If you’ve found your way to my site, chances are you’re interested in the complex relationship between technology and human wellbeing. It’s something I’ve been exploring for nearly fifteen years, right back when I started speaking in schools in 2012 and ever since I founded Time To Log Off in 2014. Over the years, I’ve been lucky enough to meet and follow the work of many inspiring thinkers who are also trying to untangle our digital lives. One of those is Jonathan Haidt.

Though we’ve never met, I find myself frequently being asked how my work compares to his. We both write about the impact of technology, particularly on young people. We both speak out about the downsides of digital life. And we both want to see change.

But we approach the issue from different places.

Two different starting points

Jonathan is a social psychologist and an academic. His work is grounded in data, longitudinal studies, and psychological theory. He’s widely known for his books The Coddling of the American Mind and, more recently, The Anxious Generation, where he explores the troubling mental health trends among Gen Z and ties much of that decline to the explosion of smartphone and social media use.

I, on the other hand, come from a background as a digital entrepreneur. I built and ran a global digital business for over twenty years as a true technophile, before turning my attention to digital wellbeing. My interest in tech-life balance was born out of personal and professional experience – seeing how the always-on culture was affecting people’s focus, creativity, relationships, and health. My books OFF (2017), Stop Staring at Screens (2018), My Brain Has Too Many Tabs Open (2021) are about making peace with our devices, not declaring war on them.

So while Jonathan Haidt’s work is often academic and theoretical, mine is grounded in practical action. I write and speak for people trying to figure out how to live with technology in a healthier way – today, right now, in the messiness of everyday life.

Shared concerns

Where Jonathan and I strongly align is in our deep concern for the wellbeing of younger generations. We’ve both noticed the sharp rise in anxiety, depression, and loneliness in teens that seems to have coincided with the widespread adoption of smartphones and social media around 2010. And we’re both committed to helping reverse that trend.

My most recent book, The Teenage Guide to Digital Wellbeing (2024), is my own contribution to that effort – something I wrote to speak directly to the young people, their parents, and the educators who support them who I meet every week. Jonathan’s work similarly focuses on helping families and schools navigate this new terrain, though he’s especially passionate about pushing for more structural solutions.

Practical vs structural solutions

And this is one of the biggest differences between us: the scale at which we operate.

Jonathan tends to focus on systemic change. He’s called for regulation of social media platforms, reform in educational policies, and a delay in when children are given access to smartphones. These are bold, important ideas. They have the potential to change the environment that young people are growing up in.

My focus has always been more personal. I’m interested in how each of us, right now, can change our habits and make space for more offline time. I advocate for things like setting boundaries with devices, taking digital breaks, reconnecting with nature and focusing on in-person relationships. These are small steps, but they’re powerful. And they’re available to all of us, without waiting for policy changes or Big Tech reform. We have to face facts, young people have these devices right now and however urgently we might want that to change, we’re doing them a disservice if we don’t try and help them manage their relationships with them.

In a way, I see our work as complementary. Jonathan Haidt shines a spotlight on the bigger picture – the structures that shape our digital world – while I zoom in on the individual experience: how it feels to live a life dominated by screens, and how we can begin to reclaim our attention, our time, and our mental clarity. And how we can help our children.

Different audiences, shared mission

Another key difference lies in how we communicate and to whom.

Jonathan Haidt writes for academics, educators, policymakers, and the kind of general readers who are keen to dive into charts and psychological theories. His work is meticulous and data-rich, ideal for building a case for broad social change.

I write for parents who are worried about their child’s screen time, teachers navigating tech in the classroom, teenagers trying to figure out how to switch off, and individuals of all ages feeling overwhelmed by the constant pings and scrolls of modern life. My style is conversational and practical. I want people to feel seen and supported, not lectured to.

But again, our audiences overlap. I think of Jonathan’s work as giving context to the individual experiences I see in my readers and clients. And I hope that my work makes his findings feel more human, more relatable – something people can actually do something about.

A common goal

At the end of the day, both of us are asking the same essential question: How can we live well in the digital age? And both of us are saying – loudly – that the status quo isn’t working.

There’s something powerful in approaching the same problem from different perspectives. Jonathan Haidt and I don’t need to agree on every solution or strategy. What matters is that more people are paying attention, more voices are speaking out, and more action – on both a personal and political level – is being taken.

So while you might find our styles, backgrounds, and approaches different, I see us as fellow travellers. Jonathan and I are definitely walking the same road, just on slightly different paths. And that’s a good thing. Because solving a problem as big and complex as the digital wellbeing crisis is going to take all of us – from researchers and regulators to parents and practitioners.

We need the data. We need the stories. We need the policy changes. We need the small daily wins. And above all, we need hope. Because while the digital world may be here to stay, so too is our capacity to choose how we live in it.

Resources on digital wellbeing for young people