The Digital Food Pyramid

A Journey Towards Digital Minimalism and Meaningful Consumption

Quarter 2 of Moving Offline is going to be printed this week. Make sure to reserve yours here:

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Introduction

Over the past week, I conducted a small experiment to evaluate whether my journey toward digital minimalism has effectively reduced my reliance on modern technology and time-wasting apps. Switching my SIM card to a clean iPhone XR, I hoped my experience with the Light Phone 2 and various other "dumbphones" would lower my previous average screen time of 12-13 hours per day, as measured in 2019. While my screen time did decrease, it was not as much as I had hoped. According to my iPhone screen time figures, I averaged 3.5 hours per day. Most of those hours were dedicated to communication apps or work-related tasks, but about an hour was unproductive or simple mindless scrolling on the web. Fortunately, I used Brick to monitor and block apps, which likely prevented my mindless usage from being higher. However, I learned that smart devices are sometimes too convenient and can lead to distracting behaviors.

At the beginning of the week, my usage remained quite low with only the default apps on the iPhone. However, as the week progressed, I found myself installing apps for convenience. I needed to check my bank, so I added the Ally app. Then, a friend discovered I had a smartphone again and sent me an app to organize events. I made the mistake of installing Gmail for a work-related event that required a quick response. Despite my promise to delete it afterward, it ended up contributing about 20 minutes of screen time per day. This experience highlighted the challenge of maintaining digital minimalism in a world where convenience often leads to increased screen time. It also underscores how easily we can be drawn back into our devices, even with the best intentions. Today, I want to share two ideas to help you sift through digital distractions and stay on your digital minimalist journey.

The Digital Food Pyramid

In today's media-saturated world, discerning between beneficial and detrimental content is increasingly challenging. Platforms like TikTok, Facebook, and YouTube promote bite-sized content that many passively consume without considering its impact. The rapid assimilation and often superficial nature of this content can undermine our ability to process information, leaving little room for reflection and creativity in our lives. Instead of enhancing our well-being through deliberate time management and in-depth content, we often find ourselves trapped in cycles of media consumption that offer little substantive value.

We are all familiar with the food pyramid recommended by health professionals: whole foods at the bottom, minimally processed foods in the middle, and ultra-processed foods at the top. The recommendation is to avoid ultra-processed foods like ice cream, soda, or chips. Instead, we should indulge in fruits, vegetables, and naturally occurring substances. Processed foods are delicious, easy to consume, and addictive, much like the social media bite-sized content—quick to digest but with little nutritional value. Instead of consuming it, we should focus on creative mediums that allow us to process or create information, akin to consuming minimally processed items (podcasts, newsletters, etc.) or whole foods (printed media, radio, museum galleries).

Take this newsletter, for example. While it is produced online and includes many links, I also create a printed format of it every quarter. You can buy a copy or print it yourself to avoid online distractions. You can enjoy the same information without the pings and links that come with the online world, perhaps with a cup of tea in your living room instead of a work environment filled with other apps. As a result of prioritizing slow or in-depth content, we should fill our lives with minimally processed, long-form curated information that delivers value, rather than transient content that merely entertains our brains. By identifying and reducing the excess of ultra-processed digital content, we can be deliberate in our engagement and foster a lifestyle focused on creativity, thoughtful consumption, and idea generation.

Photo by Ella Jardim on Unsplash

Your Device Amplifies Your Lifestyle

As I mentioned in the introduction, I decided to conduct a small experiment over the last week with an iPhone. I wanted to see if my lifestyle had changed enough that the iPhone wouldn’t dominate my time or distract me from the offline endeavors I had planned. While my screen time was higher than usual (I average 1.5 hours on the Light Phone), I noticed that the device primarily amplified my existing lifestyle choices. When I was rafting with friends, it remained silent in the car. However, when I had downtime, it invited me to indulge in browsing due to its capabilities, large beautiful screen, and enticing content. Indeed, having a larger screen does introduce an inherent distraction factor¹, but it is ultimately our lifestyle decisions that create and further this distraction.

My wife exemplifies how intentionality can transform device usage. As a teacher, she skillfully creates a productive day through her organizational skills. Although her job requires a certain level of connectivity, she confines smartphone use to specific timeframes on her daily calendar. Engaging with children and teaching them skills demands her full attention, so she keeps her smartphone on silent during these periods, resulting in improved performance and better educational results. She uses her smartphone for communication and essential tasks throughout the day, but her job naturally minimizes reliance on the device. This demonstrates that while devices have the potential to distract us, our habits, circumstances, job requirements, and intentionality ultimately determine their impact on our lives.

In contrast, my job is more flexible. Assisting non-profits in event management, vision creation, and execution means I have pockets of time where I decide what’s important. Previously, I filled these gaps with vacuous entertainment from YouTube, Facebook, and Netflix. Ergo, the 12-13 hours of screen time. Now, as a result of my journey into digital minimalism, I read more books, process ideas through walks, and create memories with friends through offline activities. My lifestyle had to change for my device not to control my attention and time. Coupling this with a smaller or simpler device has only enhanced my lifestyle due to the lack of access to convenient or distracting features. This experiment underscored that real change starts with intentional lifestyle choices, and the right device can support these positive habits².

Conclusion

The key takeaway from today’s post is that the devices we allow into our lives will amplify the type of content we are already accustomed to consuming. If you primarily engage with offline media or minimally processed content, using a smartphone or a dumbphone won't significantly alter this habit. However, if you are mainly consuming ultra-processed media, a smartphone will magnify this tendency and likely worsen your overall well-being. You might end up losing countless hours to mindless scrolling and superficial content, ultimately wasting precious years of your life. In contrast, a dumbphone inherently limits access to such content, providing the necessary friction to encourage a return to healthier, slower forms of consumption.

Therefore, it is crucial to be mindful of our media consumption habits and choose devices that support a balanced and intentional lifestyle. Blaming the device alone creates a denial loop, preventing us from making lasting changes and prioritizing real-world experiences. Focus on building a lifestyle that fosters engagement and offline pursuits first. Then, carefully consider the devices you let into your life and how they complement this intentional approach.

1. The evolution of distraction: As screens get bigger, so does our potential for being sidetracked. They enhance our distraction, not create it by themselves.

2. I’m going back to a smaller device as a result of my findings. I also found that I hated the size of the iPhone. Such a huge device.