Imagine life in the year 2039—how different will things be 20 years from now? Every step of our mornings will be made even easier and better by technology, assuming that we continue to allow technology into our private lives.
In our lives today, our dependence on technology starts as soon as we wake up. My first thought in the morning is my daughter, so I start my morning by checking the Nest app to see if she is awake. I turn off the house alarm with an app, feed the dogs and make coffee. I ask Alexa to tell me the news and weather. Even walking the dogs involves technology, as I lock the door with a voice command and open it with an app. Throughout the morning, I’m moving across multiple channels and technologies. I drive my daughter to school, exercise and pick out what I’m going to wear. I book exercise classes through an app and use another app to guide my meditation. I get ready for the day and head to meetings, usually by taking the ferry to San Francisco. Before I leave I check traffic on my phone or order a Lyft if needed.
A morning routine 20 years ago would have consisted of many of the same things, but it would have been a lot harder and more time-consuming without the help of technology. I have all kinds of technology by my side throughout the morning to help me get myself and my family where they need to be efficiently and happily.
The morning routine will continue to evolve in the next 20 years. Life then will likely be very different with new technology, but our daily morning tasks will still be the same. We’ll still need to get ready for the day, get the kids to school and keep ourselves healthy. The difference is that even more small tasks will be handled by technology and be automated.
In 20 years, parents won’t have to check on their kids through an app in the morning. It will all be automated and triggered when the parent wakes up or gets out of bed and gets a notification of what their child is up to. The alarm will be deactivated and the door will automatically open to let the dogs out. Even the coffee maker will kick on automatically. In the future, technology will still assist people with all their activities, but it will take much less effort on our part. Gone will be the days of moving back and forth across apps and devices. Instead, everything will be more automated for a seamless and more personalized start to the day. Products will work in the background thanks to advances in IoT and connected smart homes.
Of course, the impact of automation and customization on the morning routine depends on how much data we allow companies to have. But as we grant access to our data and lives, our experience can change in real time and create a seamless morning routine. A morning in 20 years might not look drastically different than it does today, but it will run much more smoothly with the help of technology.
Blake Morgan is a keynote speaker, futurist and author of two books, “The Customer Of The Future” and “More Is More.” Sign up for her weekly customer experience newsletter here.