“Unplugging” in the Media

The backlash is gaining momentum. I am hearing more and more about people who are fed up with information overload and the burden of being constantly connected. Reboot, the organization that I linked to a few posts ago who created the Sabbath Manifesto, launched the first National Day of Unplugging today. They invited everyone to "put down the cell phone, stop the status updates on Facebook, shut down Twitter, sign out of e-mail and relax." Aimed at Jewish professionals who are interested in re-inventing the Sabbath, this is exactly the kind of movement that people all over the United States can benefit from, regardless of religious affiliation.

Strategic Trend and Marketing Consultant Wendy Dembo is noticing activity of this kind on both coasts. She pointed out that The New York Times is talking (watch the video!) about Reboot's project. And another article about the National Day of Unplugging appears in the style section of that newspaper. It's a new lifestyle!

Employers are taking notice as well. The March issue of Entrepreneur magazine published an article called "Email is making you stupid" that reveals "The average information worker – basically anyone at a desk – loses 2.1 hours of productivity every day to interruptions and distractions." People's brains just are not built for the kind of multi-tasking that has become commonplace. The article also cites examples of companies who are working to change this: "Companies including U.S. Cellular and Deloitte & Touche have mandated less e-mail use, encouraged more face-to-face contact and experimented with programs such as 'no e-mail Friday'. The results often are surprising: employees build rapport with colleagues – and they save time. Co-workers can settle something in a two-minute phone conversation that might have required three e-mails per person." Surprise!

I hope to see more and more about this in the media, and if I'm not seeing it, I'll make some news of my own. National Tech-free Day will be the next full-moon Saturday, on June 26. In the mean time, I will be planning some smaller tech-free events over the next few months. Join me!