Podcasts SDS 174: A Technology Detox Challenge

SDS 174: A Technology Detox Challenge

Podcast Guest: Kirill Eremenko

July 13, 2018

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What can happen if you’re phone-free and internet-free for a whole week?

Today, I will be sharing with you my experience on technology detox while I was on an adventure in Egypt. It was very serene to be seeing the wonders of nature with good company without the worry of other stuff. If you’re intrigued how a week-long technology-free trip could be very enjoyable, listen to this episode!
You might have already heard of my trip to Egypt last time if you’ve tuned in to my previous episode. A lot of fun happened and what I’m gonna share to you might inspire you also.
While I was there, I went to an adventure on a liveaboard diving boat for a week. The Red Sea in Egypt is one of the best dive spots travellers and tourists visits when in season. These dive spots are reachable through the liveaboard cruises that last 6-10 days in the water. So, we were in the middle of the Red Sea for almost a week. We did scuba diving almost three times a day to explore the reefs.
During this experience, I had no connection with the outside world. I was in seclusion, in a very good yet unusual way, from my normal everyday life. Typically, I would check my phone and laptop for work every single day. But, it just so happened that there was no signal in the middle of the Red Sea. Can you imagine a week of no internet connection?
When I knew there was already no internet on the boat, I took the challenge further and avoided everything related to work like tasks that I can do offline. I just breathe in the fresh air, admired what nature put in front of me, and enjoyed the company. It would be hard at first for most but it will be totally worth it. You could read books, listen to audiobooks, or better yet, talk to people.
In this hyperconnected world, when we’re surround by technology every single day, we forget how we live could be so simple and yet as meaningful as it is without technology. We communicate, work, travel, cook, etc. – almost every deed we do – through technology. An average person checks her phone at least 80 times a day. We have to admit the fact that we have depended so much on technologies and they have become part of our lives. But, to do a technology detox or cleanse for a week or even a day is something worth trying! The peace of mind you crave or the reset you needed all along might come along if you try to put yourself into a technology-free environment.
Items mentioned in the podcast:
Did you enjoy the podcast?
  • When was the last time you did not touch your phone or laptop for a whole 24-hour period?
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  • Music Credit: Sunburst by Tobu & Itro (NCS Release)

Podcast Transcript

Hello and welcome back to the SuperDataScience podcast. This is FiveMinuteFriday and in today’s episode we’re talking about technological detox.

Now, if you’ve been following these episodes, then you’ll know from the previous one that I was just recently in Egypt. Today, I wanted to tell you what I was actually doing there. For the first time in my life, I went on a live-aboard diving boat. I’m quite into scuba diving and this was a boat where you get onboard, and you spend a whole week onboard this boat, and you go scuba diving about three times per day. All you’re doing is scuba diving, looking at different reefs and fish and sharks and stuff like that, and then you come back out. In the video version of this episode, we’re going to throw in some of that amazing footage from the Red Sea.
But what I wanted to mention was, during this experience, what I really liked, what I really enjoyed was that there was no internet on the boat. In fact, at the start, I thought there was going to be internet, I thought I would be able to do some work, but then found out that there was none, and actually, I really, really enjoyed it.
I wanted to share this experience with you because, ultimately, in today’s hyper-connected digital world, we’re always surrounded by technology, whether it’s smart phones, laptops, smart cities, smart cars, and so on. In fact, the average person checks their phone approximately 80 to 150 times per day, depending on the study that you check. That’s a crazy amount of times. That’s, like, always we’re checking our phone, we’re looking at what’s happening on social media, what’s in our email and so on.
When you take yourself out of that environment, you put yourself in an environment where there is not internet … In fact, I took it a step further, I restricted myself from actually looking at any kind of documents or doing any work on my computer locally that I didn’t need internet for, and I made myself actually just be … you know, look at the ocean, or listen to an audio book, or read a book, or just talk to somebody, and that is a whole different experience.
So what I would like to challenge you to do this weekend is think about, when was the last time you had an experience like that? When was the last time where, for at least 24 hours, you didn’t even look at your phone, you didn’t pick up any piece of technology, all you did was be present or interact with the old school things like books, or nature, or other things? If you can’t really think of a time when that happened, well maybe it’s the time to schedule that into your account.
I know it might not be possible right this weekend, you might have other commitments, but schedule that in for a day sometime later this month or sometime next month. Just block it in your calendar that, for 24 hours, you will not have access to any technology, and I guarantee you, you will feel the difference. You will feel much better, and you will feel much more connected with yourself and people around you, and probably the environment that you’re in.
There you go, that’s a quick tip. We live in a hyper-connected world. Sometimes it’s a good idea to get a detox from the technology, even if it’s for a day. I look forward to seeing you back here on the next episode. Until then, happy analyzing.
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