When was the last time you didn’t have your smartphone within arm’s reach? How long have you gone without checking your email, posting on Facebook or sending a text message? Have you ever left the house without your phone and turned back to get it – even though it added another 20 minutes to your commute? Have you actually ever officially “checked out”?
Probably not.
Here I am on vacation in the Northwoods writing this blog. I will be on vacation all week and will check my email every day – several times. I will log in to check on client campaigns and meet deadlines that could probably wait a few days. I am not an on-call rescue person, I work in advertising. But we have been conditioned to be connected all the time. What if I miss something? Will work be a bigger shitstorm if I don’t check in all week and come back blind? Or would I enjoy my vacation more and relax if I just shut my phone, laptop and tablet off and just checked out? Honestly, I don’t remember what it even feels like to leave home without my smartphone.
So, tell me – when you go on vacation do you leave it all behind? Let me know and I’ll respond when I get back. (I’m officially checking out now.)
January 10th, 2012 at 8:11 am
Technology and instant communication is so ubiquitous that its impossible to disconnect even if you can unplug. In any job we want be be a necessary part of the machine. Part of any reward in a job is being an integral part of how it all works. No one wants to be that person that’s easily replaceable. There should be contingencies in place so that when we vacation or take time for ourselves, that machine still runs. Those contingencies
January 10th, 2012 at 8:25 am
Technology and instant communication is so ubiquitous its possible to unplug but never disconnect. Even when we get away that technology still surrounds us, we rely on it. That same reliance is what we hope our co-workers expect from us. The ability to be there at the flip of a switch. No one wants to be the replaceable piece in the machine. It makes ones duty within a job feel less important to the overall goal. There should, of course, be contingencies in place so that we can take a break and try to disconnect and recharge our personal batteries.
“I’m not here, but I’m here” I will often hear people leaving for an extended period say.
That need to be connected also depends on your activity within the company. Being in sales I’m not as necessary as a manager is for oversight but my experience and knowledge for a vast majority of things that occur makes it so that people rely on me being available to answer questions. Sure, I could completely disconnect and create a backlog of stuff that will just be waiting for me when I get back and it will quickly undo all the relaxation and recharging I did while I was gone. Or, I could take those 5-10 minutes of my vacation, answer the questions and when I do return, return smoothly into the flow of things since they weren’t disrupted by me being completely absent.
So, Unplug? Yes.
Disconnect, No.
Enjoy your vacation.
Brian
January 10th, 2012 at 8:27 am
Apologies for the first post being abrupt, it sent as I was typing on my mobile device. The simple things can be so complex and frustrating…
January 10th, 2012 at 8:40 am
I have to laugh at myself because my idea of checking out is signing out of my work accounts, and logging into my personal accounts. I’m so ‘On The Grid’ that my idea of a vacation is a nice game of RadBalls followed by harvesting some good ol’ Facebook gossip; just laid back soaking in the rays of a 7 inch LCD!
January 11th, 2012 at 1:57 pm
I am fascinated when people say they have a difficult time “checking out.”
When vacation time (or the weekend) begins, all work-related thoughts are automatically banished from my brain. It is effortless. I almost forget I even HAVE a job until the night before I return to work. I find myself thinking, “Isn’t there some place I need to go tomorrow… it has a bunch of office supplies, and a communal fridge… oh yeah, work!”
I don’t check Facebook on vacation, either. I can’t think of one iota of content that I will regret missing. I do check my personal e-mail on vacation, but that is only to make sure I don’t miss any opportunities to help African princes wire money into my bank account.
January 11th, 2012 at 2:55 pm
I made a bold attempt to check out a few months ago (chronicled here: http://tiffanyannweber.com/a-social-media-hiatus) but it was just Social Media. It took getting on a boat, going out into the ocean and not being able to have access to get me to stop checking. By day 3 I was frantic, by day 5 I was at ease. But as soon as I got reception I checked all 3 of my jobs, my personal email, checked in that I was back in the states and texted my friends …. ahhh, the world we live in!
January 12th, 2012 at 7:39 am
I have tried numerous times to disconnect from the digital world, to no avail.
This year though, I have made it a goal to try and shut down and step away from web/twitter/facebook/text/email/google plus/youtube/vimeo/RSS Feeds/instant messenger/plurk/skype/instagram/foursquare/SCVNGR/tiny tower and all of the others I’m forgetting for a little bit each day.
It will be a challenge for my very conditioned brain.