Stop Doom Scrolling & End The Social Media Distraction - Declutter Your Life Today | Cal Newport

Cal Newport talks about confronting your phone in Episode 288 of the Deep Questions podcast.

We’ve become so used to our phones in our lives that we’ve stopped realizing how arbitrary and unusual the content we’re watching really has become. In this episode, Cal looks closer at what we’re really spending time doing on our phones, then provides step-by-step instructions for healing this relationship.

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0:00 Confronting Your Phone
25:10 What does Cal think about Neil Postman’s “Amusing Ourselves To Death”?
29:49 Can you pursue high quality leisure after a day filled with deep work?
34:02 Can commercial breaks be used for high quality leisure?
37:11 Will digital minimalism work in age of augmented reality?
43:28 How can a full time YouTuber practice digital minimalism?
49:13 How to share content online?
57:29 Cost-benefit analysis of technology usage
1:03:08 JRR Tolkien’s Search for Depth

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About Cal Newport:
Cal Newport is a computer science professor at Georgetown University. In addition to his academic research, he writes about the intersection of digital technology and culture. Cal's particularly interested in our struggle to deploy these tools in ways that support instead of subvert the things we care about in both our personal and professional lives.

Cal is a New York Times bestselling author of seven books, including, most recently, A World Without Email, Digital Minimalism, and Deep Work. He's also the creator of The Time-Block Planner.

The videos are considered to be used under the "Fair Use Doctrine" of United States Copyright Law, Title 17 U.S. Code Sections 107-118. Videos are used for editorial and educational purposes only and I do not claim ownership of any original video content. I don't use said video clips in advertisements, marketing or for direct financial gain. All video content in each clip is considered owned by the individual broadcast companies.

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[jasoncolemanarizonaloanoff]

I listen to history videos on my phone while falling a sleep. I wake up, jump on my bike and listen to music in my phone. Check emails on the phone and scroll ! Grab the guitar each night and use my phone to play backing tracks in select keys and styles. At the same time the phone is delivering guitar tones off an app. Jump on the phone again to research travel destinations...The doom loop on social media is real however the amount of stimulating and educational/tutorial content available is INCREDIBLE!!

[brittanyb]

I went 2 days without using my phone at all and the peace and clarity I got in just 2 DAYS was unbelievable. In 2022 I went the whole month of June without social media, I regretted getting back on 😔

[WhirlOmar]

Remember, if I wasn't scrolling on Youtube, I would not have found you. But I'm glad I did.

[Nadi-pe]

It took me a long time to realise just how miserable social media was making me.😢

[wesleygordonbrown]

I’ve noticed how much more sociable I am. People are wired to engage. Social media was a low hanging fruit, and it made me less social. Not more. I’ve felt so much more present over the last few years

[DonMulio]

Leaving Twitter makes you less anxious and more positive. Everyone on there is angry and perpetually outraged.

[realsidehustleideas]

I’ve removed all SM apps from my phone mid-January apart from YT as I find YT more educational and use it as a form of entertainment instead of regular tv. I’ve been surprised by how much more productive I am now.

[Kyoto]

Cal is one of my favourite people. I am 100% on board. I have dodged the social media virus reasonably well, but I am really concerned about our kids' mental health as there are practically no laws put in place that protect them.

[Stury_Khan]

True. Now i realise that i have wasted 4-5 years of life. If i were not on social media, i could have learn so much and would be a different person today. Better late than never.

[dychui]

Wonderful content. Thank you for emphasizing the need to not just go cold turkey, but to populate your life with other high quality content (exercise, time with friends, etc.).

[hopelessatusernames]

i see my habit of spending a lot of the day on YT or listening to podcasts of the self-improvement type akin to eating 'healthy' junk food. you can't implement all those ideas at that rate, so it's clearly not productive. thanks to having to consider why i'm doing this, prompted by Cal, has made me realise it started in lockdown to fill the silence, so clearly it;s filling that need still

[BenIsFiguringitOut]

I’ve been reading way more lately, and it has replaced some of the scrolling I usually do. I love social media for connections with others along with the creativity I see. However, I have less tolerance for the toxic aspects of these sites. Plus, I’m working on using my “free” time way better.

[taylorjanegreen]

Thanks to you I am a ninja now about when and how and where I touch any social media. I’m rocking it instead of it rocking me! Thank you!

[LiteraryInsights]

Cal Newport discusses his reputation for not using social media and examines some popular platforms to see what he's missing out on. He finds some value but also a lot of weirdness, arguing the foundations of our culture's leisure time should not be based on low-quality online interactions.

He then outlines 6 areas to build "high-quality leisure" habits to shift one's time and attention away from phones/social media: reading, prestige media, skill-based hobbies, exercise hobbies, community groups, and seeking adventures. With richer alternatives competing for one's time, lower quality distractions become less appealing.

He emphasizes being intentional about technology use rather than completely abstaining. By adding rules around when and how you use optional technologies, you can declutter your digital life. The key is to put alternatives in place first before cutting back.

Overall, he remains unconvinced social media should be the main leisure activity, finding it strangely eccentric. But used intentionally, in moderation, under specific rules, it can have a place in a balanced life. The goal is assessing what really matters to you, then optimizing technology to support that rather than letting it control you.

[lindavernon]

Thank you for leaving a message on social media to tell me to stop using social media.

[saphire]

takes something as simple as just going to a store and just browsing. To get out of the house. When you are in the house and you’re sitting there and you’re like oh how do I distract myself now, you might feel uncomfortable. That’s how I fixed my actual anxiety, I had to accept the uncomfortable and not try to fight it. I didn’t try to not be uncomfortable. I accepted how uncomfortable it was to feel a certain way and I didn’t purposely try to do anything. I found that it would be more difficult for me to actually sit there and think about OK I’m not browsing my phone what should I do now. I accepted just sitting there and like staring at the carpet and be like no I’m not gonna do anything. Your brain will eventually come up with something for you to do and if it comes up with picking up your phone, you can just move onto the next thing.

[BLACKHEARTFLY]

The analogy of reading the inquirer for 3 to 4 hours is spot on

[שלומיטובול]

I really like this episode as Cal describes my journey of cutting off social media and phone usage as device, as a beginner I’m notice that I’m braging a lot of my 2 month off 😂

[imoldgregg]

I deleted all social media about 3 weeks ago.. i can only describe it as waking up from a dream.

I actually feel alive

[NSXavier]

I ditched social media as a 2024 New Years Resolution. The time I would usually spend on the Gram then migrated to information & reading, and finance. You know what happened? I got richer. Not like… spiritually or anything. But monetarily richer.