, throughout many years of using the internet.
But that's for another post.
Digital minimalism can be a solution to that problem.
A digital minimalist separate their digital usage into multiple devices, with each of them serves a specific functionality.
My digital minimalism setup #
Thinkpad X200 #
- Usage: Write
- Description: Most of my work and study is writing. I program, I write papers, I reply to emails. I don't need an M1 to use a word processer or text editor. Heck, I can even use worse computer than the Thinkpad I'm having to do my writings. Besides being a potato, I will not allow the internet when I'm writing. If I need to do research, I will look them up elsewhere, at another time. I will switch the internet switch off on this device for now, and will learn how to remove the wifi card later.
Acer E15 #
- Usage: Media Server
- Description: Main media device, as the i5 7th gen and GTX940mx is powerful enough to serve high quality movies and shows. It also comes with a good audio output, which is great. I have been trying to cut media consumption off completely because on demand streaming keeps inducing me to keep watching more. The times where I have been successfully moderate my media consumption was when I cut myself off the internet completely. Therefore, I will do the same with this device. I will use it to serve media, and get my medias with another device. I want to be clear that I will use this device to plug right into a TV and a headphone. I will turn it off when not using it, as it is not a networked media server.
Macbook #
- Usage: Internet Research
- Description: This is the most dangerous device to be on, as it opens the ability to use "The Browser". The browser is a dangerous place to be at. With only a keystroke, you can loose your whole day by being sucked in some stupid loop. I will have specific things that need to be researched written down to a note. Then I will use that note to look up only those things, not more. If more things come to mind while doing research, I'll write it down to the note before continuing the search. This is also a place for downloading movies, music, and books. There is one important rule to this device: get the things I've written down on the note, then get off off it.
Kindle #
- Usage: Entertainment
- Description: The main entertainment that I'll allow myself to have when I'm too tired to do any further work is reading. Other types or entertainment, games, music, movies, will be used only with my family.
Android Phone #
- Usage: Logins and "semi-instant" communication
- Description: These are modern days musts. Login to accounts requires a mobile OTP. I hate it, but have no other choice. I'd love to go back to the old days of just using passwords and manage it myself or with a password manager, but that won't be the case anytime soon. So phone for login stuff. I will allow me to go to my phone 2 times a day for a 15minutes max period. This is what I called communication time. In during communication time, I check all of the instant messaging platforms, reply to them, and turn off right when I'm done. This also includes emails. I will write the emails with my "typewriter" Thinkpad offline, transfer it to the android phone with SyncThing, then send the mail in communication time.
Ipad #
- Usage: Sketch and take notes
- Description: Sometimes I need to do some light web design and blackboard mindstorming/calculation. I'll use the Ipad and its pencil to do so.