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Books to help you cut down on screen time

Books to help you cut down on screen time

by Penguin Editors

min read

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Doomscrolling, online rabbit holes, comparing other people's Pinterest-worthy lives to your own – whatever your poison, it's safe to say that spending time on social media can breed unhealthy habits. Studies have shown that it can encourage us to spend more money, sway our independent thinking and alter the part of our brain that reacts to incentive.

But it doesn’t take an academic paper to articulate that sinking feeling that comes from spending hours on your phone, watching and endless stream of TikToks and poring over Instagram stories of someone else’s amazing holiday. If you're looking for a nudge towards a life with less screen time, these are the books for you.

There are plenty of books ready to make the case for deleting social media entirely, and Jaron Lanier’s extremely persuasive book caused many people to do so upon its release in 2018. Ten Arguments for Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now pretty much does what it says on the tin. This slim-but-potent read walks the swipe-happy reader through the history of how online communication evolved from chatrooms to Instagram, all the while adding in delectable, if horrifying, nuggets about the bad things social media is doing to our brains.

Of course, getting stuck into a good book is a convenient, escapist remedy for an overzealous social media habit. But to really explore an alternative to the endless scroll, why not sink into a world that urges us to experience life beyond our screens? In Losing Eden, Lucy Jones makes a compelling argument for spending more time in nature, citing dozens of studies and speaking to revolutionary scientists on the cusp of new fields of discovery. Ultimately, she argues, if we give ourselves the opportunity to connect with the earth, the sky, and the natural world in between, we’ll feel better in body and soul.

Cal Newport is also an advocate for a social media-free existence, not least because he’s never used it. The American computer science professor remembers Facebook emerging into his university dorm rooms, and decided at the time he didn’t like the look of it. Since then, he’s become known for his philosophy of 'digital minimalism', which is at the heart of his book of the same name.

Alternatively, reading dystopian fiction can offer some much-needed perspective on the digital world we inhabit. From the totalitarian surveillance of George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, to the chilling internet conglomerate in The Circle by Dave Eggers, dystopian novels can be eerily good at predicting the evolution of technology, power, and politics.

But maybe there is a middle ground – somewhere between inevitable doom and giving up social media entirely. In 2019, Victoria Turk published Digital Etiquette, a guide to the "future of good manners". The technology journalist has a refreshingly simple attitude towards making social media more fun: declutter your accounts, so there’s nothing in there to bring you down. We all know the ones – those spouting offensive opinions or posting too many smug holiday photos. Just give them a little mute for a while, and find yourself feeling lighter and brighter.

Books to read to spend less time online

Ten Arguments For Deleting Your Social Media Accounts Right Now

Jaron Lanier (Author)

Social media is supposed to bring us together - but it is tearing us apart. 'A blisteringly good, urgent, essential read' Zadie Smith The evidence suggests that social media is making us sadder, angrier, less empathetic, more fearful, more isolated and more tribal. Jaron Lanier is the world-famous Silicon Valley scientist-pioneer who first alerted us to the dangers of social media. In this witty and urgent manifesto he explains why its toxic effects are at the heart of its design, and, in ten simple arguments, why liberating yourself from its hold will transform your life and the world for the better. WITH A NEW AFTERWORD BY THE AUTHOR ‘Informed, heartfelt and often entertaining ... a timely reminder that even if we can’t bring ourselves to leave social media altogether, we should always think critically about how it works’ Sunday Times ‘Indispensable. Everyone who wants to understand the digital world, its pitfalls and possibilities should read this book – now’ Matthew d’Ancona, author of Post-Truth

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Digital Minimalism

Cal Newport (Author)

Most of us know that we're addicted to texting, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter not because we're stupid or shallow, but because they provide real value in the form of connection, community, affirmation and information. But these tools can also disrupt our ability to focus on meaningful work and live fully in the present. In Digital Minimalism, Cal Newport outlines a practical philosophy and plan for a mindful, intentional use of technology that maximises its benefits while minimizing its drain on our attention, focus and time. Demonstrating how to implement a 30-day digital detox, this book will help you identify which uses of technology are actually helping you reach your goals, and which are holding you back.

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Losing Eden

Lucy Jones (Author)

'Beautifully written, movingly told and meticulously researched ... a convincing plea for a wilder, richer world' -- Isabella Tree, author of Wilding Today many of us live indoor lives, disconnected from the natural world as never before. And yet nature remains deeply ingrained in our language, culture and consciousness. For centuries, we have acted on an intuitive sense that we need communion with the wild to feel well. Now, in the moment of our great migration away from the rest of nature, more and more scientific evidence is emerging to confirm its place at the heart of our psychological wellbeing. So what happens, asks acclaimed journalist Lucy Jones, as we lose our bond with the natural world--might we also be losing part of ourselves? Delicately observed and rigorously researched, Losing Eden is an enthralling journey through this new research, exploring how and why connecting with the living world can so drastically affect our health. Travelling from forest schools in East London, to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, via Poland's primeval woodlands, Californian laboratories and ecotherapists' couches, Jones takes us to the cutting edge of human biology, neuroscience and psychology, and discovers new ways of understanding our increasingly dysfunctional relationship with the earth. Urgent and uplifting, Losing Eden is a rallying cry for a wilder way of life - for finding asylum in the soil and joy in the trees - which might just help us to save the living planet, as well as ourselves, from a future of ecological grief.

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Nineteen Eighty-Four

George Orwell (Author) , Thomas Pynchon (Introducer)

Ever since its publication in 1948, George Orwell's terrifying vision of a totalitarian regime where Big Brother controls its citizens like 'a boot stamping on a human face' has become a touchstone for human freedom, and one of the most widely-read books in the world. In this new annotated edition Orwell's biographer D. J. Taylor elucidates the full meaning of this timeless satire, explaining contemporary references in the novel, placing it in the context of Orwell's life, elaborating on his extraordinary use of language and explaining the terms such as Newspeak, Doublethink and Room 101 that have become familiar phrases today. This is the essential edition of the essential book of modern times.

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The Circle

Dave Eggers (Author)

When Mae is hired to work for the Circle, the world's most powerful internet company, she feels she's been given the opportunity of a lifetime. Run out of a sprawling California campus, the Circle links users' personal emails, social media, and finances with their universal operating system, resulting in one online identity and a new age of transparency. Mae can't believe her great fortune to work for them - even as life beyond the campus grows distant, even as a strange encounter with a colleague leaves her shaken, even as her role at the Circle becomes increasingly public ...

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Digital Etiquette

Victoria Turk (Author)

How do you reply to your colleague's weird email? What might Debrett’s say about your Tinder profile? And just how do you know if you're mansplaining? In this irreverent journey through the murky world of digital etiquette, WIRED's Victoria Turk provides an indispensable guide to minding our manners in a brave new online world. The digital revolution has put us all within a few clicks, taps and swipes of each other. But familiarity can breed contempt, and whilst we’re more likely than ever to fall in love online, we’re also more likely to fall headfirst into a blazing row with a stranger. Google’s unofficial motto is Don’t Be Evil, but sometimes that’s easier said than done. If you've ever encountered the surreal battlefields of digital life and wondered why we don't all just go analogue, this is the book for you.