How to Break Up with Your Phone by Catherine Price: A Book for People Who Said “I’ll Cut Back” and Didn’t!

Read time: 4 minutes

🎧 Listened in audio
📢 Narrated by the author
⏱ Duration: 5 hours
🏷️ Published by Books on Tape and Ten Speed Press, February 13, 2018
📚 Genre: Non-fiction

Book Blurb:

Are you addicted to your phone? Do you pick it up to “just check” something and surface forty-five minutes later, confused about where the time went? Award-winning science journalist and TED speaker Catherine Price has been there too. In this evidence-based, user-friendly guide, she lays out the science behind why our smartphones and apps are engineered to be addictive, and how that constant scrolling quietly chips away at our focus, memory, creativity, and real-life relationships. Then she hands you a practical, 30-day plan to reset. Not to throw your phone under a bus, but to finally stop feeling like it’s running your life.

Let’s talk about the book:

Okay, full disclosure: I went into this book expecting a lecture. The kind of “put your phone down and go touch grass” energy that makes you feel personally attacked before chapter two. What I got instead was Catherine Price essentially sitting across from me, completely non-judgemental, going “Yeah, I get it. I was the same. Let’s figure this out together”, because, let’s be honest, we’ve all had that moment when a “quick check” of social media turns into a 45-minute abyss.

The tone of the book makes a whole world of difference. The science section hits hard. The way Catherine Price breaks down how apps are deliberately designed to hijack your dopamine loop isn’t just eye-opening, it’s quietly destabilizing too. She doesn’t get preachy throughout the book. She’s realistic, witty, and most of all, kind. She understands the modern-day struggle between staying informed and staying sane.

Price divides the book into two smart parts: understanding why we’re hooked, and how to unhook ourselves without panic-inducing disconnections. The practical tips are where this book earns its place on the shelf. Small, bite-sized, manageable changes. Not a cold-turkey digital detox fantasy that you’ll abandon by Day 3. I’m someone who averages about 3 hours of screen time daily, and after applying just a handful of her suggestions (the ones I could actually live with), I’ve dropped down to 1.5 to 2 hours. That’s real, measurable, and the kind of result that makes you recommend a book unprompted at dinner.

Would I recommend it?

If you’ve ever caught yourself reaching for your phone with zero reason and zero memory of how it got in your hand, this book is for you. It won’t shame you into change. It’ll science you into it, which honestly works much better. This one isn’t about deleting your apps and retreating into the woods. It’s about balance. Not every suggestion will land, and that’s okay. Pick the ones you can live with. That’s the whole point. Price offers doable changes that feel empowering rather than punishing.

You’ll also like:

• The Power of Fun by Catherine Price — Price’s follow-up digs into why you keep picking up your phone: because you’ve forgotten what actually feels good. A natural next read.
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• Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport — For readers who want to go a step further with intentional tech use. Newport is more structured and a little more intense — perfect if you want the full detox experience.
  Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy
• The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt — Haidt literally endorses Price’s book on the cover. If you want to understand the broader cultural stakes of what our phones are doing to us — especially if you have kids — this is essential reading.
  Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy
• The Joy of Missing Out by Tonya Dalton — A gentle push toward intentional living in a noisy world.
  Goodreads | StoryGraph | Pagebound | Fable | Hardcover | OpenLibrary | Litsy
• Atomic Habits by James Clear — Perfect for applying habit-based change to your screen use.
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Let’s unplug and talk

What’s your phone weakness? doomscrolling, endless email checking, or maybe “just one more video”? Let me know what your screen kryptonite is and whether you’d try a digital reset!

Book Links:

Want to purchase this or any of your favourite books while supporting a local bookstore? Consider purchasing using the sites below. These sites work with independent local bookstore owners to fulfill your book orders. #SupportLocal

Indiebookstores.ca | Bookshop.org
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Follow Catherine Price for more on how to digitally detox, without losing your mind
Check out more books from Books on Tape and Ten Speed Press