"free time" is a box with one purpose in mind: to create a better relationship between human beings and our phones by giving you space—in terms of physical separation and time. By giving you a specific place to leave your phone that’s out of sight, it is easier to let go of everything it represents. It’s then easier to open up to what’s in front of us.
Whether alone or in social settings, we sometimes reach for our phones when we feel the slightest perception of boredom, anxiety or self consciousness. I do this all the time and find it frustrating to lose the battle against my own insecurities, especially when I know how disrespectful it is to be holding your phone when someone else is present. I’m interested in finding ways to build more harmonious environments and facilitate better social interactions with friends (e.g. at the dinner table where even the sight of a phone resting upside down sends a message to everyone).
As my first "design" project, the primary purpose of this box is to keep your phone(s) out of sight. There’s no hole to let you charge your phone while it’s inside, and it’s not meant to hold your watch, wallet, keys, or anything else. It’s a place solely for two cell phones and the dimensions have been measured with that in mind. In the future, I plan to make versions for one, three, and four phones.
Hand made from sustainably forested wood, this box distances you from your phone. It creates moments that alter your reaction to the sound or the vibration of your phone. It is also designed to bring you more in touch nature. The process of you having to choose something from nature, from your local surroundings, to rest on the box top—and to rest your phone on.
Let’s say you didn't put your phone on silent and you hear it ring or vibrate inside of the box. Now if you want to answer or check it, you cannot just instinctually reach for it in a frenzy.
There is a moment of pause.
If you decide you want to answer your phone, you have to pick up the object resting on the top of the box and physically feel a piece of nature. Then you have to lift the lid off, your hands feeling the texture of wood. And when you pick up your phone, you get a quick glimpse of what it was resting on. So there’s a series of steps, small subtle experiences, that you have to go through—and hopefully these moments bring you a sense of calm before you pick up the phone.
Ideas for things to rest your phone on:
· moss
· bark
· cork
· pine needles
· sea shells
· dirt
Ideas for objects to place on top:
· a clear bowl of water
· a candle
· a photograph
· a plant
· a rock
· a stone
I’d like to make it perfectly clear that I think the best (and obviously, cheapest) way to separate yourself from your phone is to turn it off, but I think we, including myself, need a little help getting to that point. It takes discipline to disconnect, but similar to dieting or exercise, sometimes people or products can help us along the way.
This box would be priced around $150 because of the materials, the equipment, and hours it takes to make something so seemingly simple. The truth is you don’t need to buy this box and would encourage you to use whatever you already have to create similar separation between you and your phone. If anything, I hope you’ll enjoy, adapt, or evolve this idea of designing a better environment for yourself and social interactions.
This box was built under the guidance my Uncle who has been a woodworker for over 40 years. It was our first project together and an eye-opening experience to see a him, a craftsman, at work. I would not be able to build this box without his help and equipment.
Extra Thoughts:
I’m not anti-technology, but talking from personal experience, my relationship to phones and computers is out-of-control. And I don’t think I’m alone.
We seem desperate to run away from the moment, telling ourselves we need to check our email, that an important text message is always just a second away, or that something bad could happen at any moment. And any one of these things may be true. Maybe you do need to check your email because you’re awaiting final approval on a project that rests on your shoulders. Or maybe you are expecting an important text and it could literally be a second away. Or maybe something unfortunate might randomly happen to a family member and you’ll want to know about it. No doubt in the modern world there are times to be very aware of your phone, but all the time? And if we live with these stressful thoughts all day long, then even when we’re “relaxing”, we’re still partially stressed and pre-occupied with these scenarios. How can you commit to being present when even the smallest percentage of your brain is consciously worrying the future and trying to be somewhere other than where you are? And if we don’t start to make a change, then quite literally, we agree to devote a significant amount of energy to worrying, distraction, and the endless social media cycle—for the rest of our lives.
As someone who enjoys being outdoors in nature, I also feel at home in cities, so I’ve been trying to add as many touch points with nature throughout my day. When you hold an object from nature, you feel something that has its own unique, tactile energy. I’m so familiar with these highly-fabricated surfaces of phones, office cubicles, stainless steel door handles, plastic remote controls, etc. They say that the eyes are the windows to the soul, which might be true, but I think the hands say a lot as well. I’m reminded of how my middle-school basketball coach used to grab my hands at the beginning of the season to see if they were rough or soft. And how my father taught me why it’s important look someone in the eye and shake their hand firmly. And how after 5 years in New York City, when I go hiking the first thing I want to do is grab a fallen tree branch and swing it around.
To continue my rant, in general, I think there are too many intelligent people whose professions are designed to keep us glued to our phones. The more powerful and aesthetically pleasing these phones become, the more we will justify staying plugged in. I think there’s something interesting to working in the opposite direction. Should we be working on a cell phone phone battery that only lasts 3 hours a day and can only be recharged overnight? Maybe we should be making it harder to spend 5 hours on our phones per day, which is about the current average. And until that average comes way down, I’ll continue to make boxes and think of new ways to balance our environments.