5,203 Things to Do Instead of Looking at Your Phone

Barbara Ann Kipfer is the author of numerous Workman books including 14,000 Things to be Happy About. She is a lexicographer and author whose many works include thesauri and other reference books, spiritually themed books, and list books. She lives in New England. Her website is thingstobehappyabout.com.

It's time to put down the phone and: visit a botanical garden create a palindrome solve a brainteaser Phone addiction is a modern epidemic. With social media, texting, games, and other apps, it's far too easy to get sucked into an endless spiral of scrolling, wasting hours while missing out on life. So why not:play a board game try a breakfast burrito focus a day on hearing every sound you can Barbara Ann Kipfer, author of 14,000 Things to Be Happy About, Self-Meditation, and other books with more than 2 million copies in print, has a great gift for inspiring us to appreciate the little things in life, especially through her obsessive, mesmerizing lists of ideas that surprise and inspire. Bringing that sensibility to an issue we all struggle with--our phones and how they co-opt one of our greatest assets, our attention--5,203 Things to Do Instead of Looking at Your Phone is a quirky compilation that encourages you to put down your phone and do this richer, more interesting, more meaningful and fulfilling thing instead: make shadow puppets paint a watercolor at dawn notice a beautiful sky