Constantly Connected
21/07/15 05:12
We are home from a week of vacation and today is the day to return to work. Our trip was a delightful break from the ordinary and we traveled 1285 miles without any mechanical problems. Our camper provided a good home on the road for us as we traveled. Family visits were renewing and a couple of days of solitude were refreshing.
It has been many years since we have spent a week away from cell phones and the Internet. We did check our cell phones for messages a couple of times during the week and I used my cell phone to publish this blog on Saturday.
So today I face a mountain of emails. I haven’t checked emails since a week ago Sunday and since I receive somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred emails a day, there will be a lot to sort. Of course it is like sorting regular mail. There is plenty of junk mail that can be discarded without reading it. Then there are the things that have to be partially read because it isn’t obvious what information it contains. Next are emails that need to be read for information, but do not require a response. Then there are the ones that require a response. Somewhere in there are a few that require a thoughtful response that takes some time to compose.
Of course all of those emails are in random order. I have to sort them out and deal with them. With a large number such as I face today, I’ll probably just take them in the order they appeared. I plan to divide the task into manageable chunks, dealing with other matters throughout the day to break up the job. Hopefully by the end of the day I will have gotten through the backed up emails.
The ease of connectivity presents a challenge for us when we want to take a vacation. It is very easy to remain plugged in and connected to others. We’ve taken many vacations where checking email has been part of our vacation routine and hasn’t been much of a problem. However, there are times when it makes sense to disconnect and there are places worth visiting where connection isn’t an easy matter.
In the past, when we weren’t so connected, we would travel and our families would expect that we would be out of touch unless there was a problem. This meant that they assumed that we were OK and didn’t worry unless they received a call. That has been turned around in today’s world. We need to keep our family members informed and they start to worry if we don’t check in. Yesterday as we drove back into an area of cell phone coverage, our phones began to sound off with text messages and Susan was responding to family members as we drove down the highway. We’re OK. We had a lovely time. There are no problems. But just a couple of days of being out of touch seem to set off worries in some family members.
As we travel, we experience that the places that are “off grid” are fewer and farther between. It just happens that we spend quite a bit of time down alongside the Missouri River in relatively remote locations on this particular trip resulting in several days spent out of the reach of cell phone towers. We know that when we return there will be more towers and phones capable of reaching greater distances.
It hasn’t been that long ago that a short drive into the hills resulted in being out of touch. We used to appreciate going to Camp and not having to deal with our phones. Those days are now gone. Cell phones work well at camp and there is a cell phone signal at the lake if I wanted to send a photo from my canoe. I’m not tempted to take my phone paddling with me so far, but it isn’t hard to imagine that I might at some point in the future.
There is a certain amount of stress that comes from having to be always available. I know my attitude toward my phone changed during this vacation. In my usual lifestyle, I use my phone as an alarm clock. I grab it as I slide out of bed and it is my constant companion throughout the day. Except when I shower, I’m always able to check the phone and receive a call or text. The weeks when I am “on call” for the LOSS team or Sheriff’s department require that I be near a phone at all times. I carry my phone on my belt and it goes with me wherever I go. During our recent vacation there were several days when the phone remained in a safe location as I headed out without it. I went hiking miles away from my phone. I ventured out without worrying about having to pause to deal with an important message.
And the world got along without me very well. I wasn’t reading the constant news feed and I didn’t miss much. I stopped by the church last evening to check to see if there were any crises that had occurred and were in need of immediate attention. There were none. I’m sure that there are reasonable amounts of undone work with which I will need to catch up, but things appear to have gone just fine without my constant participation.
It is a good reality check to be reminded that the world does not revolve around me. Others can take responsibility. Others can respond to need. Others can keep the church functioning without the need for my constant input.
One of my resolutions coming out of this vacation is to let go of the need to be constantly in touch. I’ll still be responsible when I am on call, but I am not going to be afraid to take a walk and leave my phone behind. I’ll set times to deal with emails and not feel a need to respond to each as it comes in. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold on to this new discipline, but it might just be the beginning of a better way to manage my time and connections.
It has been many years since we have spent a week away from cell phones and the Internet. We did check our cell phones for messages a couple of times during the week and I used my cell phone to publish this blog on Saturday.
So today I face a mountain of emails. I haven’t checked emails since a week ago Sunday and since I receive somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred emails a day, there will be a lot to sort. Of course it is like sorting regular mail. There is plenty of junk mail that can be discarded without reading it. Then there are the things that have to be partially read because it isn’t obvious what information it contains. Next are emails that need to be read for information, but do not require a response. Then there are the ones that require a response. Somewhere in there are a few that require a thoughtful response that takes some time to compose.
Of course all of those emails are in random order. I have to sort them out and deal with them. With a large number such as I face today, I’ll probably just take them in the order they appeared. I plan to divide the task into manageable chunks, dealing with other matters throughout the day to break up the job. Hopefully by the end of the day I will have gotten through the backed up emails.
The ease of connectivity presents a challenge for us when we want to take a vacation. It is very easy to remain plugged in and connected to others. We’ve taken many vacations where checking email has been part of our vacation routine and hasn’t been much of a problem. However, there are times when it makes sense to disconnect and there are places worth visiting where connection isn’t an easy matter.
In the past, when we weren’t so connected, we would travel and our families would expect that we would be out of touch unless there was a problem. This meant that they assumed that we were OK and didn’t worry unless they received a call. That has been turned around in today’s world. We need to keep our family members informed and they start to worry if we don’t check in. Yesterday as we drove back into an area of cell phone coverage, our phones began to sound off with text messages and Susan was responding to family members as we drove down the highway. We’re OK. We had a lovely time. There are no problems. But just a couple of days of being out of touch seem to set off worries in some family members.
As we travel, we experience that the places that are “off grid” are fewer and farther between. It just happens that we spend quite a bit of time down alongside the Missouri River in relatively remote locations on this particular trip resulting in several days spent out of the reach of cell phone towers. We know that when we return there will be more towers and phones capable of reaching greater distances.
It hasn’t been that long ago that a short drive into the hills resulted in being out of touch. We used to appreciate going to Camp and not having to deal with our phones. Those days are now gone. Cell phones work well at camp and there is a cell phone signal at the lake if I wanted to send a photo from my canoe. I’m not tempted to take my phone paddling with me so far, but it isn’t hard to imagine that I might at some point in the future.
There is a certain amount of stress that comes from having to be always available. I know my attitude toward my phone changed during this vacation. In my usual lifestyle, I use my phone as an alarm clock. I grab it as I slide out of bed and it is my constant companion throughout the day. Except when I shower, I’m always able to check the phone and receive a call or text. The weeks when I am “on call” for the LOSS team or Sheriff’s department require that I be near a phone at all times. I carry my phone on my belt and it goes with me wherever I go. During our recent vacation there were several days when the phone remained in a safe location as I headed out without it. I went hiking miles away from my phone. I ventured out without worrying about having to pause to deal with an important message.
And the world got along without me very well. I wasn’t reading the constant news feed and I didn’t miss much. I stopped by the church last evening to check to see if there were any crises that had occurred and were in need of immediate attention. There were none. I’m sure that there are reasonable amounts of undone work with which I will need to catch up, but things appear to have gone just fine without my constant participation.
It is a good reality check to be reminded that the world does not revolve around me. Others can take responsibility. Others can respond to need. Others can keep the church functioning without the need for my constant input.
One of my resolutions coming out of this vacation is to let go of the need to be constantly in touch. I’ll still be responsible when I am on call, but I am not going to be afraid to take a walk and leave my phone behind. I’ll set times to deal with emails and not feel a need to respond to each as it comes in. I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold on to this new discipline, but it might just be the beginning of a better way to manage my time and connections.