How to Break Up with Your Phone

The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life

By: Catherine Price

Narrated by: Emily Rankin

Packed with tested strategies and practical tips, this book is the essential, life-changing guide for everyone who owns a smartphone.

Is your phone the first thing you reach for in the morning and the last thing you touch before bed? Do you frequently pick it up “just to check”, only to look up 45 minutes later wondering where the time has gone? Do you say you want to spend less time on your phone - but have no idea how to do so without giving it up completely? If so, this book is your solution.

Award-winning journalist Catherine Price presents a practical, hands-on plan to break up - and then make up - with your phone. The goal? A long-term relationship that actually feels good.

You’ll discover how phones and apps are designed to be addictive, and learn how the time we spend on them damages our abilities to focus, think deeply, and form new memories. You’ll then make customized changes to your settings, apps, environment, and mindset that will ultimately enable you to take back control of your life.

©2018 Catherine Price (P)2018 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"A slim, insight-packed volume that's both a primer on the toll smartphone overuse can take on our mental and physical health, and a practical manual for a 30-day reset designed to put you on a path to moderation, this is a book whose message couldn't feel more timely, or more urgent. (No, really: after finishing the whole thing in one horrified sitting, I immediately pre-ordered 3 more copies for friends and family.)" (Sarah Karnasiewicz, Health)

"The most important book I've read in years. Life-changing." (Sali Hughes, The Pool)

"...a comprehensive, step-by-step solution to spending less time with your phone and more time doing the things you love." (Booklist)

Loved it!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have started implementing a couple of the tips already (I had no idea about the auto responder with the driving focus feature). At the time of my review, there is a review labeled “No PDF? No Problem!” I believe from a Kate (May all your tables and chairs have even legs—you’re a lifesaver!). Screenshot or write down the time stamps as there is not an accompanying PDF. I think that would’ve been helpful, but the downfall to audiobooks sometimes.
I would recommend reading “digital minimalism” by Cal Newport to go along with this. I’m shooting for intentionality in every aspect of life, so this was a great fit for me.

Great Resources & Advice

I did all the steps as they were presented, and I've seen a lot of improvement with my relationship with my phone.

Very useful book

Great ideas, but breaks down as days, wish if it was divided to sections, that can easily navigate

Fantastic book

All the tools and confidence you will need to make healthy habits around using/not using your phone

Positive Reminder

This is an amazing reminder of what really matters. Detach from technology and make real connections.

Desperately Needs a PDF

Very good concepts but it is difficult to apply the 30 break up through audiobook alone. It desperately needs an accompanying PDF. Another user included time stamps for each day is a savior!

if you're ready, leap with this

Not completely breaking up with but now I have a much healthier relationship with my technology & have recommended this especially to my parent friends!

Absolutely life changing for a phone addict but...

I'm going to have to buy the kindle version as well because this really ought to come with some kind of pdf version or something as many others have stated. they're not wrong, but it's still worth listening to. I'll be recommending this to anyone who I suspect has a phone or social media addiction! It's so good!

No PDF? No problem.

The review bit: Good book, good voice actor, can't wait to give the detox a try. I've already started casually implementing some of the tips and I feel it's helped me be more mindful. This is not about "getting rid" of your phone. It's about having a healthier relationship with it. I highly recommend it if this is an area of your life you want to improve.

About the headline: As of writing this comment, there's no PDF for this book and it sorely needs one. But guess what? This book attracts mildly obsessive people, and a mildly obsessive person (me) wrote up a list of the chapters and time stamps (as they would be formatted in the app's clips/bookmarks) for each day of the 30-day detox! I didn't include what the days "titles" are, because copyright, but I hope this will help people through their detox a bit. Enjoy, kiddos.

Week 1: Ch. 16
Day 1: Ch. 16/10:29
Day 2: Ch. 16/11:34
Day 3: Ch. 16/13:58
Day 4: Ch. 16/19:11
Day 5: Ch. 16/25:00
Day 6: Ch. 16/33:54
Day 7: Ch. 16/36:04

Week 2: Ch. 17
Day 8: Ch. 17/03:34
Day 9: Ch. 17/09:49
Day 10: Ch. 17/20:46
Day 11: Ch. 17/24:26
Day 12: Ch. 17/27:48
Day 13: Ch. 17/30:22
Day 14: Ch. 17/33:25

Week 3: Ch. 18
Day 15: Ch. 18/01:16
Day 16: Ch. 18/03:00
Day 17: Ch. 18/06:00
Day 18: Ch. 18/10:00
Day 19: Ch. 18/15:12
Day 20-21: Ch. 18/19:20

Week 4 and Beyond: Ch. 19
Day 22: Ch. 19/00:56
Day 23: Ch. 19/04:35
Day 24: Ch. 19/07:00
Day 25: Ch. 19/09:02
Day 26: Ch. 19/14:05
Day 27: Ch. 19/16:27
Day 28: Ch. 19/21:05
Day 29: Ch. 19/30:23
Day 30: Ch. 19/31:54

Life changing

This book was exactly what I needed in terms of a final push once I realized how much of my life was wasting away in front of my phone screen. It helped me reflect on which apps were the worst for me, and I was inspired to delete tik tok and Twitter, both of which I could spend hours on at a time. I stopped picking up my phone first thing in the morning and then staring at it until I fell asleep at night. I’m reading books for fun again. Now I have more time for what I want and need to do without a tech addiction haunting me at all hours of the day.