Last December we travelled to Malaysia on holidays with friends. I decided to disconnect completely from technology, so no phone, iPad, laptop, iPod – nothing. The only small luxury I allowed myself was my Kindle. It’s hard to enjoy idle time by a pool without one!
Instead of finding this liberating, I found I had a severe case of technology Tourette’s, as I kept twitching and reaching for my phantom phone. I survived by pestering my family and friends for information: asking them the time, getting them to check reviews on TripAdvisor, and having them fill me in on the latest weather updates, etc.
It was definitely a memorable summer vacation! Coming back into life in Melbourne, I have been working on a modified version of this disconnect. I was even more motivated when I read that 12% of the people use their smartphone in the shower and 10% during sex! Really?
So now the winter of my disconnect involves a very modified Sunday morning version, where I disconnect totally from technology for a couple of hours or half a day. I spend time reading or with my family, tending my garden, or relaxing over coffee with friends. All of these activities have me mono-tasking for once, and giving the one thing I am doing my complete attention. I still have technology Tourette’s but now it’s more of a twitch. What about you? Please comment – I love hearing from you.
*Blog post title borrowed from the book: The Winter of Our Disconnect: How Three Totally Wired Teenagers (and a Mother Who Slept with Her iPhone) Pulled the Plug on Their Technology and Lived to Tell the Tale, by Susan Maushart.
Comments
I can totally relate to this ‘disconnect’ phase. I was at a meditation retreat where I had to follow Noble Silence, no phones, no writing, no reading. We just did one thing- meditate. We meditated for 10 hours a day for 10 days. Thats a total of 100 hours of pure connectivity- it connects you to the real source of all things. It was divine and out of the world experience.
I’m in the Property and Resources industry – and when conducting Project Management Meetings insist there is no use of mobiles, laptops, ….and whatever else takes us off the main game – suddenly I have a commitment to an outcome, meetings run smoothly.
True. We are so much obsessed with gadgets these days, that we have let them take over our lives. When I go to US on project, I have heard many of my clients say, why this mobile phones.. we were happy 10 years back without them and life did go on well even then. It has become a social obligation and fashion I guess, to own these gadgets and keep staring at them all along 🙂