Tag Archives: Unplugged

Surviving my 25 day Offline Holiday

If you’re reading this,  you probably read Part I of my social experiment, 25 Day Offline Holiday: Can a techie do it? I’m trying to live without the Internet for 25 days while I’m on vacation in Chile. Well, not absolutely without. It’s available, but I’ve banned myself from receiving or answering emails or messages, playing with the apps on my phone… that sort of thing.

I am on an Offline Holiday. Can I survive it?

I discovered that I can run without a fitness app tracking my progress

I discovered that I can run without a fitness app tracking my progress

Day 8. Today, while running under the sun and watching the fields, I wondered what Bob would think about my 25-day experiment? Bob is my fellow Avast evangelist and like me, he’s extremely active on the Avast Forum. He makes presentations all over the United States about security, anti-malware, and how to be safe while connected. I guess he’s never recommended Avast to anyone offline. All he must  be doing, while I’m on my offline vacation, is teaching people to be protected, have their antivirus fully updated, and so forth.

And what about David, another Avast evangelist? I wonder if he is solving all the issues on the Avast Forum? Would he survive in England without being connected? What about Asyn? Has he recommended that you read any Avast Blog articles yet? And Polonus? Is he fighting off online malware?

I’m not sure what my friends are doing, as I’ve been offline for over a week now.

Look for yourself: Join the Avast Community Forum and meet real people that can guide you through online security. Tell them I said hello.

Day 9. Nothing new. I’m bored because I can only read the local newspaper. I have a lot of time to watch movies.  My health is very good: I lost some weight. But I don’t know for sure. Maybe it’s wishful thinking since I’m not following my app.

Day 10. I love ice cream and today I have one. Isn’t life beautiful?

As I write this, my thoughts drift back to what I enjoy doing the most when I’ve got an Internet connection – helping people stay secure when they’re online. If you’re connected, you need to be safe.

I can’t imagine connecting  to the internet without the protection of Avast SecureLine in all these cafes offering public Wi-Fi. As I sit here eating my ice cream, and not looking down at my phone, I watch the people.  It’s a pity that I can’t teach all of the guys here that their internet traffic could be eavesdropped on without a proper VPN. Well, Avast Mobile Security team, at least I’m safe since I’m offline. Plenty of work for you…

Here, the sun is in the sky, and I have all day to enjoy myself. OK, now what…?

Day 11-13. Nothing new during these past few days, I mean, nothing interesting enough to be written about here in the Avast blog. As I don’t know if Deborah published Part I, maybe these musings are useless?

I may be offline, but my thoughts are connected to my work with Avast. I miss everyone and hope the Avast team is working hard to protect more than 230 million people round the world. They have one less to protect for another week and a half.

Did you see the picture of the Avast Virus Lab some days ago? Wow, all that malware coming to your devices. But I’m sure if you’re reading this, you are smart enough to protect both your notebook and your mobile devices.

Day 14. Hmmm… I wonder if this blog is useful to anyone? Did anyone comment on part one? Did our social media team receive any comments about my experience on Facebook or Twitter?

The worst part about being offline for the past 14 days, is that I don’t really know what is happening. No feedback. No likes, plus 1s, or retweets. No news is good news, I suppose.


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The Value of an Unplugged Vacation

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:

  • No checking works emails, texts, or calls.
  • No working, period.
  • You have to actually go on vacation or you don’t get the money.

 

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