5 Books That Will Completely Transform Your Phone Use
Are you using your phone too much? On average, people spend 3 hours and 15 minutes on their phones per day. Individuals check their phones an average of 58 times each day (also known as ‘pick ups’ - how many times you ‘pick up’ your phone). How do you measure up to these stats?
If you’re interesting in finding out how you compare, you will need to go into your ‘Settings’ and select ‘Screen Time’. As you can see from my photos, I’m averaging 2 hr 39m per day (I use my phone predominantly for work purposes, so I feel fine with this amount right now). I try not to use my phone in front of my children, and when I need to, I will always explain what I’m doing (using my phone as a tool - sending a message, Googling a location, checking the weather etc.).
If you want to check the amount of ‘pick ups’ you have per day, go into ‘Settings’, then ‘Screen Time’, then click on ‘See All Activity’, and scroll down for pick ups. Your number may come as a shock! So many of us instinctively pick up our phones and look for ‘something’, without even needing to! Your number of pick ups can help you to become more aware of your phone habits.
I’ve been very interested in mindful phone use ever since my children were born. Part of my role as an organiser extends to helping clients with overcoming their digital clutter - it’s one of the reasons I run my Digital Decluttering Course every 6 months. I do the research so you don’t have to.
If like me, you’re interested in improving your phone habits, reducing the amount of time you spend on your phone, and want to be more present in life, then these are 5 EXCELLENT books to help kickstart your mindful digital journey…
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport - This book introduces the idea of digital decluttering through completing a digital detox for a month. I tried my own digital detox a few years ago and you can read all about it here. We also learn about the dangers of ‘big tech’ companies and the tactics they use to gain as much of our attention as they can. Have you heard of the attention economy? And how companies use casino-style manipulative strategies when designing apps so we willingly give over as much of our time as possible? Cal goes into great detail about this.
How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price - Award-winning science journalist Catherine Price provides an easy to follow plan to help us change our phone habits. What I like about Catherine’s book is that it’s simple to read, and gives good background information about how phones are designed to addict us, and the negative effects of extended use (worse attention span, reduced focus, lack of sleep, stress to name but a few).
Hands Free Mama by Rachel Macy Stafford - As a parent, this book is genuinely food for the soul. I loved every page; it feels like you’re being wrapped up in a cosy blanket! At the heart of Rachel’s book is the idea that we need to find balance in a media-saturated, perfection-obsessed world. It highlights the need for us to give our children (and ultimately ourselves) our undivided attention, something which is increasingly difficult to achieve with an army of distractions ready and waiting to claim our time and energy.
HOOKED: How to Build Habit-Forming Products by Nir Eyal - This book is a deep dive into how you can create products that people can’t put down. It explains the techniques that leave many of us incapable of putting our phones down. Although this book is written to help marketers and product designers, it’s essential reading to uncover how and why we’ve become so obsessed with our devices.
Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention by Johann Hari - This is my favourite book I read in 2022. Johann Hari interviewed leading scientists all over the world to investigate why we’re losing our focus, and it may come as no surprise that our devices play a massive part in this. I would highly recommend this book and happily purchase a copy for every follower I’m lucky enough to have, if I had unlimited funds!
Trust me, reading the above has opened my eyes to a manipulative world that succeeds in stealing our attention for their own benefit. Who is ‘they’? Big tech to put it simply! These books have started my own mindful digital journey and form the back drop of some of the techniques I share in my corporate presentations and in my Digital Decluttering Course. And the best thing is, if you’re able to put down your phone and start to read them, I’m sure the content will support you too!
Have you read any of the five books above? I’d love to hear your thoughts on them in the comments. And there’s any other books you recommend that I check out, please let me know.
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