Digital Exhaustion

Simple Rules for Reclaiming Your Life

Paul Leonardi

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Paperback

Forthcoming
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English

Ebury Edge
09 October 2025

Social issues & processes; Ethical & social aspects of computing

Reimagine your relationship with digital tools to beat exhaustion, regain clarity and focus and achieve better results.

We all know the feeling of digital exhaustion. The aimless scrolling, eyes glazing over at the screen. The feeling that no matter how many messages we respond to, how many posts we read, or how much data we sort through, we can never stay ahead of it.

Digital Exhaustion shows us how we can reimagine our relationship with our digital tools. Digital transformation expert and Professor, Paul Leonardi, argues that our exhaustion comes from the \""exhaustion triad;\"" that is, the way that our tools change how we pay attention, how we attribute behaviours and intentions to others, and how we experience our emotions. By creating new habits around our use of technologies, we can set up boundaries so they stop depleting us so quickly. Follow these eight rules to regain control of your life-

Rule #1- Stop Using Half Your Tools. Rule #2- Make a Match. Rule #3- Batch and Stream. Rule #4- Wait. One Hour. One Day. One Week. Rule #5- Don't Assume. Rule #6- Always Be Intentional. Rule #7- Learn to See Around Corners. Rule #8- Be Here, Not There.

Discover how to use your digital devices in surprising new ways to help you find new sources of energy.

By: Paul Leonardi
Imprint: Ebury Edge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 233mm, Width: 153mm, Spine: 26mm
Weight: 427g
ISBN: 9781529146844
ISBN 10: 1529146844
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 09 October 2025
Audience: General/trade , College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , ELT Advanced , Primary
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Paul Leonardi, PhD, is the award-winning Duca Family Professor of Technology Management at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Over the past decade, he has consulted with for-profit and non-profit organizations (including Google, Microsoft, General Motors, Baxter, Discover, Cisco, and the Better Business Bureau). He is also a regular keynote speaker for corporate trainings and user conferences on topics related to communication and digital technologies. He is a contributor to the Harvard Business Review and the co-author of The Digital Mindset with Tsedal Neeley (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022). He received his PhD in management science and engineering from Stanford University.

Reviews for Digital Exhaustion: Simple Rules for Reclaiming Your Life

The definitive guide for rescuing ourselves from the onslaught of mind-numbing, soul-crushing, and addictive digital tools that pervade our lives. This gem is packed with research-based antidotes that will help us do better work, keep our sanity, and give the people we care about and love the attention they deserve. * —Robert I. Sutton, Stanford Professor Emeritus and bestselling author of The No Asshole Rule and The Friction Project (with Huggy Rao) * You’re not imagining it — technology can be helpful and exhausting. In this wise and practical book, Paul Leonardi shares strategies for becoming smart managers of our digital lives. From paring down my apps to limiting the carpool texts, I came away with several new ideas for reclaiming my time and energy. * Laura Vanderkam, author of Tranquility by Tuesday and 168 Hours * Digital Exhaustion is a must-read book for our times. Cogent. Compelling. Hopeful. Full of practical tips informed by science on how digital media can enrich our lives, as well as how to avoid the real harms. Parents will get valuable information on how to raise healthy kids in the twenty-first century. * —Anna Lembke, MD, author of Dopamine Nation * Paul Leonardi makes a compelling case that digital exhaustion is a scourge that we can no longer ignore. Fortunately, he also provides a practical game plan for pushing back. It's time to reclaim our lives! * —Cal Newport, bestselling author of Slow Productivity and Deep Work * This superb new book by award-winning scholar Paul Leonardi is by far his best work to date. And that is saying a lot. Digital Exhaustion develops a compelling, research-backed argument for the emotional and physical toll our overload of digital tools is taking on all of us—and offers a healthier path forward. Do not miss this chance to learn, discuss with colleagues and friends, and figure out where you want to go next in managing the digital world at work and in life. * —Amy C. Edmondson, Novartis Professor of Leadership, Harvard Business School, and author of Right Kind of Wrong *