Why I Read Digital Minimalism Before Writing The Warrior's Garden
Before I started writing The Warrior's Garden, I did a lot of reading. I wanted to understand what makes people feel lost, tired, and empty in today's world. One of the books that helped me the most was Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport.
This is my honest review. I am going to share the parts I marked in the book and tell you what I think. I wrote this in plain, simple words — because the message is too important to hide behind big fancy language.
What Is This Book About?
The book is about our phones. Our apps. Our screens. Cal Newport says they are not just tools we use. They are tools designed to use us.
Here is one of the most important things I marked:
"These apps and slick sites were not gifts from 'nerd gods building a better world.' They were, instead, designed to put slot machines in our pockets."— Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism
A slot machine is built to keep you pulling the lever. It does not care about you. It just wants you to keep going. Your phone works the same way. That is a hard truth. But a warrior needs to hear hard truths.
Why Our Phones Are So Hard to Put Down
Newport explains that the people who make our apps study our brains. They know exactly how to keep us hooked. He points to two big tricks they use.
Trick #1: Surprise rewards. A scientist named Zeiler found that random rewards — the kind you can't predict — make us crave more. That is why you keep scrolling. You never know what you will find. Your brain loves that feeling.
Trick #2: Social approval. We all want people to like us. That goes back thousands of years — in ancient times, being part of the tribe kept you alive. Our brains still work that way. When someone hits "Like" on your post, you get a little rush. When no one does, it hurts.
📌 My Highlight: "New technologies have hijacked this deep drive to create profitable behavioral addictions." — Cal Newport
Even Facebook's own founding president, Sean Parker, admitted it. He said they asked one question when building the app: "How do we consume as much of your time and conscious attention as possible?" That is not a company that cares about your life. That is a company that wants your time.
How This Connects to The Warrior's Garden
In The Warrior's Garden, I explore what it means to live with purpose. To be strong not just in body, but in mind and spirit. A warrior does not waste energy. A warrior knows where to aim.
But how can you aim at anything when you are always distracted? When you are always looking at a screen, checking for likes, scrolling for something you can't even name?
Newport's book helped me see this clearly. We are in a war for our own attention. And most of us are losing — not because we are weak, but because we do not realize we are in a fight.
"The cost of a thing is the amount of life which is required to be exchanged for it."— Henry David Thoreau, quoted in Digital Minimalism
Newport uses this idea from Thoreau to ask: what are you trading your life for? Is it worth it? If you spend ten hours a week on social media and get almost nothing real out of it — that is ten hours of your one and only life gone. Every week.
What Are We Missing When We Stare at Screens?
One of the biggest ideas in the book is solitude — time alone with your own thoughts, away from screens and noise.
Newport defines "solitude deprivation" as a state where you spend almost zero time alone with your own mind. I marked this line and drew a box around it. Because I think most people today live in a state of solitude deprivation and do not even know it.
📌 My Highlight: "Boredom is important. You are seldom alone with your thoughts if a screen is present." — My own note while reading
When was the last time you sat quietly — no phone, no music, no TV — and just let your mind wander? That space is where real thoughts grow. That is where you find out who you are.
Newport shows a 2015 study that found teenagers spend nine hours a day on screens on average. Nine hours. And a researcher named Jean Twenge found that starting around 2012 — right when smartphones became everywhere — teen depression and anxiety shot up fast. It was unlike anything she had seen in 25 years of research.
The Loneliness Trap
Here is the sad twist: we use social media to feel less alone. But research shows it makes us more lonely.
Newport shares a study that found people who use social media the most are three times more likely to feel lonely than people who use it the least. Three times. Even after accounting for age, income, and other factors.
"You can't build a billion-dollar empire like Facebook if you're wasting hours every day using a service like Facebook."— Cal Newport, Digital Minimalism
The people who build these apps do not use them the same way we do. They know what is in the water.
Simple Things Newport Says to Do
This book is not just about problems. Newport gives real steps. Here are the ones I marked:
Delete social media from your phone. You do not have to quit. Just stop carrying it in your pocket 24/7.
Take long walks. Leave the phone at home. Let your mind breathe.
Fix or build something every week. Working with your hands is deeply satisfying. It reminds you that you can do real things in the real world.
Hold "office hours" for conversation. Instead of texting back and forth all day, pick a time when you're open to talk. Real talk.
Schedule low-quality screen time. Plan it instead of falling into it.
Write letters to yourself. Get your thoughts out. Know your own mind.
📌 My Highlight: "The most successful digital minimalists tend to start by renovating what they do with their free time — cultivating high-quality leisure before cutting the worst digital habits." — Cal Newport
This is key. You can't just take something away without putting something better in its place. The Warrior's Garden is built on that same idea. You do not become strong by removing weakness alone. You become strong by growing something.
A Note on Real Connection
Newport says that clicking "Like" is not real connection. Leaving a comment is not real connection. Real connection is a phone call. A visit. A real conversation face to face.
He says: stop clicking Like. Let it feel uncomfortable. Let it remind you that connection takes more than one tap. I agree. And I love his hard honesty here.
My own note in the margin while reading: "Lead by example. Choose the positive path. If they don't understand — let them go."
That is very warrior to me.
My Final Take
Digital Minimalism is a book I needed to read before writing The Warrior's Garden. It helped me see the enemy clearly. The enemy is not technology. The enemy is mindless surrender to technology.
A warrior chooses. A warrior does not drift. A warrior knows what tools to use, and what tools to set down.
Newport puts it simply: be in the world, but not of it. The Amish figured this out long ago. Maybe it is time the rest of us caught up.
If you want to live with more focus, more quiet, more real connection — read this book. Then come find me in The Warrior's Garden. We have work to do.
About Richard
Richard Ryan is the author of The Warrior’s Garden, a software developer and media executive with more than twenty years of experience in the tech industry. He has generated billions of views and millions of followers across social media platforms, leveraging his deep understanding of algorithms and digital marketing. Read more