 Marking its fifth year, Sydney-based charity Moodoff Day has been raising awareness of SmartPhone addiction and the varied impacts this has on our lives on a global scale. Reaching ‘addicts’ in over 26 countries and counting, the Australia founded organisation encourages smartphone users everywhere to do without their beloved device for 5 hours on the morning of February 28th. The Moodoff Day is not intended to criticise the amazing features, versatility or practicality these gadgets offer, nor their place in our busy lives, but simply to allow us users to realise how attached and habituated we really are to our androids and iphones. The term nomorephobia was coined in recent years to describe the panic-like state many of us get into the moment we loose reception or dare say, run out of battery without our charger handy. But it is not just the social impact these clever devices have, such as the habitual checking of it even in the midst of conversation, the loss of social etiquette, or the largely social media based distraction from seemingly any task at hand, rather the loss of productivity and efficiency that has been pinned on them too. With the advancement if technology right across the business sector, the question remains – are these actually improving efficiency, productivity and desired outcomes. And, while many claims have been made as to the benefits of our beloved smartphone, there are equally as many concerns as to their negative impact. While, the ability to have email, social media, messaging, skyping and surfing at a swipe of a finger in the palm of our hands, literally anywhere may mean constant productivity and a blurring of the boundaries between work time and leisure time, it also reduces our focus on work tasks with their constant dinging and beeping. Add to this, that in a common work environment, we deal with computer screen, tablets and phones, to then at break times, which are intended to offer respite from looking at screens, many of us choose to spend not necessarily taking a digital break at all. Lunch breaks are largely spent more catching up with our smartphones than with our food or colleagues and the common level of use of our smartphones said to be xx, going by a survey undertaken by… one has to wonder why? This means that we spend considerable amount of time on our intelligent phones during work hours, with the true impact or enhancement on productivity being a constant grey area. Students from University Tunku Abdul Rahman(UTAR), Malaysia are running a PR Campaign for 2015-16: Volunteerism Vs Technology Escapism with the focus on smartphone dependency, which hopes to encourage the audience to reduce their level of dependency on their smartphones and build a positive and interactive relationship without the usage of technology. Moodoff Day is supporting the UTAR PR campaign. Whatever the findings or the true productivity levels are in the current hay-days of smartphone use (if not addiction) maybe by participating on Moodoff Day on February 28th, you will see for yourself your level of addiction and this may give you some insight as to the impact your addiction could be having on your productivity. To partake, pledge your support or ‘Like’ the initiative, log onto their smartphone friendly website www.moodoffday.org or their Facebook page. Media Contact: Tapas Senapati Moodoff Day Address: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Phone: +61402754764 Email: moodoffday@gmail.com
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