You unlock your phone to check a reminder, but 40 minutes later, you’re deep in a doomscroll you never intended to start. If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone — and it’s not a coincidence.
Whether it’s your own screen time creeping up, your kids zoning out on their devices, or just a pervasive sense that technology has taken over more of your life than you agreed to, there’s a name for what you’re experiencing and a practical way out of it: digital minimalism. And you don’t need to trash your tech to get there.
Digital minimalism is all about using technology intentionally and on your own terms. Here’s what that looks like in practice and how to get started.
- What is digital minimalism?
- How Big Tech captures your attention
- Start by checking your screen time
- How to reduce screen time with better digital hygiene
- Managing screen time for kids
- How to take back control of your data
- Digital minimalism starts with small choices
What is digital minimalism?
Cal Newport(nuova finestra) coined the term in his 2019 book, Digital Minimalism. He defines it as “a philosophy of technology use in which you focus your online time on a small number of carefully selected and optimized activities that strongly support things you value, and then happily miss out on everything else.”
It’s not about deprivation or going off-grid. It’s about letting go of the parts of your digital life that don’t serve you. Your time and attention are finite, so ask if your tech and apps are actually worth it. Do they actually support something you care about, like your fitness goals? If the answer is no, let it go.
How Big Tech captures your attention
Big Tech companies have a vested interest in keeping you engaged for as long as possible. After all, the more time you spend on their apps, the more ads you see, and the more money they make. Don’t forget, every like, watch, share, and save gives them more data about you.
Social media apps are the biggest culprit. They employ the same psychology that makes slot machines so addictive — they’re unpredictable. Algorithms are fine-tuned to your tastes, but they’re also engineered to serve up a mix of interesting posts, dull ones, and the hit that keeps you swiping for the next one.
And it’s not limited to the content you see. Every notification of a like, comment, share, and follow is designed to pull you back into the app. Instead of cash, the payout is dopamine-generating validation.
Pair that with the infinite scroll and auto-play, and there’s no longer a natural endpoint when using these apps in the way book chapters or episode endings do. They’ve essentially removed the off-ramp between you and the app — it’s how you get sucked into a 40-minute-long scroll when you were just trying to reply to a DM.
Companies have become very good at this. The average American spends four and a half hours a day on their phone(nuova finestra), and this is by Big Tech’s design. The good news is that people are fighting back through legal battles(nuova finestra), policies targeting addictive design(nuova finestra), and personal steps to reclaim their attention.
Start by checking your screen time
The first step is to take stock of your own habits. Both iPhone and Android have built-in tools to show you where your time goes. Here’s how to check screen time on iPhone and Android:
How to check screen time on iPhone (iOS)
- Open the Settings app.
- Go to Screen Time.
- Tap See All App & Website Activity.
You will see a breakdown of your daily and weekly usage, including which apps you spend time on, the number of times you pick up your phone, and the apps that send you the most notifications. Tap Devices in the top-right corner to view the Screen Time of your other Apple devices.
A quicker way to view your iPhone’s Screen Time data is to add the Screen Time widget to your home screen.
For parents: Screen Time also lets you manage a child’s device(nuova finestra) through Family Sharing. You can set app limits, schedule downtime, and restrict content from your device.
How to check screen time on Android
Screen time is known as Digital Wellbeing on Android. To access it:
- Open the Settings app
- Go to Digital Wellbeing & parental controls.
- Tap Dashboard.
You will see your total screen time, the apps you use and for how long, how often you unlock your phone, and the number of notifications you’ve received. Tap each app for a more detailed breakdown.
For parents: Android’s Digital Wellbeing includes parental controls through Google Family Link(nuova finestra). Once set up, you can monitor your child’s screen time, set daily limits, and disable apps at bedtime.
How to reduce screen time with better digital hygiene
Adopting digital minimalism isn’t just about reining in social media. Sure, that’s the most obvious target, but it’s also about being intentional with all the digital tools in your life, including your inbox and notifications.
Digital hygiene is how you put it into practice. While the term usually refers to habits that protect your digital life and data, it can also extend to anything that keeps it healthy. Just as personal hygiene prevents illness, digital hygiene helps prevent burnout, distraction, and data exploitation.
The good news is that you don’t have to go cold turkey. Studies(nuova finestra) have shown that small intentional changes add up, leading to improved well-being, mental health, and attention spans. Give these a go:
Put your phone out of reach
It sounds almost too simple, but it works. If your phone isn’t within arm’s reach, you’re far less likely to pick it up out of habit. Try leaving it in another room while you work, or keeping it out of the bedroom at night.
Turn off non-essential notifications
Let’s be honest, most notifications aren’t urgent. Disabling non-essential notifications is one of the simplest ways to reclaim your focus. Be ruthless as you do this; if it doesn’t genuinely need your immediate attention, turn it off.
On iPhone, go to Settings → Notifications, select an app, and toggle off notifications.
On Android, go to Settings → Notifications → App notifications, select an app, and toggle off notifications.
Set app limits
You can set daily app limits on both iPhone and Android for specific apps. Once you hit your limit, the app locks until the next day. Here’s how:
On iPhone, go to Settings → Screen Time → App Limits → Add Limit, choose the apps or category, and set your daily limit.
On Android, go to Settings → Digital Wellbeing & parental controls → App timers, choose the apps you want to limit, and set your daily limit.
If you’re worried about using up your daily limits quickly, you can enable app limits by sessions using tools like ScreenZen(nuova finestra). You limit how many sessions you get in a day and set a timer for each session, creating a natural off-ramp between you and the apps.
Start by setting app limits for your biggest time sinks: social media, video apps, and games. Set limits that feel challenging but realistic; you don’t want to make it so hard that you end up giving up entirely.
Use built-in focus tools
Smartphones have focus modes designed to help you block distractions, and you can use them to reduce screen time.
If you’re using an iPhone, you can use Downtime or Focus mode:
Downtime mode blocks all apps except those you specifically allow during scheduled hours. It’s great for blanket restrictions, like evenings or bedtime. To enable it, go to Settings → Screen Time → Downtime.
Focus mode helps to limit distractions when you need more flexibility than Downtime mode. You choose which people and apps can reach you depending on what you’re doing. To use it, go to Settings → Focus.
On Android, you can use Focus or Bedtime mode:
Focus mode allows you to pause apps manually or on a schedule to limit distractions. To enable it, go to Settings → Digital Wellbeing & parental controls → Focus.
Bedtime mode turns your home screen grayscale and silences notifications to help you wind down before bed. To enable, go to Settings → Digital Wellbeing & parental controls → Bedtime mode.
Check your phone less often
Instead of reacting to every notification as it arrives, check your messages, email, and social media intentionally, at set times, such as once in the morning, once at lunch, and once in the evening. This keeps you in control of your attention instead of handing it over to whoever pings you first.
Declutter your inbox
Email is another source of digital noise that often gets overlooked. Promotional emails, forgotten newsletters, and subscription updates pile up and compete for your attention.
Some email services, like Proton Mail, include tools to make managing this easier. Newsletters view gathers all your subscriptions in one place so that you can unsubscribe from what you don’t need with a single click — no more logging in to dozens of services just to opt out.
Replace screen time with something better
Cutting screen time is easier when you have something to fill the gap. Think about activities that leave you feeling genuinely good afterward: reading, cooking, going for a walk, browsing a photo album, or picking up a hobby. The goal isn’t to sit in a dark room avoiding your tech, but about spending your time on fulfilling activities with people who actually matter to you.
Managing screen time for kids
While the tips above apply to kids too, managing their screen time is a different challenge since devices are so integrated with schoolwork, socializing, and entertainment. The goal isn’t to remove devices from your child’s life, but to help them develop a healthy relationship with technology. Here are some tips:
Set up parental controls to monitor and limit your child’s device use. On iPhone, Screen Time with Family Sharing lets you view activity reports, set app limits, schedule downtime, and restrict content — all from your (the parent’s) device. On Android, you can use Google Family Link to monitor screen time, set daily limits, and disable apps at bedtime.
Create screen-free zones and times, such as the dinner table, an hour before bed, and in bedrooms. Rules are easier to follow when they apply to the whole family.
Charge devices outside of bedrooms overnight to remove the temptation of late-night scrolling and the urge to reach for a phone first thing in the morning.
Model the behavior you want. If you’re asking your kids to put screens away at dinner, try to do the same. It’s easier to enforce boundaries when the whole family follows them.
Have an ongoing conversation with your kids about why digital boundaries matter, the content and messages they encounter online, how those experiences affect them, and how apps are designed to keep them scrolling. These conversations help build the judgment that parental controls can’t.
It’s not easy to help your kids better manage their digital lives. Check out our age-by-age guide to tech for kids and see how Proton parents approach online privacy and tech boundaries.
How to take back control of your data
Now that you know how to limit screen time, the next step is to understand how your activity is tracked online.
Mainstream tech services often collect far more personal data than they need. Depending on the provider and its policies, your emails, files, searches, and activity may be used for profiling, targeted advertising, product development, or AI training.
Where a company is based also determines which privacy and surveillance laws can apply to your data. For example, US-based companies may be required under laws such as FISA to give authorities access to certain data they hold, even when non-Americans are involved. Over the past decade, government requests to Big Tech surged by 770%, with Google, Apple, and Meta sharing data from more than 3.5 million user accounts with US authorities.
Here are a few practical changes to help you take back control of your data:
Switch to privacy-focused providers
Choose providers that collect less data, use strong encryption, and are transparent about how they make money and handle your information.
When it comes to cloud storage, try Proton Drive as an alternative to Google Drive. All files are protected by end-to-end encryption, so you can trust that no one but you can access them, not even Proton. We’re based in Switzerland, so all your data is protected by some of the strictest privacy laws in the world.
For more privacy-friendly options, explore European alternatives that put stronger protections around your personal data.
Block email trackers
Our Spam Watch report found that 80% of the major US retailers embedded trackers in every marketing email analyzed. Trackers are spy pixels that reveal when you opened a message, what device you used, and where you were. Tracking links can also follow you across websites, connecting your email address to your browsing activity. Data brokers and other companies can use this information to build detailed profiles about you, which is why searching for something once can lead to related ads appearing for weeks.
Enhanced tracking protection in Proton Mail automatically blocks known trackers in your emails and cleans tracking parameters from links before you click them. Images are also loaded through a proxy, so your IP address(nuova finestra) and location remain hidden from companies trying to extract more data from you. You can use Proton Mail as an alternative to Gmail.
Use a VPN
When your IP address is visible, you’re giving away more information than you’d expect. Every website you visit can see your approximate location, your internet provider, and enough information to recognize you across browsing sessions. It’s worse on public WiFi(nuova finestra), since your traffic can be intercepted by hackers.
Proton VPN is a VPN(nuova finestra) with a no-logs policy(nuova finestra) that encrypts your connection and masks your IP address, so websites and advertisers can’t track where you are or follow your activity across the web. Strong encryption keeps your internet traffic protected from snoops, so you can safely use public WiFi. The built-in Netshield Ad-blocker(nuova finestra) keeps you secure by blocking ads, trackers, and malware before they reach your device.
Turn off ad personalization
You can limit how much of your data gets shared with advertisers directly from your phone’s settings. It won’t stop all tracking, but it cuts down on how much information is used to target you.
On iPhone, go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Tracking and toggle off Allow Apps to Request to Track. This stops apps from tracking your activity across other apps and websites.
Then go to Settings → Privacy & Security → Apple Advertising and toggle off Personalized Ads. You will still see ads, but they won’t be created using your preferences anymore.
On Android, go to Settings → Security & privacy → Privacy controls → Ads and select Delete advertising ID. This resets the identifier advertisers use to track you.
Turn off Google Web & App Activity
The dominance of Google’s services has made your Google account a valuable tool for tracking and collecting data to personalize ads and recommendations, and to build a profile of your interests and habits. Fortunately, Google allows you to turn this off and delete what’s been collected.
Go to myaccount.google.com → Data & privacy → Web & App Activity, click Turn off → Turn off and delete activity, and deselect everything under Subsettings.
Digital minimalism starts with small choices
Becoming a digital minimalist doesn’t mean giving up technology entirely. It’s about deciding which tools deserve your time, attention, and personal data — and using them on your own terms. Small changes, such as silencing unnecessary notifications, setting app limits, and choosing more private services, can make your digital life feel less distracting and intrusive.
Start with one change that feels manageable, then build from there. The more intentional you become about when you use technology and what information you share, the more control you take back from the companies competing for both your attention and your data.
