A lot of people get down to work although they’re not in the office. With a smartphone or tablet it’s easily enough and although they’re on their vacation, on the toilet, or in a restaurant people are still reading their working related stuff. That’s not healthy — do you need a digital detox, too?
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In keeping with tradition, each year my husband Bob and I gather some of our 14 nieces and nephews and do an annual diving trip. Generally we provide diving lessons to each of the children as they come of age. This year, we did an “alumni” trip for all of the kids who have participated before.
It was truly awesome – and all about diving, eating and sleeping and, then… repeat.
We also had a no-devices-allowed policy. So each evening we had dinner at the big pagoda on the beach. Afterwards, all of us in hammocks. And every night we had amazing conversations!
I was most struck by my young nieces and nephews’ views on how nice it was to be unplugged… Thoughts on how intrusive the internet and smart devices have become in their young lives…I.e. If you don’t text back in real-time, you could lose a friend who thinks you are being unresponsive… (Sound familiar?)
But they really reveled in the opportunity to get away from it all. It wasn’t just me, but kids!
It started me thinking in general about the value of vacations, but especially unplugged ones.
The benefits of taking a vacation are well documented, and practical. Pluses include higher productivity, improved morale, better employee retention, and a better overall workplace culture. That’s just in the workplace. The health benefits for the individual are evident too and should concern all of us.
Numerous studies have shown that vacations lower blood pressure and ease depression…and that even looking forward to a vacation brings major dividends. In just one example, the widely regarded Framingham Heart Study, a long-term ongoing cardiovascular study that began in 1948 to analyze adult subjects who were at risk of heart disease, found a positive correlation between more frequent vacations and longer healthier lives.
But did you know that more than 40% of American workers who received paid time off did not take all of their allotted time in 2013—even despite the obvious personal benefits? This is according to the most recent study entitled “An Assessment of Paid Time Off in the U.S.” commissioned by the U.S. Travel Association, a trade group, and completed by Oxford Economics. The study found, among other things, that we as workers left an average of 3.2 paid time off days unused in 2013, which adds up to 429 million unused days off.
The fact is many people who don’t take vacations are not only hurting themselves and their own productivity. They’re also hurting our country’s economy. And in terms of the overall economy, the Oxford/USTA study found that if employees would take just one additional day of earned leave each year, the result would mean $73 billion in output for the U.S. economy and positive impacts for both employees and businesses.
It has lead to some innovative workplace policies. One of the most intriguing is a Denver-base tech company’s Paid Paid Vacation policy. Bart Lorang, co-founder and CEO of the Denver-based tech company FullContact introduced “Paid Paid Vacation” in 2012. In addition to the standard 15 days paid vacation plus federal holidays (allotted by many US companies), the company gives employees $7,500 to finance a trip. That’s cash on top of their full salaries. The concept is both generous and innovative by US standards!
There is a caveat, however. The employees have to agree to three rules:
According to FullContact, the program has translated into real-life benefits.
For example, FullContact’s communications director Brad McCarty told the Washington Post, “The really big names in tech all focus on the same idea, that employee happiness has to come before everything else. While it’s really difficult to measure that return on investment from a dollar standpoint, it’s not difficult to measure what happens when someone returns from a Paid Paid Vacation: you see, without fail, people shining brighter, working harder and more excited to get back into the swing of things.” There also are other ancillary benefits, as Lorang told the Business Insider.
Of note: because the employee who is going on vacation is literally cut-off from work, it’s essential that other employees are cross-trained or up-to-speed on the vacationee’s projects. This means sharing information and avoiding the ‘hero’ trap – the “I’m the only one that can do this” mentality…
Perhaps best of all, and an inspiration for other small business owners, is that Lorang takes his own advice and has an unplugged vacation at least once a year.
I know that we are all very busy and engaged with our work and our daily lives. And our schedules are always overbooked. But please do take the time to have some fun, unplug, or have an adventure by yourself and/or with your loved ones. You’ll find yourself coming back to work with a smile on your face!
Here’s a shout out and “miss you” to all my nieces and nephews, who seem to be learning this at an early age! Inspiring.J
As consumers, we continually hear about the ‘Internet of things’ and the positive changes that will come from our always connected world.
I recently read an article in the San Jose Mercury news that talks about the devices we are all expected to acquire that will make many of our life decisions for us, whether an automated butler, health gadget, thermostat or a driverless car.
It made me contemplate the amount of connectivity we already have in our lives and how it is set to increase. How much is enough? Can we have too many smart devices?
Let’s consider a potential scenario from the not too distant future:
Awoken at the optimal moment in your sleep pattern by your wearable tracker, you are recommended a light breakfast that includes juice with added vitamin D due to your lower than normal levels.
While having breakfast, the news is reported to you by a service that selects what it thinks you will want to know.
The weather app recommends dressing cooler today as sunshine is forecast. Your driverless sends an alert that, based on traffic conditions, the optimal time to get on the freeway would be in 10 minutes time. It then alerts the household heating system to shut down as you are going to be leaving.
The first two hours of your day are led by suggestions made by gadgets and where the information you are offered has been pre-selected.
Some mornings this guidance might seem the perfect way to start the day. To me though, it seems like we are at risk of surrendering control to the devices of the future.
Our connected gadgets and services are being controlled or fed information that, of course, is open to manipulation by people and companies out to exploit our willingness to be led rather than to explore.
“We need to temper our reliance on technology and connected services, even though they can help make life easier”.
We need to keep our reliance on technology in check and connected services, even though they can help make life easier.
Imagine a life without open choice, where all options available have been preselected for you. It is starting to sound like the Truman Show.
Take an everyday task such as selecting a movie for the family to watch. On a busy workday, a recommendation made by a streaming company might be useful, but if I did not sit and browse for myself every now and again, I would miss things that I might also like.
Exploring the options for myself allows me to find things that would not have been on my list of recommendations and might just surprise me.
I love my gadgets and I don’t want to come across as negative. However, there’s a lot to be said for exploring.
I would encourage everyone to find some time in their busy schedule to go gadget free and try something new. You never know what you might discover.