Every phone owner should read this book. In the world of constant information and interactions via our phones, this helps bring back some perspective. While I know breaking-up with my phone is not an option, this book really helped me to develop some limitations.

Another humorous book of the technology age and our addictions. The writer is funny and will make the reader laugh.

A 30-day plan to break the addiction to your phone, focusing on positive outcomes and with a funny, chatty vibe.

I just read an article on CNN about Unilever threatening to pull ads from Google and Facebook, which "have become a 'swamp' of fake news, racism, sexism and extremism." The word "techlash" is used in a quote in the article, and I feel like that is exactly where I am. There are some things I love about my phone and social media, but there are a lot more things that I hate. You could compare it to smoking embalming fluid  or a plague of frogs (Twitter is the worst offender but they're all bad). And it's getting in the way of me living my life. So I had picked up How to Break Up with Your Phone on a whim and in the little over an hour that it took to read (it's short!), it made a big change in my perspective.

The book is structured in two parts. The first part explores how we use our phones and focuses on the bad and the ugly when it comes to phone use, particularly social media. Price discusses how app-makers stroke our dopamine response, and how we develop the habit of picking up our phone.

"Want to know another device that uses intermittent rewards to drive compulsive behavior? Slot machines."

This is meant to motivate you to follow through with the break-up process, which is detailed in the second half of the book. Price presents a 30-day plan with daily tasks to not just reduce your phone use, but to use your phone for good and to focus on living your life. (By the way, this sounds so dumb, I can't believe I'm writing about this. I'm so ashamed that this is an issue!)  Some of those tasks include:

Download the SPACE app to track phone use. (She doesn't suggest using it to reduce phone use right away, but hey why not.)
Assess your relationship with your phone.
Delete social media (I deleted FB, which is really problematic for me. I quit Twitter a while ago since they're dining on our nation's decaying corpse. Instagram is less so, so it's still on for now).
Organize apps.
Not being a rule-follower and knowing my tendency to be inconsistent, I wanted to make sure I had it somewhere I could see it, so I put the tasks in my calendar. I did skip ahead a bit and complete some tasks that were for future days all at once, because I was excited about jumping in. Today is my second day with those steps in place, and I feel really optimistic!

"My research has convinced me that this is not a trivial issue; our phones are having serious effects on our relationships, our brains (especially young ones), and the way we interact with the world. They are designed to addict us--and from what we know so far, the consequences of this mass addiction don't look good. Just take a look around you. Phones are changing the experience of being human."

Day 2's assignment is writing out your feelings about your phone and your goals, so here goes nothing:

Things I love about my phone and social media:

I'm a member of some ladies-only groups and neighborhood groups that I enjoy.
I like keeping up with friends who I don't see regularly through their social media posts.
My daughter's school and PTA use Facebook to communicate.
I love finding out about new things, and crowd-sourcing ideas and problem-solving.
Beneficial apps for me are Audible, my podcast app, Spotify, the apps my kids' teachers use to communicate, Fitbit, Habitica, Amazon Kindle, texting, and my workout motivation app. (Wow! That is more than I expected.)
Why I hate my phone:

Facebook is actively making our world a terrible place. (I gave up Twitter a while ago).
I check news sites all day long. This is partly because of the political climate, but it is stress-inducing.
I am constantly looking at my phone when I should be doing other things.
There are a lot of things I could accomplish if I were not distracted by my phone, like reading the New Yorkers that are piling up, drawing in my sketchbook, planning meals, taking a walk, playing with my kids, and cleaning my house.
I feel like my phone is making me dumber.
Goals:

Using my free moments for reading, writing, drawing, and talking to other humans.
Using my phone for navigation, communication, and for fitness and quality entertainment (books, audiobooks, podcasts, and music)
Using Instagram and no other social media.
Not being in the habit of picking up my phone reflexively. Living in my own brain.
The book discusses how phones change our brains. I've been working really hard lately to change my eating and exercise habits to stay healthy, particularly to avoid heart disease and Alzheimer's disease, which run in my family. There's no research on the effects of cell phones on Alzheimer's (other than phone radiation), so it's an unknown quantity, but I can't imagine scattering your brain with the phone is helpful for overall brain health in the long-term. If I'm willing to give up sweets and get up at 6am to exercise, it seems reasonable to rein in the phone addiction. Preventing Alzheimer's is a pretty long-term goal, but I wanted to add it in here because it's a very deep motivation for me and I do believe it's a related issue.
I'm excited about getting through this detox program and moving on with my life. I love that she includes tasks like doing things you enjoy to exercise your attention span. Enjoy reading a book, playing an instrument, listening to music! That is what our brains are supposed to be doing! It feels like shedding skin and moving on to a new phase.

I highly recommend this book, and I'll check back in later to share how it's going. I hope that the rest of the people feeling the techlash right now find this book.

5/5 stars!



My thanks to Netgalley and Ten Speed Press for sharing this book with me free of charge. My opinions are my own.

This book made me realize a lot about my phone usage! I am thankful I read this book because this was important knowledge not only for me but for my children in this electronic age we live in!

‪So, I put the suspense thrillers down for a moment and picked up a book on a topic that I feel many of us need to consider. One of my resolutions this year is to do less—especially when it comes to things that offer negative contributions to my life. One of those things is, you guessed it, screen time. Truth be told, our wireless devices have been linked not only to mental health problems, but physical as well. Given this fact, a personal growth book such as this is something of great value to our society’s needs.

‪How to Break Up with Your Phone starts off with an open letter to, well, your phone, and it is all too real. While humorous, the honest truth in every word will ring true to every person that picks this up. You many not think you need to break up with your phone, or that your interactions with your phone are not problematic enough to warrant picking up a book such as this one. However, I am here to tell you… you are absolutely wrong!

‪We all, to some degree, have a dependency on our devices. And while some may have a higher dependency than others, every single one of us would benefit from a digital detox. Every page was an eye opener as Catherine calls you out on behavior you probably were not even aware you were doing. Not to say that she does so in a way that will make you feel down on yourself, but more like a caring friend who is guiding you towards a better way. The best way to project this is to share with you a quote from the book:‪

“THE POINT OF BREAKING UP WITH OUR PHONES ISN’T TO DEPRIVE OURSELVES OF THE BENEFITS OF MODERN TECHNOLOGY. IT’S TO SET BOUNDARIES SO THAT WE CAN ENJOY THE GOOD PARTS OF OUR PHONES WHILE ALSO PROTECTING OURSELVES FROM THE BAD.” —CATHERINE PRICE, HOW TO BREAK UP WITH YOUR PHONE
‪This is not a book thats purpose is to direct you to keep your phone farther than an arm’s length away, but sheds light on valuable information as to why we are so captivated by our phones, apps and social media. It is filled with information such as why psychologically we feel the need to constantly check our phones and how social media and apps are created to feed on these impulses. All very insightful and interesting stuff that will have you questioning quite a lot and asking yourself questions about your own psychological behavior.

Catherine not only researched this topic well, offering more than just reasoning why we all need to stop letting our devices control us—and how they are—but she also used a group of individuals to assist her in formulating the 30-day plan to break up with your phone. These people are of different social backgrounds and all have one common goal—placing a divide between themselves and their devices.

‪Everyone should read this book—it is the true wake-up call we all need. I found it to be very informative and, so far, the 30-day plan sounds quite enlightening. This is a quick read at just 165 pages (if you do not include the pages that make up the epilogue, recommended resources, etc.) I plan to start my own digital detox this weekend and will update this post on the date of publication to advise how Catherine’s plan has been working for me.