Book Review: How to Break Up with Your Phone: The 30-Day Plan to Take Back Your Life

I picked this up because, like pretty much everyone, I could use more focus. With all the rave reviews, I thought it might offer some solid tips or at least a few gems worth sharing. I was optimistic.

Folks… it sucked.

I really wanted to like this book. But its logic was all over the place. Are phones bad? No, no more than books are. The author talks about “screens” like they have magical compulsive powers, in the same pearl-clutching tone people once used about newspapers, or even novels.

Most of the problems she blames on phones are really issues with social media—and she's not wrong about those being problematic. But blaming the tool instead of the behavior makes the entire argument fall apart.

Take compulsive scrolling. That’s not something a phone does on its own. That’s the result of specific apps, algorithms, and user behavior. If all you have on your phone is a book app, emergency alerts, and a search engine, it's a powerful and helpful tool. My kids can reach me to ask about dinner or say “I love you.” I can check the weather. I can answer a question about that sketchy text my mom got. I’m not doomscrolling because I don’t engage with social media on my phone.

One especially frustrating part? The chapter insisting you should “banish” your phone from your bedroom. Sure, if you live in a utopia with no natural disasters or emergency alerts. But for those of us in tornado, wildfire, or hurricane zones? That advice is actively dangerous. I want to know immediately if I need to evacuate. The author seems to assume everyone lives in the same risk-free bubble she does.

Phones are tools. Social media is addictive. That distinction matters. I wish an editor had stepped in and helped clarify this, because the opportunity to talk about mindful tech use was right there — and missed completely.

Also: the website mentioned in the book? It's already down; replaced by a page on her personal site (with no redirect!), to sell her coaching services.  If you can’t manage a basic redirect, maybe don’t write a book about managing tech.