NOTE FROM TED: This talk only represents the speaker's personal views and understanding of technology, the brain, and stress. TEDx events are independently organized by volunteers. The guidelines we give TEDx organizers are described in more detail here: http://storage.ted.com/tedx/manuals/tedx_content_guidelines.pdf Are you becoming a robot without realizing it? We confuse digital skills and skills we’ll need to thrive in the digital age. As our lives get increasingly digitized, we give away more and more human qualities – memory, focus, compassion, creativity, and internal body awareness, and behave more like robots. At the same time, we are creating more human-like machines. If we want to stay relevant in the coming years, we urgently need to start prioritizing human, and not digital skills — in education, workplace and our daily lives, says Anastasia. Anastasia Dedyukhina founded an international network of 100+ digital wellbeing coaches, who help people find a balance between their online and offline lives. For over a year she lived without a smartphone, and her first TEDx talk about her experience called Could you live without a smartphone? has been viewed more than 350,000 times. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Anastasia Dedyukhina ditched her smartphone, together with her senior international career in digital marketing, when she realized how dependent she had become on the gadget. Today she acts as a business mentor, supporting ethical tech startups, and runs Consciously Digital, helping companies and individuals be more productive and less stressed in an age of digital distraction. In her talk, Anastasia will explain why we feel the uncontrollable urge to check our smartphones all the time and share the valuable lessons she learned and the tips that helped her find the balance between her online and offline life. Having worked for 12+ years in senior digital marketing positions for global media and internet brands, and easily spending 16 hours a day connected and even sleeping with her phone, Anastasia eventually realised she needed to unplug to remain healthy and productive. Giving up her smartphone was the first step to creating Consciously Digital - a London-based training and coaching company that helps individual and corporate clients be more productive online, so that they can have more time for things that matter. Anastasia is a frequent speaker at global internet conferences on the topics of ethical tech and digital detox, as well as marketing in the age of digital distraction. She blogs for Huffington Post about digital detox, and is currently finalising her first book on the same subject. Anastasia was born in Russia, lived in six different countries, and has an MBA from SDA Bocconi (Italy) and NYU Stern (USA), and a PhD from Moscow State University. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Entrepreneur, start-up mentor, coach and Huffington Post blogger Anastasia Dedyukhina, PhD will share neuroscience research and coaching insights into how technology impacts our health, productivity and relationships, and explain why we feel so attached to our gadgets. Anastasia will suggest ways to build healthier relationships with technology without losing touch with your social circle. Come to learn the recipes for remaining productive and happy in an age of digital distraction. How many minutes can you live without checking your phone? Join us for this empowering, tech-free evening! Hosted by Seymour Projects/SEYMOUR+ founder Melissa Unger. Anastasia Dedyukhina worked for 12+ years in senior digital marketing positions for global media and internet brands, and easily spent 16 hours a day connected and even sleeping with her phone, before she eventually realized she needed to unplug to remain healthy and productive. Giving up her smartphone was the first step to creating Consciously Digital™ – a London-based a training and coaching company that helps individual and corporate clients be more productive online, so that they can have more time for things that matter. + info: consciously-digital.com + Info: seymourprojects.com