What is Digital Minimalism?

Digital Minimalism is a mental model used for better thinking and decision-making.

How do you apply Digital Minimalism?

To apply Digital Minimalism, identify situations where this framework is relevant, then use it as a lens to evaluate your options and decisions. The model is most useful when combined with other complementary mental models.

What category does Digital Minimalism fall under?

Digital Minimalism falls under the High Performance & Learning category of mental models. Other models in this category can be found on the High Performance & Learning hub page.

Why is Digital Minimalism important?

Digital Minimalism is important because it provides a structured way to think about problems that would otherwise be approached with intuition alone. Understanding this model helps you avoid common reasoning errors and make better decisions.

Where does Digital Minimalism come from?

Digital Minimalism is discussed in the tradition of Cal Newport.

High Performance & Learning

Digital Minimalism

Model #0754Category: High Performance & LearningSource: Cal NewportDepth to apply:

4 min read

Contents

1. Core Idea
2. How to See It
3. How to Use It
4. Founders & Leaders
5. Connected Models
6. One Key Quote
7. Summary & Further Reading

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Section 1

Core Idea

Digital minimalism is a philosophy of technology use where you deliberately reduce digital tools to only those that strongly support your core values and priorities — and eliminate everything else. The premise is that most digital tools are designed to capture attention, not serve it. Social media, news feeds, and notification-driven apps extract hours of focus daily while delivering marginal value. Digital minimalism inverts the default: instead of adopting tools and hoping to manage their costs, you start from zero and add back only what demonstrably serves your highest priorities. For founders, this is an attention-allocation strategy. Every app you eliminate returns cognitive bandwidth to the work that actually compounds.