why smaarter?
Because something’s got to change, yet sheer-willpower is hard to muster on our own.
Smartphones have taken over the world and with it the attention, perspective and priorities of so many. Technology is wonderful. It has brought us education, global connectivity, life-saving innovation, convenience and culture, but it can also harm us - deeply - as recent research has shown.
With an average screentime of 8-9 hrs/ day, an 18 year old is on course to spend >93% of their free time for the rest of their lives on a screen (source: Project Reboot)
Kids now spend less time outdoors (<1hr) per day than an inmate at a high security jail (c.2hrs) (source)
Since the advent of the iPhone in 2010, anxiety rates increased from 10.4% to 24.3% in 2019 (source: The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt)
Obesity has overtaken malnutrition as the biggest global health issue with 1 in 8 of the global population now considered ‘obese’ or ‘overweight’ (source: WHO)
49% of UK adults (source) and 30% of US adults (source) now report feeling lonely
Communities are in decline with polarisation and pessimism on the rise. Businesses capitalise with quick ‘hacks', selling comfort in ‘tribes’, pills, supplements, apps, ‘mindfulness’ and more.
Whilst many of these issues pre-date and are not solely the fault of smartphones, they act as an accelerant, pouring fuel on the flames with addictive apps designed to monetise attention, divide us via outrage, keep us from in-person experiences, nature, focus and sleep.
We are not a product. Our time is the most valuable resource we have and the good news is that most of the best antidotes are free: time in nature, sport, socialising, reading, volunteering, sleep, and simply switching off and tuning-out the noise.
And yet we struggle. Because we’re fighting against sophisticated behavioural science. Apps designed to addict and which learn about us to serve us our base desires: outrage, validation, tribalism, quick dopamine and diversion and…. ‘stuff’. So much stuff we’re encouraged to believe will make us more attractive, richer, more popular or influential.
The solution is intention, not abstinence: information, motivation & empowerment.
This is what smaarter was founded to provide.
what we’re building
a not-for-profit foundation
A coalition of charity, activist and association partners working around tech-balance and/or analogue-living initiatives. Partners come together to:
Advocate and promote healthier, intentional-living policies to international government, education and health stakeholders.
Provide users with a free bank of content resources, latest research, motivation and inspiration to live more intentional, balanced lives
Together with our partners we can change the narrative, combined with….
a for-profit marketplace
A responsible marketplace of antidotes and solutions that support people with more intentional IRL (in-real-life) living. Think… sports, arts, community, events and the great outdoors…
We will highlight, share and work with the best ideas and innovations from around the world that empower individuals, families and their communities. Profits will fuel the foundation’s policy and education agenda. Products that add and enhance as opposed to take and exploit.
Business… but with purpose.
To book Jess to speak on any of these themes or find out more about her business journey, please contact hello@smaarter.org
Meet the Team
Jess Butcher MBE, Collaborators & Friends
Founder of Smaarter, Jess is an award-winning tech entrepreneur, advisor, start-up investor and social commentator.
Increasingly concerned by societal trends towards polarisation, over-simplistic narratives and tech addiction, she believes entrepreneurship can and will step up to today’s challenge. Jess now spends much of her time advising organisations and innovators seeking to provide antidotes to these overlapping challenges.
See her blog on Jonathan Haidt’s ‘After Babel’ publication. She is currently working with a number of social and for-profit entrepreneurs focussed on the challenges of digital-addiction and the decline of real-world community. As a mother of three, she is also working on her own book for tweens and teens translating many of the latest research on smartphone harms for their understanding.
A blogger and 3x TedX speaker, she received an MBE for services to technology & entrepreneurship in 2018.
contact us
Are you an organisation working on the challenge of digital-balance, or perhaps you’re promoting the alternative: sport, nature, culture, history or in-person community?
Or perhaps you’re working on your own ideas and innovations around these challenges?
If you’re interested in collaborating and would like to be featured on smaarter, tell us a bit more about yourself and we will be in touch shortly.
We look forward to working together.