Why This Digital Church Leader Is Practicing Digital Minimalism

So, I have been dealing with calendar fiascos for an eternity now—probably a week at this point. But for someone who lives—nay, breathes—by their calendar, it has been one difficult week. If Satan wanted to mess with my peace, all he had to do was watch Chestly operate without a calendar. Yes, it’s that bad. 

But something unexpected happened while I was almost losing my salvation over my virtual, punctual life. I began to realize the complete overwhelm of my digital footprint. I have 8 calendars, 3 of which don’t like to play well with other platforms, a CRM, a project management app, all my socials, Slack, and a few more CRMish-type apps for invoicing…the list goes on. I’m sure I am missing one. 

Oh, and did I mention my socials. But social media isn’t the only thing I am on. I contribute to multiple communities and design digital communities for a living as I help churches and organizations think about selling or communicating with their people and developing relationships with them. 

Oh, and there are those social profiles again. In fact, They keep sucking me in. And I hate every minute of lost time that I fall victim to. I have to work on my client’s social media posts, but then the scroll happens…and there goes fifteen minutes. 

You know the feeling, huh?

As I scour each app and platform, I am overcome with dread. 

“What if I’m forgetting something.”

I don’t have FOMO, but I have FOFE–fear of forgetting everything—oh, and FOBU, not to be confused with Damond John’s claim to fame: Fear of Being Unresponsive. Later that week, I picked up Jonathan Haidt’s new book, The Anxious Generation. By chapter two, I began to question my digital life. This is a profound question, considering my line of work is about 95% digital. Not only that but for the last 6 years, I have become one of the leading voices in digital discipleship. 

By Chapter 3, I decided to try an experiment. 

What if I lived out of an old-fashioned planner, stopped looking at social media on my phone (almost entirely), and only looked at email and Slack twice per day? What would happen if I embraced digital minimalism even though my work is primarily digital? 

Well, a few weeks in, I can tell you what happened. I am more focused and less anxious, and I don’t miss social media at all. 

So how am I going to do my job?

Well, I didn’t give up everything. I selectively created some new boundaries based on my research. LinkedIn and YouTube have stayed on my phone (I might get rid of YouTube, but I’m still debating). LinkedIn doesn’t have a scroll function and has a different vibe from all the other platforms. It doesn’t have the same effect as the others. YouTube is the best way I have learned 90% of my digital skills in the last decade, but their love affair with short-form video is becoming problematic. I now have them on my phone, but not on the home screens. I am a part of a few digital communities that aren’t driven by algorithms, Like Carey Nieuwhof’s Art Of Leadership Academy and what we are working on here at NewBreed. I highly recommend these about collective learning and have made real friends on those platforms. In fact, I teach about creating this type of community. These haven’t harmed me. Actually, they have helped me in many ways!

I got rid of email and Slack. Any work communication has come off my phone. I can leave them on the computer during work hours. I no longer see the notifications. My anxiety has dipped. My focus has increased. 

I still market myself on social media through a scheduling app, but that is becoming more focused on LinkedIn and YouTube. Without social media marketing, people won’t know who you are unless they meet you physically, which binds you geographically. Still, I work hard to move an online relationship to my personal email list and even my digital community to build genuine relationships. 

Shortly, I believe we will see regulations about kids using them come down the pipeline, but I know that, as an adult, social media has been a net negative. It’s not community, it’s attention porn. It’s making us anxious and addicted and leaves us feeling worse for partaking. 

I embrace digital as a mission field, but just like Jesus had the rhythm of moving towards the crowd and then towards solitude, we must also do the same with the analog and digital worlds to remain healthy.