Chaucer’s Books will host Dr. John La Puma, M.D., for a book talk of “Indoor Epidemic: 93% Inside Steals Sleep, Focus & Years-the 7% Outdoor RX Restores Them,” 6 p.m. Thursday, June 11 at 3321 State St., Santa Barbara.
Book Description:
You’ve optimized your diet, tracked your sleep, and tried every productivity hack, yet you still wake up exhausted, wired, and unable to focus. The problem isn’t your willpower, it’s your biology running on the wrong operating system.
Modern life traps us indoors for 93% of our time-under artificial light, staring at screens, disconnected from the natural signals that regulate energy, hormones, attention and recovery. The result is familiar — burnout, brain fog, poor sleep, metabolic dysfunction, and accelerated aging.
Digital Obesity: The Hidden Driver of Burnout
Digital overload, artificial light, and lack of time outdoors create what Dr. John La Puma calls Digital Obesity-a sensory mismatch that disrupts stress regulation, attention, circadian timing, and metabolic flexibility. Burnout isn’t just psychological. It’s what happens when human biology is trapped indoors.
This physician-authored framework shows how repurposing part of the 7% of your week you already spend outdoors-less than an hour a day-can help restore energy, focus, resilience, and long-term health. No supplements, biohacking gadgets, or extreme routines required.
This works for kids, too. Since 2020, childhood depression has surged while outdoor time has plummeted. Teen antidepressant prescriptions rose 69% in six years.
The 7% Outdoor Rx offers a practical, medication-free way to help restore focus, mood, and resilience for the whole family. This isn’t a parenting book-it’s a biological reset for growing brains in an indoor world.
Dr. La Puma is a board-certified internist and two-time New York Times bestselling author,
“Indoor Epidemic delivers a rigorous, research-grounded approach for professionals, parents, and anyone navigating modern indoor life,” Chaucer’s said.
This is not a supplement plan or a wellness trend. It’s a set of simple, measurable micro-prescriptions grounded in biology, not belief.