I’ve been on a bit of a hiatus – first off to San Francisco and Yosemite to feed my travel bug, then catching up after being away.
I took the opportunity of being on vacation from work and away from home to engage in a modified technology fast. A client introduced me to this concept a couple of years ago. The idea – as with any fast – is to refrain from a certain customary activity for a period of time. In this case, to disconnect from technology, or at least certain types of technology. I did not bicycle from New York to California – I took a plane. I did not camp – I stayed in a hotel. And I permitted my teenaged travel companions a bit of television during down times.
What I disconnected from for this technology fast was the phone and the Internet, including, most importantly for me, the constant barrage of e-mail.
Could you get through one week without e-mail? What about Facebook or Twitter? What about your cell phone?
Some of you will immediately see the appeal of a technology fast. Others may be saying, “of course I could disconnect, but why would I want to?”
To that, I’d say: try it for just 48 hours and see for yourself.
As with any other type of fasting (which, I admit, I don’t do much of), the point is to limit something to make room for something else. What technology fasts do for me is give me room to single-task and think. They give me time to enjoy what I am doing at the moment, without constant interruptions and switch-tasking, and brain space to really think, at the deep level of creative background thinking. Most important, technology fasts give me perspective – perspective on the addictive qualities of the Internet, and perspective on how I can use technology without being enslaved to it.
Would anything truly bad happen if you didn’t view your e-mails, phone messages or texts for one or two days? If you are concerned that others will think you are blowing them off, then warn them in advance or turn on your auto-respond to let them know that you will be taking a couple of days “off” and will respond when you return. And you may wish to give your very closest friends and relatives a way to reach you in an emergency. But do try to truly disconnect as far as possible – and push the envelope of what feels possible.
Try a technology fast – if you dare.
