What I do: Group Director of Business Development, Warwick Hotels & Resorts
Why I am doing this: To prove to myself wrong.
When I informed a colleague about the 48 hour internet and mobile phone celibacy I was about to embark on for my upcoming visit to our affiliate hotel, our exchange went like this:
“So how would we be able to reach you?”
“You have to call the hotel.”
“You mean the landline?”
“Yes.”
“Would you be able to Skype though?”
“Erm. No…”
“So no mobile phone or internet. At all?”
“Um.. yes,,,”
“Is this a holiday?”
This was not reassuring – it reminded me of an occasion when I ordered food for a vegetarian in China (“she doesn’t eat meat”, “we have chicken”, “she can’t take chicken”, “ok, we have ”fish” – you get the idea). Other common reactions involved suspicious looks accompanied by “Why are you doing this?”, “Is this a prank?” and my favourite: “Is this your way of telling us you don’t want to be bothered?”
The night before the experiment, I jotted down some items I would feel lost without and assigned a corresponding rating to it (5 being completely lost).
1. Email. This is going to be difficult, but I turn on my Out Of Office message which reads: ‘Thank you for your message. I am participating in a social experiment which involves not accessing the internet for the next 48 hours. I shall respond to you as soon as possible.” Activating this instantly makes me feel better psychologically. 3/5.
2. Facebook/ Twitter. I can go through days without checking these in the first place. I mean, I dabble in social media, but by no means am I an addict. 2/5.
3. Skype. My primary mode of communication with colleagues. This is going to be a problem. 4/5.
4. Taking calls from my mobile phone. I have already notified key people of how to reach me. I still feel nervous. 4/5.
5. WhatsApp and BBM. I rely on these when I’m travelling. Which I will be. 4/5.
6. General Internet browsing – news updates/ online shopping etc. I can still watch TV and imposing an online shopping ban has to be good for the wallet, if not the soul. 2/5.
I had decided to drive to the hotel with no Sat Nav (did they exist back in 1994?), which reminded me of how much I relied on it. How did we ever survive without satellite navigation? If there was one sure way of reminding you of how life was in the early 90s, this was it.
Day One went relatively unscathed – I spent the whole day in and out of meetings and catching up with colleagues. It felt strange not being able to steal a moment to check my emails but it also dawned on me how nice it is not to check emails during a meal too, a shameful habit to which I regularly fall victim. There was no device to distract me – this must be how smokers feel when they give up smoking for 2 days.
By Day Two, I was feeling more handicapped with no access to emails, I even resorted to using the fax machine – the first time in years! But more surprisingly, I came to the realization that there were a host of features I relied on that did not make my Feel Lost List: the alarm clock on my phone that wakes me up every morning, my world clock that saves me from calculating across time zones, the camera that comes in handy in the most unassuming moments and how could I have left my music from the FLL? Not to mention my calendar, telephone numbers and the calculator. Do I need my phone for all these things? Apparently so.
The two days of internet celibacy not only made me realise that I depend on my mobile much more than I had thought, but also how much I needed to improve the quality of my communication. As a result of this experiment, I caught up with my sister on the landline for a solid 30 minutes and got a thorough update of her week, which would otherwise have been reduced to a few words on whatsapp (“Hi sis, how are you”, “ok. I like your new profile pic.”; “ur up early over there” etc…). You could have an entire dialogue without really knowing how they are doing.
In this day and age, whilst the quantity of communication methods is aplenty, the quality has often been overlooked. Whilst the use of Internet has made the way we work much more productive and efficient, its abuse can be more destructive as it is constructive.
After my 48 hours were up, I was ready to get reacquainted with the World Wide Web. I duly turn on my blackberry, iPhone, PC, MacBook and iPad (do I really need all these devices? A resolution for 2013 perhaps.) A melody of beeps and red flashes and vibrations go off simultaneously. As much as I’d hate to admit – it was music to my ears.
*Unplugged 480 is our experiment to see how tech addicts can survive without the Internet or their devices for two working days. There are clear rules of engagement but a lot of course depends on the honesty and integrity of our willing participants. We will be sharing their stories at the WIT Conference, Oct 15-17, at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. This experiment is a joint initiative by WIT and Discovery Channel Magazine.
