On Digital Minimalism

Oftentimes, when you buy a new PC, it comes preloaded with applications. Some of them are essential, like an anti-virus, and some of them are not. Over the years I’ve come to realize that the responsiveness of your device (it doesn’t necessarily have to be a computer, it can be a mobile phone or a tablet, too) depends on how many applications you have installed. It is especially true for mobile devices, where applications are often started at boot and remain in the memory even if they are not used, draining battery power.

My general rule is to always ask myself if I am really going to use the app I am about to install very often or just occasionally. If the answer is: “No, I don’t really need this app.”, I don’t install it no matter how great the hype is over it.

I also try not to install apps that duplicate functionality (multiple text editors, for example). And before you ask - I have only one web browser installed (check out my article on why I ditched Chrome).

If you try and keep the number of applications on your machine to a minimum, you will notice battery drain reduction, performance increase, and less confusion when your operating system asks you what would you like to open that one particular file with. Trust me, I’ve tested the statement over the years.

Note: if your computer came pre-installed with software already installed, please read this awesome article by Chris Titus on how to debloat your Windows 10. Chris is an IT professional and an awesome YouTuber, whose channel I’ve been a devoted subscriber of for quite some time now.

Chris is constantly updating his app, which is nice.

If you are using a different OS, asking Google how to debloat it will yield awesome results.

Thank you for reading this article! Have an awesome day!