Chapter 3

Chaining Down Your Digital Devices and Using the Digital Minimalism Box!

Chain down your digital tools just as they have chained down your attention and time…

You may not totally agree with what we are about to say, but we will implore you to make an effort to finish this chapter before you pass a judgment.

The concept of retribution is as old as human race and through it we have sanitized our society and remove criminal acts that may doom our race.

Interestingly, this concept of retribution can also be applied to digital tools and devices. We need not say that digital tools like social media and digital devices have chained down our attention and time.

In addition, these tools have imprisoned our minds and have disrupted almost every order we so much cared for. This statement may sound far-fetched, but if we look inwards, it is likely we find credibility for this statement.

If we are given the opportunity to say just four words about what should be done to all the digital tools found culpable of enslaving our attention and time, the words will be: retribution must be served!

Retribution must be served to those tools that have separated us from our values. Justice must be done to those tools that have made us abandon our families. Justice must be done to these tools that make it difficult to follow through and achieve our goals.

If we don’t apply justice and let the digital tools that have shackled our lives face the punishment they deserve, then we risk dooming the human race. We risk endangering the attention and time of the incoming generations.

Let’s face the truth, the generations to come will not forgive us easily if we don’t fight to take back our time and attention from this digital scourge.

Before we go further, we will like to clarify that we are not saying digital tools like social media are without benefits. If we ever say this, then we will be far from the truth. Digital tools like social media indeed have many benefits, but they can also dangerously shackle your life and put your time and attention in jeopardy. This is the very reason that justice must be done.

So how do we ensure that justice is served to digital tools that have shackled our time for so long?

An effective way to give retribution to all digital tools (more appropriately, digital time-wasters) that are found guilty of shackling our time and attention is to condemn them to eternal bondage. That is, we should put them in bondage for the remaining of their time.

So how can we achieve this?

There are two ways to achieve this, and they are:

(A) Chain down the digital devices through which these digital time wasters operate for a specified time. This is the most effective method. Let’s call this first method the Digital Chain Method

(B) Chain down (i.e., block) the digital tools. This method is less effective. Let’s call this second method the Digital Tools Blocking Method

Let’s now discuss each method in detail.

(A) Digital Chain Method

Digital devices have brought human beings a lot of goodies but can also endanger everything we care for when it is used in an uncontrollable manner. Put simply; digital devices chained down our attention and time when used aimlessly.

The Digital Chain Method involves chaining down your digital devices like laptop and smartphone for a specified period. This helps us achieve two things, namely:

1). It gives retribution to digital devices found shackling our attention and time. This is nothing but justice!

2). It gives us the break we need to attend to crucial offline activities like spending time with friends and families, learning and practicing a skill, spending time with nature, among others.

So how do we chain down our gadgets?

Below are the step-by-step way to achieve the Digital Chain Method.

i. Determine the number of days you are ready to commit to trying out this experiment.

ii. Get a chain that is strong enough and cannot easily break. We recommend you get a chain that is neither too large nor too small. In addition, the length (pitch) and width (eye) of each individual chain should be big enough to accommodate or medium-sized padlock.

iii. Chain down all the digital tools you have. See the picture below. You may leave out all devices that you have consistently used productively. Digital eBook readers might be part of the group of devices to leave out. Make sure you only release the devices when you have something crucial to do. Also, to make this method sustainable, make sure you combine your digital chores and do them in a single sitting.

iv. Lock the chain with a padlock and hand over the key to a trusted fellow. Tell the person to only give you the key if you have sufficiently convinced him or her that the devices should be released for a specified period of time.

We recommend that this method should be practiced for at least a month (30 days). Then after 30 days, perform a review and see if this punishment is enough for the devices. If you find it not enough, then perform it for another specified amount of time.

If you think that this Digital Chain Method is too much for you or you think the concept appears weird, then the digital minimalism box method might be for you.

The digital minimalism box method involves you locking up all your digital devices in a box and only accessing it when it is highly needed.

To practice the digital minimalism box method:

i. Get a wooden or metal box big enough to house all your digital devices. See the picture below.

ii. Neatly pack inside all your digital devices, including but not limited to laptops, tablets and smartphones. eBook readers like reMarkable might be left out. You may also leave out all the devices that you have consistently used productively.

iii. Lock the box with a padlock and give the key to a trusted person.

iv. Only access the box when it is extremely important.

Please note that the Digital Chain Method and digital minimalism box method are easier to implement when done at home. For example, whenever you are at home, you can easily make sure your digital tools are either chained down or locked up in a box. This allows you to spend your time at home doing offline activities like spending time with family. If you are working from home, endeavor to have a home office (even if it is going to be a small place) and also have home office hours. Having a home office and working hours make it easy to know when to lock your devices.

Furthermore, it is very likely you find it extremely difficult to lock away your smartphone, but it should be quite easy to do that with a laptop or a tablet.

There are two ways to make it easier to lock away your smartphone (or at least use your phone less) when you are at home. These two ways are:

1. Use the Light Phone

The Light Phone allows you to convert your existing smartphone to a simpler form.

When you buy a Light Phone, you will have the opportunity to receive calls and texts on your Light Phone using the same number that you have on your smartphone.

The Light Phone acts as a backup phone for your smartphone. But as the name suggests, it only allows you to do basic things (light things), and that is all. The Light Phone protects you from digital time-wasters like the social media.

So, with the Light Phone you can lock away your smartphone, and still be able to make calls or receive texts. If you need to release your smartphone (during the office hour for work purpose) you can do so and send it back to bondage when you are through with work.

You can learn more about Light Phone by going here.

2. Block or Restrict Digital Tools

If you can’t use the Light Phone method (it is not available in all regions of the world), then you can simply chain down the digital tools with the help of a time management app. This method involves blocking apps for a specified period.

Please see the section that follows to learn more about this approach.

B) Digital Tools Blocking Method

In the previous section, we examined the Digital Chain Method (which involves chaining down digital devices). However, not everyone has the courage to implement this approach. Chaining down digital tools with the help of time-management app is definitely a less radical approach. This method involves using an app like Freedom to block time-wasting apps or websites for a specified time.

If there is any digital tool that is taking your time unnecessarily, simply chain it down by blocking in it.

Freedom, Qustodio etc., are examples of apps you can use to achieve this feat. To access the list of top apps you can use to block distractions when using a digital device, please see Chapter 7 of this guide.

Tip: To put digital tools in permanent slavery, we recommend you combine the Digital Chain Method and the Digital Tool Blocking Method.

Here is how it works. When you are in the office (including home office), use the Digital Tool Blocking Method to block those digital tools that are not needed, and when you are at home, use Digital Chain Method to completely block your access to digital devices.

Conclusion

Digital tools have brought a lot of goodies to human beings, but it has also enslaved millions of lives. W need not say that digital tools should be our slaves and not the other way round.

We strongly believe you can be the master of your digital tools once again if you apply the principles preached in this Chapter.

Lastly, most online users have an email account, but not many people know how to use it like a professional digital minimalist. Please see the next Chapter to learn how to get started.