The less-tech-is-more business

Productivity will rise once we opt out of unnecessary tech in our lives

Research on the so-called productivity paradox — declining productivity despite the ongoing technological revolution — abounds in explanations ranging from statistical error to theories predicting that a productivity leap is just around the corner. One possibility is conspicuously missing: Any positive effect digital innovation is having on productivity is offset by how counterproductively distracting and energy-draining its fruits have become.
 
Perhaps the paradox will disappear, and productivity will start rising again, once we learn to opt out of unnecessary tech in our lives without getting a sense that we’re missing out on something.
 
In 2016, the average American spent a total of five hours and 43 minutes a day interacting with media on digital connected devices, according to one estimate. That’s an hour and a half more than in 2012. Some of this is mere displacement of traditional media — print publications, radio and TV. But the total time spent on media consumption has increased by about 30 minutes a day since 2012. The tech industry’s arms race is pushing more and more digital content on us, and more and more devices to serve it up.  
 
If you get notifications on your smartwatch, you’ll take out your phone more often. If your smart lightbulbs are run from an app, you'll check Facebook and Twitter every time you’ve decided to hit the dimmer. The app economy keeps growing, pumping out slicker and slicker content. In 2016, consumers spent $52 billion on mobile app stores and saw $77 billion worth of mobile ads, and App Annie expects those numbers to rise to $65 billion and $101 billion this year. Even though eMarketer predicts that our screen time will grow more slowly in the next few years, that’s largely because we’re running out of minutes in the day. 
 
There is, of course, an easy way to get out of the rat race: Replace the smartphone with a dumb one. It only costs $20 at the nearest store. That, however, is not an option for me and for many others. I don’t want to deny technological progress or riot against it. But I do want to reclaim control of my time — and my productivity, too — by finding the willpower to spend less time refreshing apps. If I were a millennial, I’d also want to make a visible statement to my peers that I’m not backward or reactionary, just mindful.
 
I described a possible option in a recent column — a switch from a smartphone to the revived Nokia 3310, which is not just a feature phone but a tech legend (and besides, it does have a Web browser — only it’s a little too hard to use when you really need it). This won’t work for everyone, though: The statement will be lost on my kids’ generation, and the only kind of messaging the Nokia 3310 does is traditional SMS, not always the best solution when you need to be connected for work. 
 
Unsurprisingly, tech minds have wrangled with these issues and come up with more options. They are, however, generally unavailable to the consumer.

© Bloomberg