A brief rundown of a week-long pilot program on calming using SMS technology. Focus is on being "in the moment."

1. Text2Calm: “Living in the moment.” A pilot program on calming by : Mitchell Fukumoto

2. A Brief Rundown Take a photo of a “moment” during the day. Reminded once a day via text. At the end of the day, send the photo back via text or email. A “moment of the day” is sent back at the end of the day showcasing the best “moment of the day.” All pictures are posted to a blog: http://lifeiswin.tumblr.com/

4. First Round Survey – After one week Q: How did you feel when you were asked to complete your task?Answers: “I actually wanted to do it!”, “too enthusiastic, couldn’t stop”, “excited” Q: How did you feel after completing your task?Answers: “accomplished”, “happy”, “nostalgic”, “more aware of my surroundings” Q: Was the blog and/or the moment of the day effective?Answers: “I liked it because it was my community”, “it definitely spread the joy”, “added incentive to take a great picture”, “it’s nice to see what people chose to reflect on”

5. First Round Feedback “I wanted to do when I wasn't stressed, but when I was stressed or busy, it felt like an obligation.” “I was usually pretty aware of when I was forgetting to take my picture…Other than just remembering in the back of my head, I didn't have anything to prompt me everyday.” “more reminders!” “It might be fun to occasionally get prompted pictures instead of just a reminder. For instance instead of just ‘capture a moment of the day,’ something like ‘take a moment to notice people's smiles today’”

6. Best Feedback Received Out of 7 original participants, 6 were regular contributors. 86% initial retention rate. Out of 6 regular contributors, 6 agreed to continue with the project. 100% retention rate.

7. Second Round Implementation Add more reminders Hopefully one will trigger the behavior. Take a picture once every other day at your leisure but reminders are sent every day. Attempt to remove the obligation of taking a picture. Gives the user a bigger time frame. Some days, add a “moment challenge” to take a picture of something specific.

8. Moving Forward Will continue to blog indefinitely. Received many comments that the blog was the best thing to come out of this project. Personally, I will continue to take pictures. It makes me calmer, happier and is like a virtual journal of my daily life. Added Google Analytics to the blog to track network traffic. Will attempt to increase traffic to the site and followers to the blog.

9. Contact Information Mitchell Fukumoto Twitter username: mitchfuku Personal blog: mitchfuku.tumblr.com Picture blog: lifeiswin.tumblr.com For more information or to join this project, contact me at: mitchsf7@stanford.edu