My Top 5 Digital Minimalist Habits for 2026

0:00Here in our small world where we are

0:01bombarded with a constant stream of

0:03information and bad news to and fro,

0:05it's no surprise that people are

0:07thinking about digital minimalism.

0:09Finding a better relationship with our

0:10smart tools so that we can get the most

0:12of them without letting them get the

0:14most of us. Over the years as I've been

0:16interested in practicing digital

0:17minimalism, my thinking around it has

0:19changed quite a bit. When I began, it

0:21was much more about the tools I was

0:22using, whereas now I think a lot more

0:24about the actual life that I'm leading.

0:26Because honestly, folks, you can delete

0:28Instagram from your phone and still

0:29waste your time pretty well. People have

0:31wasted their time forever. Technology

0:33just makes it a little more

0:34frictionless. In this video, I'd like to

0:36talk about five systems which have

0:38helped me to be more intentional with my

0:39technology and more importantly to live

0:41the life that I actually want. If you

0:43don't know me, I'm Spencer and I like to

0:44talk about simple living, frugality, and

0:46you guessed it, digital minimalism.

0:48Let's get into it. So, right off the

0:50bat, I'm just going to get the tools out

0:51of the way. If you want to make your

0:52smartphone less important in your life,

0:54then the first thing you want to do is

0:56decentralize your tech. Now, I know that

0:58I said that my digital minimalism has

0:59evolved kind of past just being about

1:01the tools that I'm using, and as we get

1:03through the list of the different

1:04numbers, you're going to see how my

1:06thinking has changed. But, I want to

1:08start here with where it all began for

1:09me, and that was the tools I was using

1:11and decentralizing, making my smartphone

1:13less important in my tech stack.

1:16Nowadays, we think of the smartphone as

1:17that all-in-one Swiss Army type device.

1:19It's often the only piece of technology

1:21we're bringing with us when we're out

1:23and about. And while I will admit the

1:24smartphone is a very powerful tool that

1:26does a lot of things very well, it can

1:28also be very distracting. People talk

1:31about willpower and the idea that it's

1:33really on you for having an issue with

1:35your phone, and I don't really think

1:36it's that simple. The way that I think

1:38about the smartphone and the allure of

1:39it, all of the distractions within, is

1:41it's kind of like walking down a street

1:43that is completely lined with hustlers.

1:45These guys are all trying to get your

1:47attention, and they're calling out to

1:48you saying, "Hey, look over here. I got

1:50this camera app over here. Hey, over

1:52here. I got this notes app. I got some

1:54pretty fun games for you to check out

1:55over here. Or I'm Mr. Social Media, I

1:57can really get your FOMO going. Having

2:00all of these potentials in your pocket

2:01in the form of apps, it really can be

2:03alluring and it makes you want to pick

2:05up the phone every chance you have.

2:06Because for the average person, the

2:08smartphone has become that all-in-one

2:10solution. So, anytime you have a

2:11problem, it's the smartphone you're

2:13reaching for. One of the great things

2:14that I found to be a solution to that is

2:16what I have termed decentralizing your

2:18technology, or more specifically,

2:20decentralizing your smartphone. In the

2:22most extreme sense, this means taking

2:24that Swiss Army device of the smartphone

2:26that can do so many different things and

2:28outsourcing them to single-purpose

2:30devices which do those things very well.

2:32This could be things like a physical

2:33notepad and pen over the notes app,

2:35something like an MP3 player to replace

2:38Spotify on your device, or a standalone

2:40camera. It could also be things like a

2:42handheld gaming device, or even go so

2:44far as to have a standalone dumb phone.

2:46But, the important thing I want to note

2:48is it can be any of these things, but it

2:50doesn't have to be all of these things.

2:52Decentralizing your smartphone is very

2:54much a choose your own adventure type

2:56project. You pick the apps that you

2:58would go to your phone the most for, the

3:00thing that you'd most like to outsource,

3:01and focus on those. For me, as somebody

3:03who works in the film industry as a

3:05camera guy, cameras are not only my job,

3:07but also a hobby for me. So, I wanted to

3:09make sure I had a standalone camera, so

3:11I could focus more on the art of

3:13actually doing photography. And as is

3:15the case with many decentralized

3:17technologies, having a standalone device

3:19gives you a little bit of a better

3:20experience than you're going to get on

3:21something compromised like a smartphone.

3:23By decentralizing of those key features,

3:26the things that make you pick up the

3:27smartphone the most, that means more

3:29time that you're not choosing to go down

3:31that alleyway full of hustlers, and

3:33you're not going to get pulled into any

3:34of their schemes. A standalone device

3:36like a dumb phone is the most extreme

3:38variation of this. And if you are

3:40looking to have a very stripped-down

3:41phone experience, that could be a good

3:43way to go. I've tested a lot of

3:45different devices like this on the

3:46channel, so if you check back into my

3:48videos, you'll surely find something.

3:50I've recently been testing the Light

3:52Phone 3, a device that I've wanted to

3:54try for a long time, and I will be

3:55sharing my thoughts on that in a video

3:57soon, so keep your eyes peeled for that.

3:59And now moving on to my second strategy,

4:00which has helped me be a lot more

4:02intentional with my tech, and that is

4:03addressing the smartphone directly.

4:05While decentralizing your technology is

4:07very helpful from getting you to pick up

4:09your phone for every single problem that

4:11you need solved, oftentimes we still

4:13need our smartphone to solve a lot of

4:15problems, and you find that you can't

4:16ditch that device completely. That's

4:18been the case for me. So, after getting

4:20into all these dumb devices, these

4:21single-purpose tools to help me use my

4:23smartphone less, I realized it was time

4:25to face my smartphone directly and

4:27actually strip it back to being a

4:29purpose-built tool that could do the

4:31things that I needed, but not distract

4:33me. Setting your phone to grayscale mode

4:35can be a great way to still access all

4:37of the features that you reach for that

4:38device for, but make it overall less

4:40colorful and less appealing. If social

4:42media is a problem for you, deleting

4:44those apps from your device entirely and

4:46then accessing them over the web, that

4:48is a great way to go, too. Fixing your

4:50smartphone to one space in a similar way

4:52that you would have experienced with a

4:53landline device. Plugging it in via its

4:56charger in a room like your kitchen, for

4:58example, that's what I do with mine, and

5:00I leave it in this room. And if I want

5:01to go and do some focused work, I'll

5:03have the smartphone here, and I'll be in

5:05the other room doing my work. And when I

5:07want to check it, I'll come here and

5:08I'll keep it on its cord, on its leash,

5:11and that's the only place where I can

5:12use it. Leaving your phone on do not

5:14disturb permanently is another great way

5:16to go to make sure that notifications,

5:17even calls and texts, aren't getting

5:19through to you at least on the first

5:21try. I've had my phone on do not disturb

5:22for like, I don't know, 3 to 5 years at

5:25this point, and I've had no problem with

5:27it. People eventually got used to the

5:29fact that it was on do not disturb, and

5:31if they really needed to reach me, they

5:32would just ring through twice and it

5:34would get to me. Putting time

5:35restrictions around when you use your

5:37smart devices is also a great way to go.

5:39For example, in my life, I try to not

5:41use my phone for the last hour when I'm

5:43going to bed, not use any screens

5:45whatsoever except for an e-reader. And

5:47in the morning when I'm getting up, I do

5:48the same for the first hour of the day.

5:50If you find you're really distracted by

5:52things like social media, and even with

5:53deleting apps, you find yourself

5:55downloading them again, you can try

5:56something like Scrollly, which is an app

5:58blocker. The folks at Scrollly were kind

6:00enough to partner with me on this video.

6:01Essentially, what you do with it is you

6:03download the Scrollly app, you select

6:05what apps are problem apps for you and

6:07that you want to block. Once you tap

6:08this to your phone, you're locked out of

6:10all of those apps until you tap it again

6:12to unlock it. It's a pretty neat little

6:14device. There's no subscriptions

6:15involved, and if you'd like to learn

6:16more, there's a link down below. The

6:18third digital minimalist strategy that

6:19I've implemented over the years that I

6:21found really beneficial is adding

6:23friction into my entertainment. I think

6:25we can all acknowledge that having our

6:27life being as convenient as it is, as

6:29frictionless to access constant

6:31entertainment, it's changed our behavior

6:33quite dramatically. The fact that at any

6:35time you can reach into your pocket and

6:36pull out what is essentially a

6:38supercomputer and distract yourself

6:40infinitely, that's not the best. And

6:42while you can utilize the tips I

6:43mentioned earlier to make your

6:45smartphone less distracting, that

6:46doesn't address the rest of the devices

6:48in your home. Another big distraction

6:50and time waster for a lot of people are

6:51televisions. At least over the last 80

6:53years or so, TV has been that OG tech

6:56distraction, the thing that has had us

6:57glued to a screen for the longest. And

7:00today, our screens have become even

7:01bigger and even more distracting than

7:03they were back then. Over the years,

7:04I've never really had a flat-screen TV

7:06in my home. All I've really had has been

7:08a little tube TV with some rabbit ears

7:10on it. A few months ago, my dad lent me

7:12a 32-in Sony Bravia, a 15-year-old one

7:15that's a 720p TV, but it's still pretty

7:17big. And I was testing it out for doing

7:19some home labbing that I was doing for a

7:21video you'll see in the future, trying

7:23to set up my own home streaming service.

7:25And over the last couple of months, I

7:27didn't like the behavioral change that

7:29came from having a large TV in the

7:31living room, dominating the space and

7:33really pulling your attention toward it.

7:35Especially nowadays, when most people

7:37have smart TVs or something with

7:38streaming services readily available to

7:40access. I think there's just too little

7:42friction. It's just too easy to walk

7:44into a room after a long day when you're

7:46tired, sit down, flip on the TV, throw

7:49on something essentially as noise, and

7:51waste your time staring at a screen. I

7:53even found myself doing that, and rather

7:55than reading in the evenings, which is

7:57something that I much more enjoyed to do

7:58as a pastime, I was just kind of

8:00mindlessly consuming content because it

8:02was so easy to do. So, as a result, even

8:05though it was nice testing for my home

8:06theater home lab setup, I think I'm

8:09going back to my tube TV and my

8:10projector. If you watch some of my

8:12earlier videos talking about my

8:13projector, this was a trade that I made

8:15a few years ago. I had a 32-in TV

8:17before, and I opted to switch for just

8:19having a projector, and I liked it. What

8:21I like about the projector so much is

8:23that it's not always set up. It's an

8:24actual ritual to get that thing up, put

8:27it on a stand, pull down the screen over

8:29our window, turn off the lights, and

8:31watch something. I'm not typically doing

8:33that rigmarole just to watch Family Guy

8:35or American Dad. I'm pulling that down,

8:37and usually we're watching a Criterion

8:39movie or some sort of documentary,

8:41something that feels a little bit more

8:42like a meal to watch and not just junk

8:44food. So, with that, I'll talk about the

8:46fourth thing that I've done for my

8:47digital minimalism, and that is to stop

8:49optimizing for infinite content

8:50consumption. Now, I've said it before,

8:52but there are way too many subscriptions

8:54out there, and I just don't want any

8:55part of it, honestly. So, for the last

8:57few years, I pretty much have canceled

8:58all of my subscription services, and

9:00when I bring them on, I bring them on

9:02for a very short time, and I bring them

9:03on very intentionally. For example, I'll

9:05probably get Disney Plus just to watch

9:07the new King of the Hill season when it

9:09airs. But other than that, when I'm

9:11streaming content, I'm pretty much just

9:12doing it over a free service, something

9:14like YouTube, maybe Tubi or Pluto, or

9:17even using Kanopy, which is the

9:18streaming service offered for free by my

9:20library, which has a lot of highbrow

9:21content. Physical media has also been

9:23very valuable because of the fact that

9:25it's physical and that I actually own

9:27it, and the fact that it's finite. I

9:29think with a streaming service, the fact

9:30that you're paying for it every month,

9:32you almost feel like you need to utilize

9:34it because you're paying for it. Whereas

9:35with physical media, I'm just biting off

9:38whatever I can chew. When I want to

9:39watch a movie, I go and I buy a used

9:41copy of it at the thrift store, and I

9:43bring it home, and I watch it. But, I

9:45don't feel like I have to watch 20

9:47movies or more because I'm paying for a

9:49service with so many available. I even

9:51started doing this with my news content

9:53as well, reading a physical newspaper

9:55where the news feed actually ends rather

9:57than being an infinite scroll type

9:58thing. For me, taking control of your

10:00media consumption like that and not

10:02giving yourself that infinite amount of

10:04options, I think it just makes you more

10:06intentional with what you're actually

10:07going to watch. You don't just have a

10:09ton of things that you're choosing

10:11through, and you're actually spending so

10:12much of your time, especially on

10:13streaming services, sorting through it,

10:15trying to figure out exactly what it is

10:17you want to watch. You can actually

10:19pick, I want to watch this one movie,

10:21and you go out and you get it. And

10:22finally, folks, the fifth digital

10:24minimalist tip that I have for you is to

10:26get a life. Build a life that you

10:28actually want to live. A lot of people

10:30look at digital minimalism in a very

10:31subtractive way. How much of my screen

10:33time can I cut down? What tech can I get

10:36rid of from my life? But, the part that

10:38they're missing is what actual life are

10:40you living? What good things are you

10:42doing with your time? I don't want to

10:43hear about the bad things that you're

10:45not wasting your time with. I want to

10:47hear about the good things that you're

10:48actually using your time for. In my

10:50digital minimalist travels, I've met

10:51people who were much more dogmatic than

10:53I, and they were striving to fully leave

10:56the internet, and many of them succeeded

10:58because they wanted that utmost digital

11:00minimalist experience. The problem is,

11:02these people were so fixated on getting

11:04rid of tools and getting rid of the

11:05internet completely, which I think could

11:07be detrimental. They weren't focusing,

11:09though, on what they were actually going

11:11to do with that time. So, the real

11:13question for me has become not what tech

11:15am I getting rid of, but it's what am I

11:17actually trying to move toward with this

11:20free time that I'm freeing up. This is

11:22where hobbies come in, music, art,

11:24filmmaking, spending time with friends.

11:26And also, another thing that many

11:28dogmatic people just obsessed with

11:29screen time can't really wrap their head

11:31around is that creative use of screen

11:34time is not the same as passive

11:36consumption on a screen. For example, if

11:38I spend a whole day making music,

11:40recording an album on GarageBand or

11:42Logic Pro or something like that, I

11:44might have 12 hours of screen time over

11:47that day, but I would not consider that

11:49a day wasted like if you were scrolling

11:51Instagram. But once you start to get too

11:53locked in on the optics of just cutting

11:54down your screen time, they all start to

11:56kind of blur together and all of these

11:58screen time things start to just look

12:00the same to you. So for me, it's become

12:02a lot less of obsessively minimizing my

12:04screen time just for the looks, just for

12:06the screenshots, so I can share it, and

12:08trying to make sure that I'm spending my

12:10time more meaningfully, whether that is

12:12off screen or on it. And while for sure

12:14the retro and analog tech aspect of

12:16digital minimalism, whether that's the

12:18dumb phone, the digicam, the iPod, or

12:20the typewriter, that can be really fun.

12:22It can be really sexy and aesthetic and

12:24gets you into the whole movement in

12:26general, but ultimately, you got to get

12:28to a point where you stop thinking about

12:30the phone itself and start thinking

12:32about the whole life around the phone.

12:34So I hope you enjoyed this video, folks.

12:35Just my thoughts on digital minimalism,

12:37the systems and strategies that I've

12:39implemented over the years that have

12:40helped me to be more intentional with my

12:42tech. Let me know in the comments what

12:44you thought of this video and how your

12:45digital minimalism strategies may have

12:47changed over the years for you. I hope

12:48you found it interesting. I appreciate

12:50you as always, and I'll see you in the

12:51next one.