Unplug

How to Break Up with Your Phone and Reclaim Your Life

By: Richard Simon

Narrated by: Richard Simon

Turn off your phone and turn on your life with step-by-step instructions and success stories from dozens of people who’ve set healthy boundaries with their devices.

The average American spends the equivalent of more than 75 full days a year looking at their phone. It can become an all-consuming addiction that puts a strain on virtually every facet of our existence from the way we sleep, eat, and exercise to our ability to focus and make new memories. Most importantly, it takes us away from our lives, our relationships, and the real world. But although it may seem impossible, there is always a way to overcome digital distraction: you can always turn off your phone.

In Unplug, Richard Simon lays out a plan to detox from your phone, including different breakup styles, things to do with your newfound time, lightly reintegrating a smartphone into your life, and finally, helping others quit. These tips and strategies are interspersed with success stories, including Simon’s own story of turning off his phone for a whole year, plus those of 25 others, including a professional baseball player (Nick Castellanos), a cable news host (Steve Hilton), as well as ordinary folks including a principal, a pastor, and a couple who quit their phones together. Plus, expert insights from bestselling authors and physicians who specialize in digital wellness including Dr. Anna Lembke (Dopamine Nation), and Brian Merchant (The One Device).

Critic reviews

“Diving deep into the growing community of people who radically re-invented their relationships with their phones, Richard Simon identifies a roadmap for the rest of us to achieve a less distracted and more meaningful life."

——Cal Newport, New York Times bestselling author of Slow Productivity and Digital Minimalism

“Richards Simon’s Unplug is a practical, down-to earth guide to untethering yourself from your phone.
Simon describes the steps that successful people have taken in the past, and presents several models for “breaking up” with our phones, culminating in a catalogue of the virtues of unplugging. As Simon explains, life is richer and fuller the less time we spend mindlessly scrolling and staring at our phones.”——Adam Alter, New York Times bestselling author of Irresistible and Anatomy of a Breakthrough

Ditched my iPhone

I saw this book recommended in the news while I was sad scrolling right before bed.
Thinking that putting too much thought into it would hinder the process I went ahead and got the book on Audible.
The book is well written and well narrated by the author. The point is clear: "Having no phone is freedom"

I went ahead the same day to order the Barbie dumbphone.
Even though I already deleted my social media a year ago but I still had the urge to check news and messages even though there's pretty much nothing to check... I was sick of it all. I feel like I am making no progress in life and I feel depressed all the time.

All in all, I got my dumbphone the next day and went to Verizon to have the sim changed out. The clerk was super amused that I was gonna ditched my iPhone and predicted that I was not gonna even last a week.

That afternoon I drove out to pick up my partner. While driving, I had no music, no notification, literally nothing to grab on to. For the longest time I could think deeply about my feelings. Process thoughts.
At the parking lot there was literally nothing to do so I started reading a book I left in the car. Everything felt calmer.

The same night I had dinner with a group of friends. With nothing to scratch my itch, I had to focus on everything that was going on. The dinner experience felt richer, the communication I have with my friends felt genuine.
And this is just the first day.

As a heavy smart phone addict since high school, I have a lot to detox. It's a decade and more worth of habit to detox.
Was it a hard decision? No. The books convinced me in the first chapter. It's a really well written book with people's accounts.

But do you need to listen to all of them before you ditch your phone? Maybe not?
I am glad that I got the book and switched to a dumbphone, and I sincerely hope you can benefit from the book and my experience too. <3

Finally...advice to get rid of these stupid phones

I have been reading books on screen addiction, phones, etc. since they cropped up as I was an early skeptic.

This one is the first to be willing to admit the obvious solution: stop using the stupid phone. No more arguments for "use grayscale" or "don't sleep with it in the room" or other half measures that we all try which fail us year after year after year after year.... I loved so much how this author dispelled the "moderation" myths and talked about why we all tend to fail try as we might to reduce our use.

Many people find the idea of getting of the phone appealing but daunting, or even impossible. But guess what it's not impossible. I did it two years ago right after my mom died. Something about suffering that loss just made me crystal clear that wasting time scrolling is not what our precious lives are for. That month I switched the SIM to a flip, keep the smartphone in the car only (maps, podcasts, camera). 98% of the time I do not bring the phone in the house. That's been the only way for me to "balance" internet overuse. I have suffered nearly zero negative from this and 99% positives.

This author talks through tons of accounts of people switching back to flip phones, gives advice on how to do this, and inspires you to either keep going or to try it yourself.

Loved his point about how we may find ourselves overusing laptops after cutting down on the phone - as I have struggled with that off and on. Still, though, I think the laptop at least is big and less likely to interfere with every waking second of my life - but I did love hearing accounts of others who quit the smartphone and pitfalls that can emerge.

What I really loved, as someone who had already switched to a flip phone - was knowing I am not alone. It can feel really lonesome wondering why I am the only one who feels compelled to jump ship on this phone addiction nonsense. But here I see these amazing stories of so many others, all ages, all backgrounds, who are rebelling from wasting our precious lives scrolling. I especially got a kick out of younger people ditching the phones. So smart of them, really, such a good idea. Save yourself!

A great book. I hope it inspires more and more people to seriously consider letting the smartphone thing go. Life's too short to be addicted to a boring phone.

(And as a side note, my six year old has type one diabetes, but we still don't use smartphones. I use the medical device only form of tech (single use andriod paired with pump, has no other features) for it and have continued in my goal and lifestyle of staying smartphone free. When I realized his condition was often managed with smartphones, my heart sank. I had to research pumps and CGMs to figure out a non smartphone pathway but I was able to find a way to keep the addicting tech at bay even in this case! Grateful of course for the good side of the tech in being able to manage the disease with a pump instead of injections. I would hate for his T1D to dovetail into us losing our goal of low-screen living.)