Digital Decluttering for the Modern Nomad

When people think about clutter, they think about stuff.

Drawers. Closets. Storage units.
What’s in the attic. What’s in the garage.
What they can see.

But the heaviest clutter we carry?
You can’t see it.

It lives in our pockets.
In our inboxes.
In our camera rolls.
In our heads, 24/7.

And most of us carry it everywhere.

Nomadic life forced us to pay attention

When you live in a van, everything has a place.
Physical clutter stands out—it gets in the way fast.

But digital clutter?
That’s trickier.

• No one sees your 42,000 unread emails
• No one knows how many times you check your phone each day
• No one hears the background noise of your endless notifications
• No one tells you that your brain feels full because your tabs are always open

And before you know it, you're living mobile—but mentally stuck.

That’s not freedom.
That’s just a new version of being buried.

The real cost of digital clutter

Digital clutter doesn’t just fill devices.
It fragments your mind.

It costs you:

• Focus
• Clarity
• Deep work
• Creative bandwidth
• Present moments with people you love

Every distraction isn’t just a second lost.
It’s a tax on your nervous system.

And it builds silently, like dust behind the bookshelf.

We’re not anti-tech. We’re pro-boundary.

The internet lets us work from anywhere.
Connect with like-minded people.
Raise a family on the road.
Share our message with the world.

But here’s the truth:

Nomadism is about mobility.
But that doesn’t matter if you’re still tethered to an algorithm.

Our approach to digital minimalism

We don’t aim for digital perfection.
We aim for intentional inputs.

Here’s what we practice:

1. No-phone mornings

The first 30–60 minutes are protected. No scroll. No news. No inbox. Just presence.

2. Weekly digital resets

We delete what’s not needed. Apps. Files. Notifications. Tabs.
If we wouldn’t bring it into the next week, we let it go.

3. Inbox sanity

One inbox. Folders that make sense. A system that clears, not clogs.

4. Digital sabbaths

24 hours a week, we go offline. No email. No social. No YouTube.
We use the time to live.

5. Device-free zones

Meals. Bedrooms. Long walks. We leave the tech behind.

The myth of “just checking”

Just checking messages.
Just opening Instagram.
Just a quick look at the news.
Just 5 minutes of YouTube that becomes 45.

Those little “justs” cost more than we realize.

They interrupt flow.
They train your brain to expect novelty.
They keep you shallow—always consuming, never digesting.

And your attention is your life.

You don’t need to go off-grid

But you do need to go on-purpose

You don’t need to delete every app.
But you do need to decide what earns its place.

That’s what it means to live light in the digital world:

• Clear what clutters
• Keep what serves
• Design rhythms for presence
• Reclaim your attention—daily

This Week’s Shift:

Do one digital declutter this week.

Try:

• Unsubscribing from 10 emails
• Deleting one row of apps
• Clearing your desktop or phone screen
• Taking one full day offline
• Turning off 90% of your notifications

Make space in your phone.
Make space in your mind.

Because minimalism isn’t just what’s in your bag.
It’s what’s in your head.

—Indy & Kitty
​Nomadists