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Most of us can barely muster a fleeting moment of calm before yet another notification buzz demands our attention. As a result, Americans currently spend an average of nearly 7 hours a day glued to their tiny screens, or the equivalent of an unpaid full-time job. This lack of control over attention produces disastrous effects on mental health, such as increased risk of stress, depression, and anxiety, while the impact on our relationships can be catastrophic.

Put the F**king Phone Down is a raw, unapologetic look at the rising tide of screen addiction and how we can all reclaim control of our attention. Although technology has the potential to erode focus, one notification buzz at a time, Put the F**king Phone Down presents a variety of mindfulness-based countermeasures to the Age of Distraction, each designed to develop greater awareness, resilience, and an overall appreciation of life as it happens.

After spending 10 years in higher education as a student and another 10 years as a professor, the conclusion I arrived at about academic writing and research-based books was that they all suck. Regardless of how dense, well-founded, or valuable the information presented in these books, they’re all about as engaging as a tax seminar. No offense intended to accountants; the world needs you.

I needed to tell the world about my research into mindful presence and how it intersects with screen addiction, which is being touted as the single most pervasive non-drug addiction facing our world today. That’s when it hit me. What if I wrote my own research-based book, but instead of following in my predecessors’ footsteps, I instead filled it with real-life examples everyone can relate to and laced it all up with gratuitous profanity?

We don’t need to end up glued mindlessly to a tiny screen for the better part of our waking existence.

We can all learn to put the f**king phone down and appreciate life as it happens.