My latest digital wellbeing book ‘My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open‘ has launched in Asia, with the Thai edition out now and the Vietnamese edition following soon in 2022. (There is also a Greek language edition out now).

Digital wellbeing is a global issue

I’m particularly delighted to be published in Asia as digital wellbeing is a global issue and several pieces of research have shown that Asian populations are potentially suffering even more than the West from the effects of tech over-use and the impact on work, relationships and mental health.

The book itself contains the stories of people I have worked with over the past decade and helped them untangle their relationship with tech. I tell their individual stories and then I explain which issue is a particular problem for them. Some of the topics include:

• Doomscrolling – an inability to stop compulsively scrolling through bad news online.
• ‘Fake News’ – disinformation and misinformation – how to avoid falling prey to both.
• Phubbing – what we do when we snub someone by picking up a phone and checking it in their presence.

Ensuring we’re preserving our digital wellbeing is central to all the advice I give in ‘My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open’. How can we use the internet and the digital world in a way that’s healthy without giving it up altogether?

I also lay out my five HACCK principles for thinking more widely on how to be a good digital citizen.

• H – Humanity – “I realise that we are all connected”
• A – Authenticity – “I’m always my real self”
• C – Collaboration “I come together with others to create something greater than myself”
• C – Critical Thinking “I question facts, sources, people”
• K – Kindness “I treat everyone with compassion”

In the book I use each story of the individual I’ve worked with as the jumping-off point to discuss the wider problem their struggle illustrates. I draw on a huge body of global research to suggest the practical ways we can address the issue.

Exploring all stages of online life

Digital wellbeing is a subject that spans all generations and it’s one of the subjects I get asked to speak the most about in my work in workplaces and schools. The issues in the book therefore span the whole age spectrum; from technoference and sharenting which are issues for families and parents; to catfishing and phadultery for those dating or in relationships; to digital death for those dealing with the loss of a family member of loved one.

The pandemic escalated the digitisation of society in a way that was unprecedented. Work and home life was turned on its head. We’ve all spent more time online over the past couple of years than ever before – with no sign that that trend is going to be reversed. As a result, all the digital issues we were struggling with before have simply exploded; cybercrime has rocketed, online safety issues have proliferated, mental health problems and digital burnout have been brought into sharp focus.

We are all, wherever we are in the globe, and whatever stage of life we’re at, struggling with some aspect of our relationship with technology and the digital world. I hope that no matter where you are there is something in ‘My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open’ that will help. You can find it on Amazon and at all good bookshops worldwide.