Digital Detox Challenge



Punkt. is a fairly little, vibrant and independent company, and we like to maintain close connections with our customers and with people and organisations within the design world. As part of this, we regularly run 'Punkt.Challenges'. These consist of style difficulties that form part of postgraduate style courses, and digital detox difficulties where self-confessed mobile phone addicts are invited to review their relationship with technology.
10 years back, mobile phones were still very uncommon. Now, a life lived outside the framework of the smartphone is uncommon. 10 years earlier, a lot of people had cellphones, but they would usually only attract our attention if another human being had actually decided to call us or send us a text. Now that many people's lives are so much more automated: the brand-new typical is to scoot around within a nonstop attack of status updates, push notices and an entire lot more.
Our Digital Detox Challenges have been running given that 2016. The negative elements of smartphones weren't commonly gone over at that point, but there has actually since been a surge of interest in the topic. Participant reports are a crucial element of the Detox Challenges; by running the Challenges and publishing these reports we aim to keep the conversation of people's relationship with technology popular and on-going - both in regards to tech dependency and the importance of top quality style in the real (i.e. non-virtual) world.

The big distinction this time round was that the term 'smartphone addiction' had clearly gotten in typical parlance - in 2016 it still sounded a bit over the top, but in 2018 people were beginning to sound really stressed. You can check out the reports below, but here are some excerpts from a few of the numerous applications we received:
" The consistent scrolling."
" I attempted it with an old timeless phone, it was like going back to an ex - with all the old pros and cons. Who does that?"
" We use our phones a lot - why should not they be stunning along with practical?"
" I'm doing my own variation now, however I had to go for a broke ass burner phone that's 10 years old ...".
" As a UI designer for digital products I've frequently questioned some of the success criteria used in my industry, particularly 'engagement' as a metric for success. Up until that modifications, regrettably it's really hard to battle against 100s of designers who are attempting to hook you in to their items. [] There is a particular paradox about this as I create for these items however desire to escape them. However I think it's an opportunity for me as a designer to appreciate how valuable our attention is, and attempt to take that lesson back into my market, ideally to affect a modification in method to technology.".
" I have begun eliminating all my social media profiles and have right away seen the favorable impact it's had on me. I am so much calmer now, and I want to keep it that method, by also removing my smart device for great.".

Life is too short to keep our heads down.
Innovation has significantly changed over the last century, from being a helpful tool in our lives to keeping us as connected in as much as it can and for the longest time period. This Challenge changes that in its totality, pushing us into realizing exactly what is going on. I've always loved utilizing the most recent things, but since Punkt. has actually been around, I wanted to alter that, and with the Digital Detox Challenge, that's exactly what took place. When you go from a constantly ringing smartphone to a phone like this, you understand just how much you can compromise all these applications that keep you hooked all day long: you do not need them.
In a manner, you do end up being kind of separated socially from your good friends-- let's state if they "Snapchat" you or whatnot-- but you start to understand that it's for the much better, and the Punkt. MP01 accomplishes simply that. It teaches you simplicity and teaches you that you don't need everything on your phone. Just the essentials.
If you seem like you are hooked on your phone, like many people I have actually satisfied, it could be a great time to provide this phone a try. Numerous of my own member of the family experience this sensation and I seem like passing this obstacle on to others so they can get the hang of it. This Challenge has actually become so important in 2018 because-- as I stated-- Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, etc. are here to keep us hooked in for the longest time. Don't think me? Download QualityTime for your Android and you will recognize that you do not even take note of what's going on around you. If you feel an itch, it might be a great time to get that had a look at, and an excellent way to set about it is with the Punkt. MP01.

The more time we invest looking at screens, the lesser daylight ends up being-- and sometimes, yes, more of a barrier. Whether you're examining your messages while walking to work, enjoying your smartphone with your good friends (who are each delighting in theirs), or viewing a film, daytime is an inconvenience.
We started heading this way due to the fact that we wished to. Nowadays-- to a big level-- we merely do it since we do it. And because others want us to do it.
Is this truly how you wish to invest your time on Earth?
* * *.
In 2016, Google employee Tristan Harris left his task to found a brand-new non-profit organisation called Time Well Spent, which looked for to expand the argument on exactly what technology is doing to us and led to the development of the Center for Humane Technology. Given that then, the subject has actually taken off into the mainstream and it has ended up being clear that it is not doing advantages to our basic sense of wellness.
The web page of the Center's site features a striking montage image. A generic graphic of a mobile phone is combined with a picture of a woman. But she is not provided as being on the screen. She remains in fact looking out from the phone, leaning with her arms folded on the bottom edge of the screen as though it were a windowsill. She appears happy, enjoying the view. And she is bathed in sunlight.
Perhaps it makes good sense to use these brighter nights for something besides looking at pixels? When bedtime methods, matching sundown with here a digital sundown: everything changed off, leaving just a land-line with a number understood just to family and friends, and a devoted alarm clock.
Joining those who have ditched their smartphones totally, integrating a fundamental phone with a laptop or tablet (much much better for typing on). Nowadays these ideas may sound practically radical, however as far as biology is concerned, they're what your brain wants. The medical side-effects of tech over-use.
Since of the evident reduction in traffic accidents, Daylight Saving Time is stated to increase life span of a country's people. Ditto prohibiting phone use while driving, naturally (with a much clearer causal link). Phones are harmful in other methods, too: scrollers strolling into traffic, selfie trophy-hunters taking one danger too many, etc. Over-use of tech shrinks our lives in another way as well-- incrementally and inevitably. It provides us a narrower existence where we are less focussed, less rested and thus less awake. Over-use consumes our lives, and it's becoming the norm.
Time for a rethink?

Do you discover that wherever you go, you always wind up in the very same place: in front of your mobile phone? Utilizing it, or letting it use you, to stay 'connected'? Linked with exactly what people are up to back home. Gotten in touch with the most current news reports. Gotten in touch with work. Gotten in touch with video games, YouTube videos, Wikipedia. Gotten in touch with images from the last holiday you took, and the one before that. What sort of 'connection' is that, actually? This scenario is something that's crept up on us, and perhaps it's time to begin making some choices ...

A vacation is an opportunity to switch off, to experience new things. If we do not likewise change off our gadgets, if we continue to outsource our awareness to image sensing units and memory cards, if we're still connected to exactly what we were doing prior to we left and what we'll be doing when we get back, it's as if we're paying a kind of holiday tax. Part of the experience is deducted-- and not to assist the local economy, however to assist line the pockets of investors of social networks business.
Envision a timeless travelogue like Jack Kerouac's On the Road, minus this tax. There would not be much left. As well as if we're trying to find something a bit less extreme for our fortnight away, the principle still applies. Whether it's a case of pings on the beach, or livestreaming from the Louvre, something's gained however something's lost. And on the topic of getting lost, yes, without a smart device it might occur. And perhaps you'll end up someplace that ends up being the highlight of your trip. Maybe you'll discover some appealing dining establishment that isn't really on tripadvisor.com. You might wind up talking to some residents. Nothing ventured, absolutely nothing gained. This connect the growing sluggish travelmovement, and the reclaiming of overland travel as a mainstream and realistic option to flying, demonstrated by the underground success of The Man in Seat Sixty-One. It's all about being there.
If we do choose to have a holiday that does not revolve around processing big data, there are a few options. We can go to the other severe, and leave home without any sort of phone or tablet. (That never used to be a severe, however we reside in extreme times.) And we have options like changing our device's settings to 'minimum', leaving it in the hotel safe throughout the day, etc

. Or we can take a different phone. One that just does calls and texts. And then immerse ourselves in a different culture, have some adventures, or merely take pleasure in a little bit of peace and quiet.
The physical act of swapping phones goes deep. It's a bit like flying the nest. And it's beginning to gain in appeal: whether an inexpensive, old-tech model or something more elegant and current, selecting to sometimes use a basic phone is something that everybody can associate with nowadays. They may not do it themselves, but they certainly understand why some individuals do.
There are practical advantages, too. Only needing to charge your phone sometimes is popular with everybody however if you're going somewhere without mains electrical energy, your greedy smartphone will be no use at all. With a simple phone you don't need to keep inspecting that your digital factotum hasn't cunningly discovered some method of running up monster-sized information roaming charges-- it can still take place. However it's the 'actually existing' that actually counts. Sure, taking a trip without a smartphone will imply a few mix-ups, a decreased ability to plan, to understand beforehand exactly what's going to occur. But travelling sans algorithms is where the action is. And the screens on easy phones are often much harder than the big areas of glass discovered on their more complex cousins. Replacing a broken smartphone screen is a trouble at the finest of times; multiply that by 10 if you're abroad.
It's the 'really being there' that truly counts. Sure, taking a trip without a mobile phone will imply a couple of mix-ups, a minimized capability to plan, to understand in advance what's going to take place. Travelling sans algorithms is where the action is.

SMS 03 - Punkt. MP02 from Punkt. on Vimeo.

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