Why this Book About Smartphone Addiction Might Change Your Life

Where personal development and digital transformation collide

My new book “Life Beyond the Touch Screen” is a meditational booklet designed to increase our consciousness around the impact of digital technology on our lives. A reminder to choose. The writing of this book changed my life. I hope that to a smaller or maybe larger extent, it might change something in your life, too.

If you work in tech, or you are interested in technology — or basically, if you’re human and you own a smartphone/laptop/pc — this is relevant to you. 

Regardless the debate if digital technology is more helpful or more harmful: the technology and how we use it does have a significant impact on our lives. Let’s make a conscious decision of what we want that impact to be.

Why I wrote a book about digital tech and its impact on our lives

I did not write this book simply because I’ve been working in and writing about tech for the last seven years or so.

Although it has been a blessing to learn so much about the monumental force that is changing so much of our society right now.

I also did not write this book because I think digital technology is the devil. Quite the opposite, actually. And far more balanced.

I wrote this book because I started feeling intense passion bubbling up, the more I started thinking about the way we currently use digital tech versus the potential it harbors for improving our lives as human beings. 

Which taps into my innate passion for maximizing my potential and the potential of other humans.

Looking at people in public transportation, in business meetings, or at hangouts with friends will never be the same. Addiction to digital tech is like the invisible wallpaper that you can’t unsee, once you see it. 

I wrote this book because working in tech as a marketing copywriter, digital content strategist and innovation philosopher made me increasingly aware of the impact that digital tech has in our lives. 

I wrote this book because I discovered I was heavily addicted to my smartphone and was headed toward a burnout.

And what I wanted was not to turn back time and go back to the age of cord phones and pen & paper — I wanted more balance, and I wanted to make a conscious choice.

I want more people to make a more conscious choice. I think the main way we can get to raising more consciousness about the impact of digital tech, is by taking responsibility first and foremost as people who work in tech, or are otherwise interested and/or invested in it.

You can hardly spread knowledge if you don’t have it. Knowledge is power. And as Peter Parker’s uncle Ben said: with great power comes…

What you can expect from “Life Beyond…” and how to use it

Life Beyond the Touch Screen is meant as a meditational booklet. It is meant to help raise your own and others’ awareness, and as a conversation starter.

What I mean by ‘meditational booklet’ is that I wrote it for you, the (potential) reader to take in bit by bit, and to pause and reflect often during reading. I hope that will work rather well with the mix of prose, poetry and social media-like short aphorisms or statements that the book is made up of.

It is not an extensive read, chock full of long passages or references to literature. It’s not me telling you exactly how it is that we’re all supposed to use digital technology because I’ve done the research and I’m sure that I have figured out the way.

It is condensed as much as possible. It’ll take you only about an hour to read.

And in that hour I simply try to combine everything I’ve learned, felt and contemplated about this subject into the punchiest, shortest wordings possible. I mainly ask you a lot of questions and try to get you to think a little bit, about things or ideas that you maybe usually don’t consciously think about.

I hope to inspire you to change the way you think about the use of digital tech and its relation with personal development. To start the conversation about it with people around you. To maybe do some more in-depth research of your own on some of the subjects and make up your own damn mind. 

That’s my intention.

I’d love to hear if you think that’s cool. And if you read it, if you think it worked out or not.

I’d love to hear from you on social media. The book is designed with the concept in mind of sharing pictures of book pages and quotes on social media. Nice and paradoxical, I know.

A changed man? Or Still dealing with my addiction to digital tech?

This book and the writing of it changed my life. All of the work stuff and the research I did that inspired me, changed the way I view reality. The way I view “The Matrix”, if you will, and the behavior of the people in it. It changed the way I look at myself and other people using technology.

Looking at people in public transportation, in business meetings, or at hangouts with friends will never be the same. Addiction to digital tech is like the invisible wallpaper that you can’t unsee, once you see it. 

What is it that we are so afraid of missing? What matters most? What do we choose in the moment, and thus in life?

And that — is only the veneer on the surface. But scratch that surface and you’ll uncover so much more.

How we use our technology is a proxy for the structures and concepts that we allow to govern our lives. A mirror for our values and beliefs, our often self-imposed rules.

I realized I was headed towards the depths of a burnout near the completion of my book. Being so involved with digital technology is, I think, part of the reason why I had a near-burnout. Expecting myself to write a book next to everything else I expect myself to do is another part.

We learn while we do, don’t we?

I’m still dealing with addiction to digital technology but I’m getting there. I’m still dealing with thoughts that tell me I’m not doing enough, I’m not successful enough and I’m not doing what I need to become the best version of myself.

I’m working on ways to fully integrate my thinking about personal development and my thinking about the way we could be using digital tech to maximize our potential. 

My hunch is that it has to start with an individual choice, and that we then have to align our thoughts, feelings, communications, actions and KPIs with that choice. Align our own goals with those of our stakeholders. 

These ideas are at the core of a model for continuous (personal) development that I’m working on. You’ll be hearing more from me about “Purpose Alignment”, as I’ve named my working model, maybe this year.

My new book “Life Beyond the Touch Screen” is out now, you can get it here as an e-book or paperback. It’s a meditational booklet designed to increase our consciousness around the impact of digital technology on our lives as individuals, in organizations and society. A reminder to choose. 

The writing of this book changed my life. I hope that to a smaller or maybe larger extent, it might change something in your life too.