Keeping Up With The Mediaheads Newsletter: Season 6, Episode 5 – Presence: The Greatest Gift

In 38 days from now, courier companies will be logging pick-up requests for unwanted gifts that came in the wrong size, colour, design, and shape. Crackers will have been pulled and some of us will already be planning when to re-box the tree and decorations. In 38 days Christmas 2022 will have come and gone. It was while considering how to minimise the need to return presents that I considered presence.

I was listening to an insert on a popular afternoon talk show where the interviewed guest mentioned research that tracked the happiness in children and how their general state of happiness declined as they started owning a cellphone. The discussion spoke about the need to be disconnected for the brain to experience down time, to literally just be and not be busy, and how ideas often come in moments of quietness. 

As media practitioners, we often consider the attention economy and how to make sure messaging lands in a cluttered environment. Season 5 of the Crown was recently released on Netflix and the customised menu in my App pushed it to the top of my viewing options. I soon found myself mid-way through episode two, I also found myself minimising the screen to do a Google search on the Royals. It was in the process of engaging the 2nd screen that I then also quickly checked a WhatsApp notification, replied to an email and made a note about some items I needed to buy. Before long I was no longer really paying attention to the 1st screen, in fact I’ll probably have to re-watch episode two.

Hidden in my cellphone settings is a menu item called “Digital Well Being”, I found it once while 2nd screening! Yesterday I received 445 notifications, unlocked the screen 73 times, spent 1h14min on WhatsApp and 4h10min on my mobile device. I had a full afternoon behind the PC and spent most of the morning in meetings, yet I managed to spend half a working day on a screen the same size as a R100 note. 

I don’t have a definitive answer on what digital wellness looks like, but with an average of a notification every three minutes for twenty-four hours, I don’t think it’s that. I probably don’t need to count every step, have a playlist for shopping, exercise and driving, or take a picture of every cappuccino I drink. It sounds ridiculous, but I’ve never heard someone say I wish I spent more time on my phone.

As we start loading up our shopping carts for the festive season, consider that the gift of time can’t be returned. Remember to have notification free conversations and moments that don’t need to be backed up to the cloud…, the greatest present this year is presence.