Offline is the new luxury has become a silent mantra in wellness retreats, boutique hotels and private clubs. Time has become the new luxury that people of all ages, social strata and ideologies yearn for.
Not surprisingly, figures like Jack Dorsey (founder of Twitter), writer Arianna Huffington (co-founder of The Huffington Post), and designers like Phoebe Philo promote this mindset of conscious disconnection.
And brands know it. That is why there is already a whole legion of technological devices designed for digital detox that combine aesthetics and functionality. And yes, you read that right: digital devices to get away from digital devices.
Setting digital boundaries has become a new sign of well-being and power
It is the paradox of the first world in the most technological era in the history of humanity. Warm light lamps to regulate circadian rhythms, aroma diffusers connected to mobile phones but requiring no daily interaction, or furniture with compartments to store the smartphone and force us to let go of it when we are at home, are increasingly common in 21st century homes. Not surprisingly, the idea is to create environments that invite you to be present, not absent.
Digital ON.
In this technological contradiction one dives into even more contradictory devices, such as the Light Phone II, a mobile phone that has no social networks, no email, no apps, no WhatsApp… It only has calls, SMS messages, podcasts and maps. Digital minimalism taken to the extreme in a device whose elegance does not go unnoticed.
Thus, watches that monitor our health without bombarding us with notifications or apps that block distractions, encouraging concentration, and that even make us meditate before opening Instagram, are the kings of digital luxury—a luxury that gives us hours of peace and quiet and time to disconnect.
And yes, we admit it: switching off the mobile phone is dizzying. But how do you start a new life of digital detox without becoming a Tibetan monk or moving to a hut in the Tramuntana?
It’s not an easy task. In fact, it is a titanic task, but at Mallorca Global Mag we have discovered the secret that technology gurus follow to stay away from… technology.
1. Start with fixed times to check your mobile. It is not a matter of not using the mobile phone, but we can stop using it continuously. Set a timetable. For example, don’t touch it during breakfast or dinner. Make this a mantra for you.
2. Buy an analogue alarm clock and leave the phone out of the bedroom. Having your smartphone on your bedside table is like sleeping with a hundred notifications. Get a traditional alarm clock (yes, the kind that rings) and leave your phone somewhere else in the house. There are even alarm clocks that emulate the sunrise and wake you up with a gentle birdsong! Without a doubt you will sleep better and your body will thank you for it.
3. Plan 100% offline moments of the day. In the same way that we schedule dinners, getaways or the gym, we need to start adding 100% offline moments to our agenda. Walks without headphones, dinners with candles and without mobiles, an evening of reading…
4. Use apps that make things easier for you, not ones that give you more work. We have reached the absurdity of having apps that tell us how much we use other apps. But there are apps that do the opposite: prevent us from using those apps that steal our time. One Sec delays access to networks to make us think twice. Freedom blocks websites and apps during the hours we choose. And there are many more…
Digital OFF.
How about we give it a try? Perhaps then the future will be more human — or it won’t be at all.
Technology does not have to go away. It must remain at our side, driving our economy, our well-being, our lives. But that technology must be invisible. The real luxury is not in having all the digital gadgets that exist, but in knowing when to turn them off or, at any rate, when to ignore them.
In an era where everyone is on, the real revolution is in knowing how to say off… and doing it in style.
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