The Punkt. Digital Detox Challenge: Summer 2016

Punkt. Journal

A black Punkt. phone sits on a white desk beside a roll of tape, a black pen, and a signed art print featuring a colorful, stylized forest scene in yellow, blue, and white with a character riding a bicycle through the trees.

The first Punkt. Digital Detox Challenge, Summer 2016

In July 2016 we ran the first Punkt. Digital Detox Challenge. And what exactly was the Challenge? Simply to live without a smartphone for minimum of 48 hours. Punkt. selected 40 participants (journalists and members of the public) from a total of over a thousand applicants and issued them with an MP01 to use during their two days of reconnection. The outcome? Some found it easier than others, with a few actually quitting mid-way through. From Down Under to The Dolomites, participant reports cover just about everything from family reunions to the realities of going digital cold turkey. People's favourite pastimes without internet? Photography, reading books, talking, staring into space and playing with their children.

When good is just not enough.

I started this challenge positive, wanting a change in my life, embracing the gorgeous item I had been given and facing the difficulties ahead with a happy face. The first day of this...

Contented when disconnected.

The knock at the door was anticipated. The courier driver muttered something in a thick Welsh accent and handed me a small brown box. The box had come from the Swiss company Punkt., and in it was a...

What happens when a grown man gives up Instagram for the weekend

I’m pretty sure I’m addicted to my phone. OK, if you can plot all addictions on an axis of intensity and harmfulness that runs from freebase cocaine (very addictive, extremely harmful)...

Digital Detox: pros and cons

I digitally-detoxed for a week while on vacation with my family. The MP01 phone was just the right tool for cutting free from the torrent of distraction and frenetic trivialities of social media,...

360 hours without my iPhone. (And counting.)

Like most of my generation, I live in, and on, my iPhone 6. This is not hyperbole. The fantastic (and rather scary) Moment App tells me I spend 8% of my waking life accessing my iPhone. I pick it u...

Offline as the new luxury

I think off-line is the new luxury. We are living always connected and that’s a great thing – technology evolves at an unprecedented pace. Sometimes though, we need to go back to basics...

Trading convenience for peace of mind

I successfully completed my digital detox challenge with the MP01, and extended it to 120 hours instead of 48. This was one of the easiest challenges to fulfil. The MP01 is actually very hard to...

A Good Excuse To Switch-off

Erin Jo Richey During my digital detox weekend, in addition to switching my iPhone off, I wanted to get away from my computer. Turning off my iPhone meant saying goodbye to Instagram, Snapchat, and...

The Trials and Tribulations of A Digital Detox

Laura Rebecca For 48 hours I stowed my fancy phablet in a drawer and popped my SIM card into the Punkt. MP01 for their Digital Detox challenge. Here’s what happened: Hour one: No...

What works for you?

Jamie Black Since the first iPhone came out I have lived in 9 different places on three continents. During this time I have always had a smartphone. Last week, I went back in time and tried using a...

Punkt. Challenge: easier than I thought.

Torsten Schmitt It was easier than I thought (I am working in an M&A context, with hundreds of emails a day 24/7 and permanent availability). So found your idea a great way of stepping back a b...

48 hours without my smartphone: I survived

Bianca Ferrari Read this report in Italian: 48 ore senza smartphone: sono sopravvissuta I survived 48 hours without my smartphone, for the Digital Detox Challenge with Punkt. and the new MP01 Mobil...