The Phone Addiction Workbook: How to Identify Smartphone Dependency, Stop Compulsive Behavior and Develop a Healthy Relationship with Your Devices

The workbook at its surface seems to be a way to train yourself out of using your phone too much by charting what you use it for an for how often and then breaking that habit. Why do you need a book for that? Well actually, this is a surprisingly well written book on why we are overly using our phones to our detriment in the first place, which is really what you need to know in order to even consider putting the phone down. The feelings of anxiety, boredom, and loneliness that we are learning are linked to phone use are explored in ways I hadn’t thought of- I stopped using Facebook when I realized I always felt kind of bad afterwards, and I had lost so much time to scrolling. But the author also touches on boredom and how we avoid that feeling with our phone- but our boredom has something to teach us about the way we are living our lives. It really hit me more clearly the way she explained it more than any random listicle from Buzzfeed.

It's official, I likely have a phone addiction. Then again, the book doesn't really take into consideration the fact that most of us use our phones for business, in my case, it is social media and digital media so I obviously need to check my phone for work more than the average person. What I really loved about this book though, is not that it necessarily told me anything new but rather that it just made me stop to think about my actions and behaviors in a more conscious way. Just stopping to thinkn about it, analyzing it, is instrumental in changes of behavior. Similarly, the iphone now tells you how much screen time you have. My goal on the regular is to have less screen time then the week before. This book does the same for me, it just encourages me to do less than before. Not to cut it out, not to eliminate it but just to do less. I loved that this book lets you write things out but also has actionable items to help break those patterns. I highly recommend this book to anyone. It's full of realistic tips, great resources and it dives deep with the information. Phone addiction is a real thing. Everyone should have a look at their usage and ways they can do less of it.

This is a great book for me or anyone who does not want to become addicted to their phone. Yes, I understand it is a communication device, but we can live without it, believe it or not. This book is divided into 7 chapters. Each chapter has exercises to work through and charts to track your habits and successes at trying to kick your addiction. The chapters are easy to read and work through. I especially like that the author explains why we get so addicted to our phones and techniques to help curb the need to always be on the phone. After working through several chapter, I feel I can have a healthy relationship with my phone.

I'm usually the type of millennial to run very fast and very far away from anything discussing phone addiction, because typically I find that it disparages my generation and finds only flaws. What a relief to find this workbook! I truly appreciate how Burke acknowledges the positive force cell phones can have in our lives. That chapter gave me enough faith in this book to carry on. While I'm not completely done with it yet, I am very happy so far with the mindfulness it's been encouraging so far. I've found this workbook to be easy to follow and digest, and fun to use. It's definitely helped me reflect more on how and why I'm using my phone. Overall, quite pleased.

I got this book planning to give it to my teenage daughter. But as I skimmed the chapters I realized I was as guilty as anyone in spending too much time (wasting time?) on my phone. I appreciate the first chapter has some wonderful examples of the amazing positive things that have happened around the world due to the use of cell phones. The author takes a good tone, reminding us that the phone is a neutral tool. What the phone is used for, or what apps are on it, depends on the user – not the phone. In a non-judgmental way the book helps us actually see what we are using our phones for. If your goal is to try to ease off your phone use (or that of your teenagers) the approach of this book will do it for you. It is not preachy, but allows each reader to reflect upon the time and purpose they use their phone for.

Highly recommend this book for both those folks who may feel they are too reliant on their phone, but also for those who don’t feel this way at all! The beauty of this book is that it will increase your awareness as to how you use your phone, how much, for what purpose, etc. It will also increase your awareness around how interrelated your phone use is to other things in your life – work, boredom, procrastination, etc. The book is easy to read – short, digestible chapters – and has hands-on, practical exercises to help you take it all in and truly make use of its learnings.

Very helpful book for learning the reasoning behind phone addiction (and no it’s not all your fault)

I didn’t stop to think about what I’m missing out on in my life until I read this book.Until I read this book I had never stopped to think about amount of time I spend on my phone scrolling through with no purpose where I could be doing something I enjoy.This book gives you guidelines to help deal with that in a logical and easy way! 100% worth the read!

I found this book very helpful. I tend to struggle with work-life balance and even when relaxing - or trying to! - tend to flit between different activities, so my phone has started to take over. I really liked the approach of this book. It contains some good exercises and practical tips to cut down on 'bad' phone useage (the book refreshingly starts with a reminder that there are also lots of good aspects to smartphones) but because the author includes lots of personal and honest anecdotes the tone doesn't feel 'management guru'. A lot of the advice has wider applications beyond phone useage, like addressing procrastination and anxiety. It's also based on an impressive range of research, from novels to research projects being done around the world, which made me want to find out more ... but now I'll do this thoughtfully and enjoyably, not just scanning my phone!

It seems every thing in this life comes down to relationships and the one that we have with our phone is an extension of the one we have with ourselves. This is fascinating and eye opening read. It wasn’t until my three year old iPhone died (whilst reading this, oh, the irony!) that I was forced to consider the strategies suggested by this profound and nifty book.Despite thinking I had control over my phone(‘I’m not an addict!’ I tell myself!) I came to realise very quickly that it was controlling me a lot more than I thought! For less than 12 hours I was without my phone, but even knowing that it was probably beyond repair and there would be unanswered texts, emails and tweets that would only get my attention later made me irritable and jumpy (I even found myself with a headache) If that doesn’t sound like addiction tell me what is?!Lots of golden nuggets in this smart book. I paid particular attention to chapter 4 reason 2. As a creative type I want to try anything that will improve my output and allow me to think more freely. Burke points out here and I agree, the best thinking and creating is done as far away from technology as possible!) It can be a helpful tool but we need to know when to use it and when to rest from it.How interesting that Steve Jobs himself opted for family dinners and quality time over screen time?!I also loved the section on EFT and found this an added bonus to the book that I certainly wasn’t expecting. That stuff works and countless research has shown that to be fact.Above all, the compulsion test toward the end of the book is vital and eye opening at the same time. I was shocked at the number of ‘ yes’ scores.If you want to review your relationship with your phone and set some goals to improve your creative output and let’s face it, overall sanity this excellent book is a trusted ‘go to’ place to start!

I found this book extremely thought-provoking. I bought it looking for some tips to cut down on my phone use. While there are plenty of useful ones (my favourite being taking a picture of one activity you'd rather be doing then wasting time on your phone and use it as your screen saver - every time I picked up my phone it was there in my face - an unavoidable reminder!!!), What I liked about this book was it made me take a step back from my phone use and recognise the feelings that led me to pick up my phone more than is useful for me (the weekly charts really helped to identify my patterns). It's generally boredom! I haven't gone cold turkey on my phone but I have managed to become more mindful about how I use it , particularly when I'm out with my friends. I'm noticing others taking my lead too and phones are no longer on the table when we're having dinner and drinks together.

Hilda is an elegant writer and she tackles this thorny topic with the right balance of science and logic. I have learned just how addicted I am and how much I need to change. Which is why this review is so short. Buy the book don't buy the Kindle version ;oD

Highly recommend this book/workbook which possibly uniquely includes sections to be completed to self diagnose if you have an addiction! I suggest completing in pencil for repeat use. Overall a good fun way to face reality and plenty of sensible tips to improve you're quality of life.Highly recommended.