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Good Burdens: How to Live Joyfully in the Digital Age
The things we're most proud of in life - the child we're raising; the marathon we completed; the major project we hit out of the park - these required all of us: all of our attention, all of our love, all of our effort. Could we control the outcome? No. Were we all in? Yes. These effortful pursuits are what digital well-being pioneer Christina Crook calls good burdens. In thoughtful prose, The Marie Kondo of Digital's insightful follow up to the acclaimed The Joy of Missing Out makes the case for increasing intentionality in our day to day lives, unlocking the building blocks of joy, and offering concrete solutions for flourishing in the digital age. Using historical data, real-life stories from leading mindful teach leaders, and rich personal narrative, Good Burden advocates for a realignment of our energies, online and off, towards effortful pursuits - cultivating relationships, community, and creative projects that bring lasting joy.
- GenresNonfictionSelf Help
208 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2021
10 people are currently reading
1506 people want to read
About the author
Christina Crook
3 books20 followers“The Marie Kondo of Digital” —Harper’s Bazaar
Christina Crook is a pioneer and leading voice in the field of digital well-being.
She is the award-winning author of The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World, the harbinger of the global #JOMO movement, and Good Burdens: How to Live Joyfully in a Digital Age.
Christina regularly shares her insights about technology and our daily lives in international media including The New York Times, Psychology Today, and Harper's Bazaar. Christina is also the creator and host of the JOMO(cast) podcast where she interviews mindful tech leaders embracing the joy of missing out to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Christina was listed as a changemaker in All Tech is Human's 2020 Responsible Guide to Tech, co-presented by NYU's Center for Policy. (That's her on the cover with pink hair.) She leads Navigate, an action-oriented digital well-being program serving creative leaders (at Oxford, Adobe, Gimlet Media, Shopify, and more) who want to navigate the digital world on their own terms.
Her writing has appeared in Utne Reader, CBC.ca, Christianity Today, UPPERCASE magazine, the Literary Review of Canada, and Religious New Service.
Crook has worked for some of Canada’s most recognized media organizations, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Rogers Digital Media. She is a graduate of the Simon Fraser University School of Communication and her TEDx talk, “Letting Go of Technology: Pursuing a People-focused Future,” was presented as part of the 2013 Global TEDWomen conference.
Christina sits on the board of Second Nature Journal, the publication of the International Institute of the Study of Technology and Christianity, and is a member of the Media Ecology Association.
She and her family live in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood where they host their annual neighbourhood pumpkin carving party.
Christina Crook is a pioneer and leading voice in the field of digital well-being.
She is the award-winning author of The Joy of Missing Out: Finding Balance in a Wired World, the harbinger of the global #JOMO movement, and Good Burdens: How to Live Joyfully in a Digital Age.
Christina regularly shares her insights about technology and our daily lives in international media including The New York Times, Psychology Today, and Harper's Bazaar. Christina is also the creator and host of the JOMO(cast) podcast where she interviews mindful tech leaders embracing the joy of missing out to thrive in a rapidly changing world.
Christina was listed as a changemaker in All Tech is Human's 2020 Responsible Guide to Tech, co-presented by NYU's Center for Policy. (That's her on the cover with pink hair.) She leads Navigate, an action-oriented digital well-being program serving creative leaders (at Oxford, Adobe, Gimlet Media, Shopify, and more) who want to navigate the digital world on their own terms.
Her writing has appeared in Utne Reader, CBC.ca, Christianity Today, UPPERCASE magazine, the Literary Review of Canada, and Religious New Service.
Crook has worked for some of Canada’s most recognized media organizations, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Rogers Digital Media. She is a graduate of the Simon Fraser University School of Communication and her TEDx talk, “Letting Go of Technology: Pursuing a People-focused Future,” was presented as part of the 2013 Global TEDWomen conference.
Christina sits on the board of Second Nature Journal, the publication of the International Institute of the Study of Technology and Christianity, and is a member of the Media Ecology Association.
She and her family live in Toronto’s Junction neighbourhood where they host their annual neighbourhood pumpkin carving party.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 5, 2022
Good Burdens by Christina Crook was the perfect read to get me started on the right foot as we endeavour to embark upon a new year. This book has been released into the world at an optimal time, as we rely more than ever before on technology to keep us connected to the world at large, while simultaneously becoming increasingly isolated from one another. There are many takeaways here, and I am confident that I will become more mindful of making personal connections, and exerting less of my mental energy on the endless scrolling that leaves us depleted and, ultimately, unfulfilled.
Many thanks to the author for providing a copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
Many thanks to the author for providing a copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway.
September 29, 2021
"Attempting to fit yourself onto the internet is like trying to shove your entire body into an infant's sock. *Impossible. Laughable. Exhausting. Futile.* Be suspicious of any place, and anyone, where you must reduce yourself to fit." —Christina Crook, GOOD BURDENS
What a joy to find so much of my philosophy of blogging and online life in GOOD BURDENS: HOW TO LIVE JOYFULLY IN THR DIGITAL AGE, the second book by @thechristinacrook, the queen of #JOMO.
And even for me, who thinks about this stuff a lot, the read is yielding new inspiration and fascinations.
What a joy to find so much of my philosophy of blogging and online life in GOOD BURDENS: HOW TO LIVE JOYFULLY IN THR DIGITAL AGE, the second book by @thechristinacrook, the queen of #JOMO.
And even for me, who thinks about this stuff a lot, the read is yielding new inspiration and fascinations.
December 22, 2021
My initial impression as I started to read was "I don't think this is going to teach me anything new." I was reminded of Zomorodi's Bored and Brilliant, and a bunch of mindfulness books. But on the other hand, as books in the genre of mindfulness in a digital age go, this one is short, accessible, and a fun read. It's full of personal stories and exercises, and while the stories are distinctly white suburban middle class (with several "capitalism isn't evil!" caveats that made me sideeye), they do provide some insight into the concepts.
Crook started out anti-tech, but is open to possibilities for how tech can be used mindfully (with purpose). She doesn't directly address disability (and occasionally uses ableist terms like "lazy"), but does provide a framework for using tech meaningfully, and a reminder that we can't be all things to all people online or off.
My biggest takeaway was around the idea of a joyful burden that your "ship" is meant to carry. Readers are encouraged to dig into the metaphor of a ship (drawing on the etymology of "burden") to think honestly about purpose and capacity, and I love this exercise! I've been thinking a lot about how effort isn't necessarily bad. As Crook writes:
"It is in these great effortful pursuits that we experience not only the outer reaches of our abilities but our limits, requiring us to rely on others and in turn deepening our love of the people and projects that mean the most to us. They're good burdens."
There's a lot about presence, beating FOMO, and being intentional about information (and not overreliant on online feedback!) Spaciousness, curiosity, and purpose are embedded throughout Crook's recommendations. Creating local communities of care is also a central theme, emphasizing deeper everyday connections, though also a little depressing in COVID. I found myself excited to go make connections... in five years. When it's safe.
(An ARC of this book was provided by Nimbus Publishing via NetGalley for review.)
Crook started out anti-tech, but is open to possibilities for how tech can be used mindfully (with purpose). She doesn't directly address disability (and occasionally uses ableist terms like "lazy"), but does provide a framework for using tech meaningfully, and a reminder that we can't be all things to all people online or off.
My biggest takeaway was around the idea of a joyful burden that your "ship" is meant to carry. Readers are encouraged to dig into the metaphor of a ship (drawing on the etymology of "burden") to think honestly about purpose and capacity, and I love this exercise! I've been thinking a lot about how effort isn't necessarily bad. As Crook writes:
"It is in these great effortful pursuits that we experience not only the outer reaches of our abilities but our limits, requiring us to rely on others and in turn deepening our love of the people and projects that mean the most to us. They're good burdens."
There's a lot about presence, beating FOMO, and being intentional about information (and not overreliant on online feedback!) Spaciousness, curiosity, and purpose are embedded throughout Crook's recommendations. Creating local communities of care is also a central theme, emphasizing deeper everyday connections, though also a little depressing in COVID. I found myself excited to go make connections... in five years. When it's safe.
(An ARC of this book was provided by Nimbus Publishing via NetGalley for review.)
August 23, 2024
Meh, self help is just not my thing anymore 🤣
September 23, 2021
While I tend to steer away from any kind of well-being/self-help title, Good Burdens is an amazing exception. In the age of technology, learning to take a deep breath and enjoy fresh air is important.
April 10, 2022
would it be cliché to say it changed my life?
March 25, 2023
This book had so much in the way of juicy suggestions and guidance that I will return to it over and over I am sure!
February 11, 2022
It seems we all have a love-hate relationship with technology. Our lives are arguably easier and more complicated with the advancements of devices and our addictions to them. Thankfully, there is a cure and Canadian author Christina Crook is part of that.
Her book, which I ironically read on my ereader, encourages us to shift our perspective and learn with technology while balancing it (aka juggling) by disconnecting as often as we can. If we purposely use our phones for... ahem, a phone, instead of scrolling through meaningless information; if we connect friends we live a distance from versus collecting a list of strangers who may or may not think the same, and if we get outside and embrace nature, our lives would be much improved.
Crook refers to many who have inspired her, which, to me, is an invitation to explore these masters and read their words quoted throughout.
A recommended read for sure!
Her book, which I ironically read on my ereader, encourages us to shift our perspective and learn with technology while balancing it (aka juggling) by disconnecting as often as we can. If we purposely use our phones for... ahem, a phone, instead of scrolling through meaningless information; if we connect friends we live a distance from versus collecting a list of strangers who may or may not think the same, and if we get outside and embrace nature, our lives would be much improved.
Crook refers to many who have inspired her, which, to me, is an invitation to explore these masters and read their words quoted throughout.
A recommended read for sure!
January 24, 2022
Christina Crook writes in GOOD BURDENS: "Carrying the good burdens of RELATIONSHIP are the key to living joyfully in our digital age." Part-memoir, part-wellbeing inspiration, and wholly joy-filled, GOOD BURDENS offers the reader many avenues of encouragement and wisdom about how to cultivate relationships. I really enjoyed the thoughtful and reflective questions at the end of each chapter about how to structure my time and technology use with intention and wisdom. Highly recommend for individual readers, families, and book clubs.
September 10, 2021
This is an intriguing book, part self-help, part memoir.
I found it very thought-provoking and will be reflecting on this book for a while.
[I received a copy of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]
I found it very thought-provoking and will be reflecting on this book for a while.
[I received a copy of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review]
January 18, 2025
Good Burdens explores how to live a meaningful life offline. I appreciate the concepts introduced. This is a great study guide and discussion starter. I am curious to explore these concepts more deeply.
February 13, 2022
I just finished reading Good Burdens: How to live Joyfully in the Digital Age by Christina Crook.
April 25, 2022
This is the kind of book I could read yearly and would like to gift to others
May 8, 2022
Christina Crook vás v téhle knize opravdu moc mile přiměje přemýšlet nad životem. Víc než “self-help” to bylo pohlazení na duši.
September 24, 2022
Great read, hesitated on giving it 4stars but the structure is what sets it off a little for me. Still encourage people to read it !
February 9, 2023
Read on way to chemo #3; Feb 9
July 7, 2025
An important conversation but unfortunately not as compelling as I'd hoped nor super well written. Felt very blog posty, maybe should have just been a blog post...
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews