In May 2015, more than half a million Brits tuned into BBC Four looking to escape their hectic everyday lives with an hour of birdsong or a canal journey. The BBC Four Goes Slow series showcased ‘slow TV’, featuring uninterrupted shows filmed in real-time. But why are people tuning in to slow down?

Email is dead – that’s what the tech industry has been saying for the last decade. Yet hundreds of unread messages clutter workers’ inboxes every day. Slack aims to increase productivity by improving communication and transparency across entire businesses. Could this really be the end for email?

Do you check your work emails on the weekend? Read your texts during dinner? Chat to mates from home when you’re on holiday? We may be constantly connected, but many people believe there’s a time and place for tech. Canvas8 sat down with 20 Brits to find out when they’d prefer to switch off.

We’re losing focus on the present. We spend 47% of our time thinking about something other than what we’re actually doing. In the UK, US and Australia, fuelled by the desire to slow down and appreciate the moment, mindfulness – which can reduce anxiety by 70% – is now the antidote to busy city lifestyles.