How long can you stay away from your phones in this digital era? While this might seem difficult for most people who are habituated to check their notifications every single minute, a woman in China won a contest for spending eight hours without her mobile phone.
Contest held at shopping centre in China; 10 participate
A contest held in a shopping centre in China’s Chongqing this November asked people to turn off their screen time to win a huge prize. A total of ten people were provided with a bed where they had to spend eight hours without browsing or operating their phones.
However, it was noted that there were as many as 100 applicants of which only ten were made to participate in the contest.
Eight hours without phone
Eight hours, does that appear to be too long? Not really. A Chinese woman cracked it to win over one lakh rupees at the contest.
The contest started with the ten participants surrendering their phones and other electronic devices, followed by resting on the designated beds where they had to spend eight hours.
Participants confined to their beds
The organisers of this amusing contest brought meals and drinks to the beds and served it to the participants there itself. The contestants were only allowed to leave the bed for using the toilet.
Allowed to sleep to kill the contest time? Of course, no!
So, how would they kill eight hours without clicking, swiping, or playing games on their phone? While you might be already wondering how people spent the contest time, let us tell you what made things more challenging for them. According to reports, the participants weren’t even allowed to take a deep sleep.
It was learned that the ten people engaged in reading books or simply kept their eyes closed without falling asleep.
The contest was aimed to note if keeping their phones away made these candidates experience some level of anxiety.
Chinese woman wins over ₹1 lakh
A woman exhibiting no signs of anxiety during the contest period of eight hours in southwestern China secured the big won of 10,000 yuan (US$1,400). For spending eight hours with her phone, not being quite anxious, and recording the longest time in bed without dozing off, the woman won over ₹1 lakh at the contest.
