• Blog
  • Archives
  • Bio
  • Awards
  • Speaking
  • Book
  • Contact

No Electronics Day

Published: Wednesday, 24 May 2023

Sometimes I like to take a day to think and reflect. So I get someone else to take away my computer, phone and any electronics in the house - so I don’t know where they are and I can’t access them. Then I spend the whole day thinking and writing on paper.

Pre-pandemic, I used to travel and fly a lot. I would use my time on planes to think and write. I remember when I was 21, I took an Air Asia flight to London from Melbourne via Malaysia and they didn’t provide entertainment consoles on their flight. I was super productive and finished writing all my emails and everything I wanted to write in two batches over just over an hour. And then I sat there incredibly bored and tried to sleep. I was traveling to London to run our Robogals conference.

That experience taught me that planes and a lack of distractions could be incredibly productive!

I used to do this in high school as well. I noticed that if I started using the computer or the internet at any time, then I would keep using it for the rest of the day and evening. So in my final year, in year 12, I would only use the internet after 11pm. That way, I could get all my homework and everything else I needed to get done earlier and then use the internet until I went to sleep.

I use my No Electronics Days to write emails, grants, to-do lists, plans, and to daydream. It’s very refreshing and satisfying to think deeply and cross off items that require deep thinking from my to-do list.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • Singularity University Reunion

    Great to go back to San Francisco in August for our Singularity University’s Graduate Studies Program Reunion. So proud of my classmates, their...

  • Another context

    If you're over your university studies. If you're not looking forward to taking a week out of your life and attending a conference. If you don't...

  • It’s not you

      If your teacher comments on your work and tells you it can be better; it’s not you, it’s your work.   If the person behind the counter snaps at you...

  • Happiness

    What I say is important in my life = how I actually live my life

  • No Electronics Day

    Sometimes I like to take a day to think and reflect. So I get someone else to take away my computer, phone and any electronics in the house - so I...

  • Brains vs focus & time

    Andy Warhol had an IQ of 86, Richard Branson has an IQ of 92, Muhammed Ali has an IQ of 78, and David Ogilvy had an IQ of 96.  They are all below the...

  • giddy, giddy, giddy

    Why create linear goals when life isn't linear? Don't create goals that are 1 -> 2 -> 3 Create goals that make leaps ad bounds, like 6 -> 14 -> 28...

  • My lockdown life

    Lockdown is certainly a change of pace for me. I used to fly around the world twice a month! Now I’m stuck inside my 768 sq ft apartment for months...

  • The Bubble

    I used to think the bubble was a bad thing.  The huge number of people who called themselves an entrepreneur.  The over-inflation of entrepreneurs in...

  • Make a wish!

    Go. Do it. Make a wish. Be wild! Be wise! Be audacious! How much does your wish cost? Can you afford it? Then pay and do it. You can’t? Calculate how...

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Scroll to Top