Overcoming Tech Addiction and Embodying Digital Minimalism:
This ten-part app based course is a reflective guide I designed to help people develop an informed, empowered, and deliberate relationship with digital technology. It moves from awareness to action, blending self-reflection, mindfulness, and real world behavior change. The course emphasizes curiosity and self-inquiry, helping participants understand underlying drivers of tech use and make conscious choices aligned with their values. It is a recursive, experiential, and actionable approach to reclaiming time, attention, and energy in the digital age.
The course was built for Madrona Meditation, a meditation app that marries insights and practices from both modern therapeutic models and ancient contemplative traditions. I’ve been working with Madrona for years and am so grateful for the generosity and vision of Colin Bekemeyer (Founder and CEO) and the opportunity he has given me to consolidate my work on digital minimalism as well as many other topics.
In the app look for “Tech Addiction” in the “Productivity” section. While there is a generous free trial period, if you are in financial need just reach out, we don’t want people unable to access it for financial reasons.
Course Summary:
1) Intro: A Modern Scourge & A Massive Opportunity
This section frames technology as both an unprecedented gift and a source of potential distraction and harm. Participants are encouraged to reflect on their current technology usage, noticing the ways it serves or undermines them, and to adopt an honesty and curious stance toward the impact of their habits.
2) Caution!: A Very Brief Overview of the Attention Economy
Participants learn about the economic forces driving tech platforms, and the ways they deliberately exploit our psychological vulnerabilities to generate profit. This section helps develop a critical awareness of some of the structural forces at play behind the tech we use.
3) What Do You Really Care About?
This section focuses on values. Participants identify what they truly care about and what brings meaning to their lives. These reflections provides a foundation for deciding which technology habits align with their values and which distract from them.
4) Take Inventory (Red Light, Green Light, 1,2,3)
A practical exercise categorizing tech use into green (helpful/desired), yellow (uncertain), and red (harmful/unwanted) habits. This promotes self-awareness and lays the groundwork for deliberate decision-making about tech engagement.
5) A Sober Reckoning
Participants reflect on the costs of their red and yellow tech behaviors, considering the impact on relationships, productivity, emotional well-being, and long-term goals. This sobering accounting creates motivation for change.
6) Leverage and Commitment
This section guides participants in making specific commitments to adjust their tech habits. It also explores the upsides and downsides of change, helping participants leverage motivation and increase adherence to these commitments.
7) Taming the Dragon: Working the Addictive Edge with Compassion
Here we explore the addictive qualities of technology and normalize struggles with self-control. Participants learn to approach lapses with curiosity and self-compassion rather than shame or self-punishment.
8) Riding the Wave: Breathing Through the Compulsion
This section introduces the mindfulness technique of “urge surfing” to manage compulsive tech use. Participants practice staying present with the physical and emotional sensations underlying their urges, learning to ride the wave instead of succumbing to it.
9) Curiosity, Not Just Willpower
Learners are encouraged to explore the deeper causes behind tech urges, such as stress, procrastination, or unresolved emotional experiences. The focus is on cultivating curiosity and insight, allowing for more effective self-care and conscious tech engagement.
10) Rinse and Repeat: Continuous Practice
This final section emphasizes that aligning tech use with values is an ongoing, iterative process. Participants are encouraged to revisit exercises, refine commitments, and continue self-reflection to maintain a deliberate and empowered relationship with technology.
In the app look for “Tech Addiction” in the “Productivity” section. While there is a generous free trial period, if you are in financial need just reach out, we don’t want people unable to access it for financial reasons.