I just got back from a week vacation at my family's home out on eastern Long Island, and it took me a really long time to relax (was it yesterday afternoon?), largely due, I think, to not really separating from my computer and phone.
To be honest, being away from work and yet still connected by a daily email check-in created a weird anxiety that I had not experienced before. I've gone far away on trips so that I was totally out of reach and observed my nerves settling down by day three, but that didn't happen this time. I was not really unplugged. Even on Thursday of last week I was really stressed out.
On the front page of the New York Times today, there's a great article on this subject that seemed written for me as I came back to work early this morning on a two hour bus ride. Outdoors and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain by Matt Richel is a compelling story of a bunch of scientists who go for a rafting trip with the idea of observing how their brains work when they disconnect.
There are also skeptics among them, but the effects soon become quite clear. By the third day "even the more skeptical of the scientists say something is happening to their brains" and that "time is slowing down,” creating a deeply restorative feeling and supporting conversations that they wouldn't have had at work or even business retreats.
None of this should really be surprising, except for the fact that it feels so hard to get away like this. I just tried it and didn't do a great job, particularly with my iPhone, which offers me all sorts of other things to check in on during the day. (I became the Foursquare mayor of the pond where we went swimming.)
My wife has often joked about going away and offline for a year. I can't wait, but right now I'd be happy to just start my week over again.
>> Outdoors and Out of Reach, Studying the Brain - NYTimes
(Images: Maxwell top, Chang W. Lee/The New York Times bottom)
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How timely!
I just got back from a 3-day camping trip and largely due to the location, I was able to be completely unplugged. And I meant completely!
I had no cell phone reception nor wireless access. The camp site was in the middle of nowhere and we didn't drive our own car, so we didn't go anywhere beyond the camp site and the trails. That really allowed me to relax and enjoy nature and slow my brain down.
I did feel that time had gone a lot slower, and my mood was a lot more cheerful throughout the whole time.
It's refreshing to do this once a while, to just completely separate yourself from the "real world".
Looking forward to our week in the Berkshires next week -- my friend who owns the house asked if I wanted to keep the internet service active (it's a seasonal house) -- I said no, we want to disconnect. Alas, cell phones do work, but it will be a pleasure to ignore the internet (and TV!) for 8 or 9 days.
We unplug every time we go to our cabin, and it makes a huge difference. I don't even think about email while we're there, whereas in the city, I'm somewhat compulsive about it.
And Mid-C Frank: cell phones do come with an 'off' button. ;)
I think there is a lot to be said about switching off......and I rarely do. But my computer crashed on Friday and, all weekend, my brain couldn't have been happier. I've also discovered that two hours at the local coffee shop, every Monday morning, spent casually talking about creative endeavors with a great friend and no gadgets is a great way to start the week.
It is really disturbing to me to watch people either talking on the phone or connecting to their computers constantly. Even when out on the beach I watch people texting and logging on and I wonder, "what is wrong with you, do you not see and hear those waves"?
After making a concious decision a while ago to unplug when I go outside, I feel much better, much more connected to the world and what is going on around me. Being constantly plugged in creates an anxiety that there is always something we are forgetting to do, which destroys any effort we make to relax.
There is still a world out there, with trees, air, people, events. Try plugging into life, you will find that you have been missing out! This pseudo life being led while constantly online is quite sad to me.....
TammyE -- my off button is quite worn already! But due to a family members health issues, we can't unplug completely.
I bought my answering machine (many many moons ago) because it offered me the chance to screen calls -- I was "unplugging" back in the rotary phone era!!!!
For those of us who make a living in the outdoors in remote areas we watch our clients go through decompress time, some with eagerness, others with a bit of angst. It doesn't take long and they're back to thinking clearly. It happens to us staff, too. It's noticeable and a pleasure. I LIKE that the brain thinks more clearly in the outdoors, it's a natural. Isn't that where we evolved from not so long ago?
My cell phone can't even take photos - and that's totally on purpose. It can make calls, and (begrudgingly) send texts. I'm not a luddite by any stretch, but am very wary of how invasive all these super cool new gadgets are to our brains. I know I'm not the norm in that I actually don't want to have a lifestyle where I need an iPhone, even though I think the ability to have the internet at our fingertips at all times is truly an amazing thing. I try to remember what my life was like before everything was so computer-centric, but my attention span is so short now I can't recall...
Sorry that your vacation wasn't more restful. A similar thing happened to me on the first half of my vacation this year too.
Last summer, I took a cruise in Europe and came home feeling amazingly refreshed. I realized it was because I was forced to unplug. In the middle of the Med, there's no cell phone coverage and satellite Internet is very expensive. I was never sooooo relaxed!
Seriously, it is incredibly difficult to shut down, to not check in with your site, your email, your voicemail, and I truly believe it does have a strong effect on your ability to completely relax. Just spent a week in Nantucket and woke up each morning to sit side by side with 3 fellow laptoppers to get some work done in the beginning so we could better enjoy the rest of the day. I should have left my laptop on the mainland and just succumbed to vacation which is what I did the last 3 days and it was glorious!
Maybe this is why time was so slow when I lived deep in the woods with no electricity. There were more things needing to be done just to survive: chopping wood, keeping a fire going when cooking, hauling water, milking goats....But there seemed to be endless time to do it.
And the time alone never seemed lonely.
Strangely, my "timesaving" home equipment and always-in-touch media make me more tired and more lonely.
I may just take a weekly break to recharge my soul
No comments on the food in the shoes? Yuk!
You took the words out of my mouth, er keyboard, jacasi.
That's exactly what I was thinking! Ew.
It seems that, for some people, they cease to exist without internet and cell phone connection. One family member documents all holiday moments, constantly calling friends with a running commentary of what's happening, and sending photos of locations, food, etc, whilst ignoring those around him!
We just got back from a week at a lakeside cabin that has no internet access, telephone, or TV. Even our mobile phones got "ify" reception. Next year, though, I'm keeping them in the car and unplug 100%.
I noticed the raspberries and tomatoes in the tiny shoes...and loved the photo! (a better photo than the NYT one, imho)
Figured whoever picked them will obviously wash them well before eating.
What the photo told me was: a little kid went berry picking, and with no bag or basket, decided to put the berries in her shoe. Image of a barefoot child skipping home with fresh berries is sort of charming.
As for to unplug or not: When I'm talking to someone, I prefer that they don't ignore me by playing on a gadget instead. It's frustrating to have someone only half listening to you. I tell them, "Please look at me. I need eyeball time."
But I have to admit that when traveling, I prefer hotels with internet so I can check the news, book rooms for the next stop, Skype my mom and other relatives (saves so much $$$).
Also have to note that my new iPhone came in super handy on our recent trip to Europe. Just tap in the address on map function and follow the arrow. Was able to help a lost Japanese tourist by using my iPhone to lead him and his grandson to their hotel.
Access to internet translation is also fantastic. In a little out of the way town where little English was spoken, iPhone came in handy again when we were able to type in English and push a button for a translation into the local language. Was also able to type in strange words from the menu and get instant English translations. It was amazing.
Once I'm finished using what all the gadgets can do for me on vacation, I do force myself to put them away so I can enjoy the scenery and people around me.
I have a mixed on this feeling. I travel a lot for work, and so the time I spend on planes I am out of reach. I also don't use internet when I'm in airports unless there is some extreme need to.
Recently I was in the Pacific and I chose not to turn on my blackberry. Internet coverage was very expensive. I did not attempt to go online for the first 36 hours that I was there. Then, I only went online for about an hour a day. I absolutely needed to send work emails.
Eventually I bought a local phone because I needed local contacts to call me.
As weeks went on, I needed to be online for several more hours a day to send more and more work emails. But, it was a gradual build up--at first I was doing most of my work in person.
I get a mixed feeling with this because, while I like the unplugged feeling at first, and so I engage in it--maybe for the 72 hours it takes me to fly from the East Coast to the Pacific and settle in for a few days--eventually I start itching for contact. I start itching for my local news instead of the print dailies and foreign world news channel.
But then when I get back online I find it a frivolous waste of time. I want to get my emailing and skyping of loved ones done and then sign off as soon as possible. I want to look at my new surroundings and experience them as much as possible.
Also, when I come back, the internet keeps me further jet lagged. I don't own or watch TV but, I know I would go to bed earlier and not just say "oh its jet lagged" if I wasn't needlessly "catching up" on internet.
As soon as I close the laptop and start to journal I fall asleep. Now why couldn't I have done that before?
I get to travel to many remote, off the grid places, and it makes me appreciate that and to consider how plugged in I am. Being plugged in makes me productive. But I do like to slow down. Its a mix.