A Week Offline
I just came back from a week's vacation. I love vacations because they allow me to spend all of my time with my family, and they are my favorite people. In the past, though, I've always kept work close at hand; I checked email regularly, answered those I felt needed answering, and made or returned calls when I though situations required it. Usually I woke up before everyone else and spent an hour or two working so I wouldn't have to feel obligated to do things during the day, but I still checked my inboxes regularly throughout the day, and often would respond when my family was focused on other things.
This year I tried something. I left my laptop and iPad at home, and took only my iPhone. As soon as we left the house, I turned the phone off. During the first part of my trip, I only turned the phone on when my wife and I were apart, so we could reach each other if necessary, but I didn't answer any call that wasn't from her. I didn't tweet or post anything to Facebook. The only exceptions were the last night of our campout when we could tell that a storm was coming and used the iPhone to check the weather so we would know precisely what to expect. (a storm can be exciting, but also scary, when a tent is your only shelter), and a client conference call I joined only because we were in the car the whole time and there wasn't much else to do.
In the middle of the week I returned home to attend a Mashable event, and of course I went back online for about twelve hours and caught up on some emails and social media. When the event was over I took my family to the beach for a few days, and stayed offline until the last night, when I had a great dinner and checked-in at the restaurant through Foursquare to give them a plug. (If you are ever in Rehoboth Beach, you should definitely eat at Blue. Best fried green tomatoes I've ever had.)
I can honestly say that staying offline was well worth it, and I'll be doing it again on future vacations. This trip instead of waking up early and working, I woke up early and went fishing. When I had a few minutes to myself i didn't check emails or make calls, I read a book. There were, of course, plenty of times when work crept into my consciousness, but when it happened I resisted the urge to go online. Sometimes I just let the work thoughts go, and they drifted away as my mind focused on the sound of the birds or my daughter's laughter. Other times I let the work thoughts stick around, and was surprised and how much more clearly I could think about tasks or strategies when I was completely removed from the day-to-day minutiae.
For all of you who take "working vacations" I say stop. Take a real vacation, and leave it all behind for a while. It will make you a better worker, not a worse one.
