Spend Time Alone // Digital Minimalism 05

When you open your phone it bombards you with alarms, notifications, and messages. This barrage of information prevents you from reaching the valuable state of mind known as solitude.

In Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport proposes that time alone is more important than time with your phone. This article summarizes the argument for solitude and Dr. Newport’s three practices to make space in your life for more of it.

It’s not isolation

In their book Lead Yourself First, Raymond Kethledge and Michael Erwin provide a precise definition of solitude.

“A subjective state in which your mind is free from input from other minds.”

The benefits of this subjective state are enormous. You can achieve great insight and emotional balance when you have the space to reflect. Newport cites the popular story of Martin Luther King Jr. discerning the inner voice that challenged him to “Stand up for righteousness.” He also describes Abraham Lincoln’s frequent journeys to a remote cabin away from the White House as the key to Lincoln’s successful fight to unite the country.

These men were not physically alone. King’s family was asleep in the same house and President Lincoln was surrounded by union soldiers ready to protect him.

You can find solitude in your own home or even a crowded place. The key is to avoid input from other people.

On the other hand, you can go to the top of a mountain and destroy your solitude with the swipe of a smartphone.

Who killed solitude?

The iPod is Cal Newport’s culprit. I admit that my iPod was the first solitude killer in my life. Long bus rides alone with my thoughts became jam sessions. Quiet study halls were transformed into concerts. Manual labor, such as mowing the lawn, was drown out by Kurt Cobain.

The iPod changed everything, but it falls short of the modern smartphone. For example, you probably don’t listen to an iPod in the middle of a dinner with friends, but I bet you make quick glances at your phone.

The quick glance has made it possible to avoid solitude at almost every moment of the day. And the behavioral addiction built into most new technologies makes it harder to resist the quick glance and give solitude a chance.

Most people now live in solitude deprivation, defined below

“A state in which you spend close to zero time alone with your own thoughts and free from input from other minds.”

Solitude deprivation is linked to mental health issues. San Diego State University psychology professor Jean Twenge describes the constantly connected iGen, “As being on the brink of the worst mental health crisis in decades.”

How can we bring back solitude? Digital Minimalism suggests the following practices.

1. Leave your phone at home.

How do you feel when you forget your phone at home? Is it like losing a limb or just being naked?

The fear of missing out on some stimulus from your phone has misled smartphone owners. We view our phone as a vital appendage. The truth is that most things are only a little less convenient without a phone. Many things, such as conversation with real humans, are better without your chiming supercomputer in your hand.

I’ve gone up to 6 weeks at a time without a cell phone and it’s always been manageable.

Try leaving your phone behind next time you meet up with a friend. If this is too intimidating, try putting your phone somewhere difficult to access, such as locked in your car’s glove compartment.

2. Take long walks.

Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “Only thoughts reached by walking have value.” Test his claim for yourself.

Walking is a valuable way to achieve solitude and good for your health. Like most healthful habits, the key is making the time. Schedule your walks or build a walking habit into your daily routine.

I make a daily walk to a pull-up bar in my neighborhood, then check it off in my calendar. If I miss a walk and a round of pull-ups, I’m reminded for a month. My calendar shows that I only missed twice in August.

3. Write letters to yourself.

Writing is an elevated form of thinking. It requires an organization that frames thoughts and often brings me to a conclusion, instead of cycling in rumination.

Famed leaders, Dwight Eisenhower and Jeff Bezos, have been outspoken advocates for using writing to refine their thoughts.

It is the concentrated nature of writing to pull you away from the input of other minds. Whether you journal, write poetry, or post articles here on Medium, it will shift you into solitude.

For more, read Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.