Distractions

"When we invest our time and energy in technology — as creators or consumers — we should invest in products that belong in “The Future” and not those that make our lives disappear faster than they already do."

In Jake Knapp's article, "My Year Without a Distraction-Free iPhone (and how to start your own experiment)", he discusses his personal challenge to make his iPhone less of a daily distraction.  His original post regarding this challenge got hundreds of thousands views, confirming that this indeed was something people were interested in trying themselves for THEY TOO were feeling far too distracted by their phones.  Jake goes in to a few easy steps on how to take the challenge for yourself, but my major take away was when he looked at the things he wanted to keep on his phone; the essentials.  The essentials are different for everyone, depending on your passions and interests.  The essentials are driven by daily conveniences.  The essentials make your life better without sacrificing the beauty of human interaction and free-thinking.  

In moving forward to help design products, I keep this thought in the back of my head.  There are enough things that invite further distraction in our already chaotic lives - why add to that.