Digital Minimalism for Educators

Mide
Sep 5, 2020
5 min read

At this time, working in education as a school counselor or teacher may be quite stressful, time consuming, and perhaps even chaotic. Whether you are working online, hybrid, or in person, this school year requires us to use more digital tools than usual in order for us to carry out day to day school procedures.

What Happened

As the summer was winding down in July, I felt pretty heightened anxiety whenever I thought about how I would transfer my school counseling program online. It was clear back then that my school would stick with the online format. And from tech tools to use and videos resources to watch to lesson plans and activities to implement; it was a bit overwhelming for me.

Action

Something had to be done. I recognized the need for digital minimalism because it was a natural thought for me as I [try] live a minimalist lifestyle. Personally, this invites more physical and mental clarity to live more relaxed and peaceful. So, my natural inclination was to do the same with my phone, personal laptop, and work desktop computer.

Digital Minimalism - “Digital minimalism is a philosophy that helps you question what digital communication tools (and behaviors surrounding these tools) add the most value to your life. It is motivated by the belief that intentionally and aggressively clearing away low-value digital noise, and optimizing your use of the tools that really matter, can significantly improve your life.”

- Cal Newport

Similar to consumerism, where we buy material goods in excess, digital accumulation may occur with people who feel they need a high amount of digital material to create an organized flow. Me! Now, I am still working on these steps below. I have a lot more to do particularly with my photos. But, here are some actions to take towards digital minimalism.

Hours of Operations

Oftentimes, many of my students, parents, and colleagues may send text messages or emails after the “contractual” hours of operations of my position. To be honest, I may also send text messages and emails after hours, too. But sending time boundaries is essential to minimize excess notifications pinging on our devices.

Place work related group chats and apps on sleep mode or mute them.
Sign out of your work email account on your laptop as well as your phone.
Airplane mode is another option when you are nearing your bedtime.
Change your phone settings to disable all notifications.

The idea of setting time boundaries is to not only detach from work related conversations still happening after hours but to also place a distinct separation of what you see or hear when you may still be using your phone. Especially fellow educators working from home, times frames of work and personal life may begin to merge together. If your self-awareness has revealed to you that your heightened anxiety and stress is linked with responding to messages well into your evening, well maybe this action step is something you can do.

Work Efficiency

Spend your time more wisely when you are working. This means, while within your working hours time frame, open and read essential emails. Respond accordingly.

Select ‘Unread’ to excess emails such as subscriptions, cc/bcc emails, thread emails, even past emails from months ago.
Organize your email dashboard to prioritize certain emails above. These emails are the essential emails to read and respond to while you are working.
This can also be indicated with a color coding system as well.

Prioritizing our time well also creates a stronger boundary between work life to home life. This may be an overnight process for some and a gradual change for others.

For example, the overnight process option is to go from digital disruption one day to digital minimalism the next day by turning off notifications and signing out of professional accounts after your school day ends at 2, 3, or 4pm. Then open all of them back up (when you need to use them accordingly) once your work day begins.
The other example is gradually decreasing your hours of operation window by one hour or 30 minutes each day.
- So, let’s say if you usually check your notifications for work past dinner time around 9pm, maybe on day one you decrease to 8:30pm, then the following day to 8pm, and you keep this gradual adjustment when you reach your ideal time of 4pm.
- By minimizing the amount of time you spend communicating and witnessing work related notifications, you can be more efficient in completing tasks at work.

Condense to One Platform

My school uses the Google platform for all school content. Video meetings (classroom, small group, or individual), powerpoint, documents, data storage, spreadsheets, white board, attendance, check in forms, calendar, and more.

This supports my digital system to utilize Google’s 9-dot apps image (I call it the waffle) on the upper right side of the window. I also have a work folder in the bookmark bar on my home screen window with direct tabs of documents I am using.

In being transparent, I do use other resources as well. I may sometimes use Microsoft powerpoint to create presentations and Canva.com to create graphics. In that same work folder, I add these additional work-related websites to be used only when I select it. Other than that, it is stored away within that folder.

This order can also be done in Microsoft. Other online school platforms including Canvas, Schoology, and Seesaw, I’m not too sure.

Declutter and Organize Storage

Declutter and organize your harddrive in your work computer and personal computer.

Delete documents and pdfs you haven’t opened nor used for at least one year.
Create a school year folder with subfolders inside to organize any free-floating documents.
- The idea is to instill visual and logistical order by removing the clutter of your digital paper trail.

Do the same with your online platform harddrive.

I recently went through my Google Drive and deleted unused documents and created a folder to store free-floating documents.

Your phone and tablets can be decluttered and organized as well.

Delete any unused apps, apps that haven’t been updated, and duplicate apps (having multiple photo editing, news, and subscription apps).

Having these in excess can be the source of disruption as you are constantly bombarded with notifications through banners and sounds from apps seeking to steal your time and energy that is meant for you.

Digital minimalism outlined above is to create a simple system that both enhances and organizes someone’s life with the least amount of quality, digital tools. So, repeat these steps at your own pace in order for you to create your ideal digital system. Take your time, you are beginning a lifestyle adjustment. Decluttering may take several days or even a week or two.

This action of decluttering, condensing, and organizing is a form of self-care. You deserve energy and longevity in your professional life. Particularly for my fellow school counselors, teachers, and educators, digital minimalism can decrease burnout as well. Take time to unplug from excess so you can recharge in abundance.