jude1965's review against another edition
5.0
I sped through this book. I must say, I do wish it was required reading for everyone under 30 (but I'm a bit over, and I gained a lot out of it). The author, Cal Newport, is not against technology, heck he's a CS professor at Georgetown. He is against mindlessly using technology, or rather letting technology (and advertisers) use you. He's against letting technology suck your time away, letting it be like a drug that you use so you don't have to think and feel. Dr. Newport recommends going on a 30 day fast from technology (don't worry, you'll survive) so you can clear your head. After the 30 days, decide which apps/devices/etc. you'll allow back into your life, not to become your life, but to aid the life you are already living. During the fast, he advises seeking activities that bring meaning to your life, things that you enjoy to take the place of the mindless scrolling you were probably doing on your phone! Become an interesting person! Join bookclubs, hike, redecorate, take pictures with a real camera, learn an instrument, engage in face to face conversations, write letters, study something, etc. etc. etc. This is a VERY important part to successfully getting technology under control. You need to have stuff in place BEFORE you go on your fast, otherwise, it's too easy to FAIL due to boredom. After the fast, have a guideline about when/where/how you'll use technology. Don't let it take over your life again, use it for a purpose, not to frit away your time, your life. He recommends NOT having social media on your phone (even though he's relatively young, he never got into the social media craze), it's too easy to pull it out the moment you feel bored. Lots of good ideas for the use of our time in this little book. I give it 5 Stars and encourage all of us who feel we are losing something to these little devices to get a copy and get on it! :)
msmithr's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent read! Great info, ideas, and practices to into place. I will use some of his ideas for sure. I really appreciate any effort to help us manage and reduce the impact of social media and my life. I see it’s role, but it will be in my terms.
brontherun's review against another edition
4.0
Timely, practical, and moments of thoughtfulness. I found this more useful (and easier to read) than his book Deep Work. It you are looking to control your relationship with technology, your smartphone, or screens in general, pick it up!
_sfaye_'s review against another edition
hopeful
medium-paced
may all mobile + app based tech workers vanish from this earth <3
sethpalmer3's review against another edition
4.0
A solid series of insightful ponderings, analysis and instruction of what many of us will need to contend with in the coming months and years. Instructive but not too preachy, which is what I was worried about going in.
emmanuelbg's review against another edition
2.0
The ideas in the book were, for the most part, not new to me. Even still, it is a valuable invitation towards a conscious use of modern technology, in that it explains how the companies gear their efforts to maintain your attention on their sites, while also coming up with some interesting tips, like the month-long declutter.
cuddlesome's review against another edition
4.0
Very thought-provoking with some good ideas that I immediately implemented into my own life, particularly tossing some apps and social media sites that I never used anyway into the stratosphere. Now my phone is basically, you know, a phone, with some glorified Kindle and Libby (excellent digital library service) capabilities, and a few utility apps for work.
The irony of reviewing this book on a social media site and listening to it as an audiobook, and partly on my iPhone no less, is not lost on me, but I believe that it actually falls in line with Newport's ideology. The idea of emphasis on minimalism vs total elimination of technology, particularly portable technology, seems reasonable to me. Don't want to end up in a "cutting off the nose to spite the face" situation. Books are hugely important to my life. Listening to audiobooks while working as a library cataloger allows me to have thought-provoking entertainment while doing my job. I like to keep careful record of my book reading and write reviews on Goodreads. Ergo, they're things that I should keep in my life. Meanwhile, watching every recommended video YouTube throws at me is draining and brain-numbing, so it would probably be best to keep that at a minimum if I do it at all (the extension Distraction-Free YouTube is great, by the way).
That said, there were some examples of other people's experiences in this book that I felt I needed to take with a grain of salt or were not at all applicable to me. For example, there was a person that talked about moving out to a rural area that requires constant maintenance of trees or a needlessly detailed explanation of how another person filters their Twitter searches. Obviously Newport wasn't intending for me, or any reader for that matter, to follow their example exactly, but these particular anecdotes stood out as weak to me amid otherwise strong information. I enjoyed reading about the big picture stuff with how companies are trying to keep readers' attention and the way that they profit off of ads (Adblock Plus is another good extension. Ahem).
I'm glad that I never really fell into the Facebook or Twitter rabbit hole, though tumblr seriously owned my soul throughout college during the Star Wars sequel trilogy boom. It would have been interesting to have heard that particular site and its primarily-female userbase addressed in this context, but I imagine that probably could make for a whole book in and of itself.
So, yeah, all around really good book! Believe me when I say it is incredibly hard to get me invested in nonfiction (unless it's a scholarly text about, well, fiction), but I couldn't wait to keep listening to this through to the end. It prompted me to do the aforementioned cleanse of apps and social media on my phone, sign up for Mouse Book Club, and get around to signing up for the fitness program at the university I work for. I'd say it's pretty powerful stuff if it compels me to take all of that action in rapid succession.
The irony of reviewing this book on a social media site and listening to it as an audiobook, and partly on my iPhone no less, is not lost on me, but I believe that it actually falls in line with Newport's ideology. The idea of emphasis on minimalism vs total elimination of technology, particularly portable technology, seems reasonable to me. Don't want to end up in a "cutting off the nose to spite the face" situation. Books are hugely important to my life. Listening to audiobooks while working as a library cataloger allows me to have thought-provoking entertainment while doing my job. I like to keep careful record of my book reading and write reviews on Goodreads. Ergo, they're things that I should keep in my life. Meanwhile, watching every recommended video YouTube throws at me is draining and brain-numbing, so it would probably be best to keep that at a minimum if I do it at all (the extension Distraction-Free YouTube is great, by the way).
That said, there were some examples of other people's experiences in this book that I felt I needed to take with a grain of salt or were not at all applicable to me. For example, there was a person that talked about moving out to a rural area that requires constant maintenance of trees or a needlessly detailed explanation of how another person filters their Twitter searches. Obviously Newport wasn't intending for me, or any reader for that matter, to follow their example exactly, but these particular anecdotes stood out as weak to me amid otherwise strong information. I enjoyed reading about the big picture stuff with how companies are trying to keep readers' attention and the way that they profit off of ads (Adblock Plus is another good extension. Ahem).
I'm glad that I never really fell into the Facebook or Twitter rabbit hole, though tumblr seriously owned my soul throughout college during the Star Wars sequel trilogy boom. It would have been interesting to have heard that particular site and its primarily-female userbase addressed in this context, but I imagine that probably could make for a whole book in and of itself.
So, yeah, all around really good book! Believe me when I say it is incredibly hard to get me invested in nonfiction (unless it's a scholarly text about, well, fiction), but I couldn't wait to keep listening to this through to the end. It prompted me to do the aforementioned cleanse of apps and social media on my phone, sign up for Mouse Book Club, and get around to signing up for the fitness program at the university I work for. I'd say it's pretty powerful stuff if it compels me to take all of that action in rapid succession.
cchristensen's review against another edition
3.0
⭐️Official review: 3.4 ⭐️
“Addictive nuggets of social approval” for positive feedback loops. Is the most accurate way to describe social media.
Lately I’ve been discontent with my phone usage amount and the addiction I have to using my phone as a social crutch when I feel awkward. This book serves as a great reminder that you can have an addiction and we truly don’t know the impact phones can have on our lives. They can leave us more isolated and less equipped for real life connections.
“Addictive nuggets of social approval” for positive feedback loops. Is the most accurate way to describe social media.
Lately I’ve been discontent with my phone usage amount and the addiction I have to using my phone as a social crutch when I feel awkward. This book serves as a great reminder that you can have an addiction and we truly don’t know the impact phones can have on our lives. They can leave us more isolated and less equipped for real life connections.