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2026: The Great Unplugging

Person in the wilderness staring at their phone

by Edwina Olver

3 min read

After years of hyper-connection, hustle, and hollow productivity, 2026 will cast a light on deeper psychological and social truths at play.

Three cravings that are shaping how we live, work, and connect in the year ahead:

1. Craving Silence

From information overload to sensory sobriety.

We’ve hit peak noise. A blur of screens, ads, notifications, prompts, opinions all vying to steal our patience, attention and appetite. 

The result? We literally have too many tabs open. In our browsers and in our brains.

In 2026, quiet becomes the new luxury. People are opting out of the chaos economy and into stillness.

  • Digital detoxing goes mainstream. From phone fasts to silent retreats, meditation becomes our default mode.
  • Retreat culture continues: Meditation retreat? Great. Yoga retreat? Yes please. Bali retreat? Hell yes. Let’s GTF out of here.
  • Nature reclaims its place as a restorative force, not as an escape but as medicine for stillness and focus.

The most radical act of the decade? Saying nothing at all. 

2. Craving Meaning

From predefined to self-defined.

For a generation raised on milestones: degree, job, marriage, mortgage, kids — the script no longer fits. People are questioning everything: Why should I follow the path society set for me?

The meaning movement is about rewriting life’s blueprint in real-time. This is more than rebellion, it’s self-evolution:

  • Self-evolution replaces self-optimization. We’re not fixing ourselves; we’re unfolding. We’re redefining who we are, not by our jobs but by our values.
  • Inner work becomes mainstream: coaching, journalling, meditation, therapy, spirituality all become both personal practice and professional pathways.
  • Long-form content — youtube, podcasts, documentaries, substack — reflect a hunger for depth and focus on substance over surface-level.

Meaning moves people.

3. Craving Connection

From social networks to soulful networks.

Meaning is increasingly found in each other: through shared purpose, small circles, and local belonging.

After years of digital distance and curated performance, people are done with followers. They want fellowship.

  • The intimacy economy is rising: Multi Whatsapp groups, women’s circles, book clubs, run clubs, travel meetups. Curated communities stacked into every week.
  • Authentic creators: those who share with honesty and vulnerability eclipse the era of polished influencers.

Connection is no longer about visibility; it’s about vulnerability.

The Bigger Picture

Craving Silence. Craving Meaning. Craving Connection.  Together, they signal a cultural recalibration.  A collective exhale after years of overstimulation. 2026 isn’t about doing more, it’s about being more human.

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Edwina Olver

→ Edwina is a CX and digital transformation leader who thrives on empowering businesses to become more customer-centric in everything they do. Having worked as a CX leader, agile coach, researcher and practitioner of design thinking for almost 15 years in Australia, Edwina brings an open and collaborative leadership style coupled with a blended skillset to enable organisations and teams to deliver ambitious customer-centric change - inside and out.

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