Technology is two-sided. On the one hand, technology has connected us – our ideas, messages and our personalities can all communicated from anywhere in the world to anyone we want. On the other hand, it has provided us with so much information to process – status updates, tweets, news, email, blogs, podcasts, phone calls and text messages that we’ve become overloaded and our attention divided into a million pieces.

technology vs minimalism?

Is technology non-minimalistic? It depends on what you think minimalism means. If, to you, it means forgoing technology altogether, then I guess it’s non-minimalist. But for me, minimalism is about making my life easier – whatever gives me more time to focus and to accomplish the things I want to do.

Minimalism doesn’t mean you should live like a hermit, you don’t have to ban technology from your life. In fact, technology can actually help you, and it’s part of the reason why minimalists exist today. Here are just a few of the minimalist things technology can help you with:

1. Carry less. A few weeks ago, I received a comment about the fact that I own an iPhone. It’s an old 3G model. Is it minimalist? Well, here are a few things I don’t have to carry around with me because I have it:

• Dictionary – because a book of 159,000 words would be very heavy indeed.
• Grammar reference book and Kanji  reference book – searching is also much easier than the index of a printed book.
• Novel – I love to read, especially on the bus/train, but I hate carrying and ruining books in my bag.
• Scrap notepad – I would lose all those pieces of paper if I had to physically look after the amount of notes I take.
• Flashcards – because learning a language is a pain without them
• Gaming device – I used to carry my DS with me, but now I don’t have to.
• Calculator/currency converter – of you’ve ever spent time in a foreign country, you’ll know how invaluable it is to be able to see how much something costs in your home currency.
• Clock/Alarm clock – this one is for my bedroom. I can’t sleep when I can hear ticking and I like to wake up to nice music rather than a ringing sound when I wake up.

2. Learn. I use my laptop almost everyday to learn something new – don’t underestimate what you can achieve. In fact, I learned how to play the guitar via the internet. On top of that, I use it to do research for class, learn languages, listen to podcasts, watch TED and other great videos,  among many other useful things.

3. Less clutter. On my external hard drive so I can store all my photos of my family, friends and times in Japan. During the summer, I went through a complete purge of all of the paper that I owned. I scanned what I needed and recycled the rest. So one little box replaces my photo albums, DVD and CD stacks and piles and piles of paper.

4. The environment. The Amazon Kindle and other ebook readers greatly reduce the need for paperback books. It’s up to your personal opinion which is more ‘comfortable’ to read, but anyone must admit that ebook readers are better for the environment and save a ton of space. Also, I buy a lot of my music digitally now, so I’m not adding to CD production and waste.

5. Connect. Thanks to technology, I can talk to my family (almost) face to face on the other side of the world – that’s something I definitely don’t take for granted. I can also write this blog and readers can write to me. My early days of minimalism were fuelled by reading the words of my minimalist heroes – something I would never have found without technology.

consumerism

Minimalism isn’t a complete rejection of consumerism. We are all consumers in some way, even if it’s just only groceries and clothes we need to cover our backs. Owning a few gadgets doesn’t make you a greedy consumer.

As long as you don’t get caught up with desiring the latest gadgetsas soon as they come out, even when the current generation works perfectly fine, and you don’t rely on your gadgets to boost your egobecause you can afford it and others can’t, then you’re not being that kindof consumer.

Just like the washing machine did for women in the 50′s and 60′s, you’re simply using it to your advantage to improve your own quality of life.

disconnection

So, owning gadgets doesn’t necessarily mean you are not a minimalist –  in fact, it helps you be more minimalist, in terms of the amount of physical things you own. But the word ‘technology’ can also mean being connected to the internet.

I used to think I needed internet with me everywhere I walked. That’s why I got an iPhone in the first place. But in Japan, my iPhone cannot make calls and it doesn’t have internet everywhere. I realize now that I never really needed the constant connection, I just thought I did.

Facebook messages, emails and tweets seem like they need your immediate attention, but how many times have you been actually required to reply immediately? Sometimes, you’ve just got to take a break from the internet. A few months ago, Gwen Bell took what she called a ‘digital sabbatical‘. I’ve become a massive fan of the idea, so here are some of my favourite posts on the topic:

• How to cut down on social networking – my own post
• How to Live in the Land of Enough – Disconnect – by Courtney Carver from Be More With Less.

I highly recommend trying it, it works.

Minimalist Mediations is a on-going series giving you the 101 on different aspects of minimalism.