Are we really spending so much time with our heads in our ‘phones and tablets that we need a national day to tell us to put them down and take a look around us? It would seem so.
According to the article, 78% of Britons say technology has had a negative effect on their life, and 40% are concerned that the more technology evolves, the less happy we will be. 50% admit they hardly ever spend time with their family or partner without their ‘phone, tablet or computer, and a quarter of consumers admit that they no longer interact in restaurants, cafes and bars as they spend most their time glued to their ‘phones, updating their statuses with what they are doing, instead of actually doing it and enjoying the moment.
And as time passes and the younger we are when we start to use this technology: will we get to a time when public playgrounds will be either empty or worse still, full of children not playing but updating their statuses on their social media profile? I sincerely hope not.
But then again, it made me take a step back and look at my own lifestyle: I’m guilty of some of that too and I frequently get annoyed with myself about it (not in the playgrounds obviously: I’m too old for that)
I must admit that the happiest weekends I have had have been those when I was somewhere remote with friends and family, where there was no signal, no wifi, no 3G and definitely no 4G. Instead, what we all did was to simply left the ‘phones inside the cottage, stepped outside and enjoyed spending time chatting, reading books, sleeping, or walking. The FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) had gone; we did not care what the rest of the world was up to. We just loved being in the moment.
In a world that is trying to be more connected, maybe it’s time to take a step back and switch off, because all that matters is where you are, who you are with and what you are doing.
I don’t think I’ll be waiting for the 28th June to switch off. Come this Friday evening my iPhone will become just a ‘phone and I will not update my status or look at the status of my friends. I might use it to take pictures and maybe let you all know what I have done over the weekend on Monday morning. Joining me?
www.nationalunpluggingday.co.uk
