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You Don’t Need a Digital Detox—You Need a New Context.

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We often frame professional burnout as a need to disengage. To step away from screens, quit a job, take a sabbatical, get your attention back. But what if the problem isn’t technology, productivity, responsibility, but the context in which we relate to them? What if the answer isn’t to disconnect, but to reframe? I work in emerging technology at a design firm called IDEO. My days revolve around cutting-edge tools, sprint cycles, and, for the past few years, a daily stream of new AI tool releases. So when I tell people I spent a month carving marble in a remote Italian village with no Slack, no podcasts, and email only once a day, they assume I was on some kind of digital detox. I didn’t go to Italy to escape technology. I went there to deepen my relationship with it. What I found wasn’t peace or escape, but something more meaningful: a way to reclaim my attention without walking away from the tech I love. I didn’t need a break from technology or even from work. I needed to explore a di

You don’t need a digital detox: You need a new context. You don’t need a digital detox: You need a new context. ABOUT Lost in the ABOUT Search idea You don’t need a digital detox: You need a new context. Words by Jenna Fizel Published on September 26, 2025 We often frame professional burnout as a need to disengage: to step away from screens, quit a job, take a sabbatical, and get one’s attention back. I work in emerging technology at IDEO. My days revolve around learning cutting-edge tools, engaging in project sprints, and, for the past few years, being inundated with a daily stream of new AI

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