by Shanon Olsen
Yesterday, as I began packing for my vacation, my mind began to chatter:
Yesterday, as I began packing for my vacation, my mind began to chatter:
“Should I bring my computer?”
“Will I have cell service?”
“I need to be able to check my email!”
Ten years ago, this was not the conversation I was engaging in before heading off for a week in the woods. What has changed?
New technology has created a phenomenon some are calling “digital overtime.” This term is used to describe all the time we spend in our "off" hours checking email, sending text messages, and scheduling meetings on behalf of our jobs. Time that is nearly impossible to track and account for.
The Pew Internet & American Life Project--a nonprofit "fact tank" that provides information on the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping America and the world--conducted a survey of employed email users and found that:
- 22% are expected to respond to work email when they're not at work
- 50% check work email on the weekends
- 46% check work email on sick days
- 34% check work email while on vacation
My interest is not so much about whether this trend in digital overtime is right or wrong, good or bad. Rather, I am interested in how this struggle to disconnect impacts both our professional and personal lives. What are the moments of genius and discovery we miss by not being present to what is directly in front of us?
Technology has gifted us with international connections, flexibility, and hightened productivity. But on the flip side, it is now more of a challenge to simply turn off the office lights at night and engage in the rest of life.
Technology has gifted us with international connections, flexibility, and hightened productivity. But on the flip side, it is now more of a challenge to simply turn off the office lights at night and engage in the rest of life.
This current trend is challenging us with a paradoxical leadership stretch:
Disconnect so you can reconnect.
Perhaps, by simply allowing time each day to set it all down, we can reignite passion in our workplaces and stay connected to the purpose of our careers. Perhaps we can be rested and restored so we can be of great use in ways that matter deeply to us.
So, as someone who is prone to putting in many hours of digital overtime, I am pleased to say that I will be off the grid for the next week. It seems the trees and mountains will be volunteering to block my cell signal. We all need a little support to disconnect, at first.
Enjoy this great video that captures the the idea of disconnecting to connect.
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