I love technology. It allows us to do amazing things.
Yet the technology that is meant to serve us all too often enslaves us.
We’ve become inextricably dialed into the grid.
We’ve become addicted to the stimulation and outside input, checking and re-checking our smartphones and our tablets and our emails; responding incessantly to the phone calls and messages and notifications and alerts. Overwhelmed and inundated by the expectations and the deadlines and the demands, endeavoring to pay attention to everything and succeeding only at a continuous partial attention.
What would it be like to stop?
Be a drop out.
This is my out of office email message when I’m on vacation:
“I will be out of the office today [DEPARTURE DATE] through [RETURN DATE] with little or no access to email. For the quickest response to email when I return, please email me after [RETURN DATE] as I will be deleting the entire contents of my inbox without review on [RETURN DATE].
If you must speak to someone immediately, please call the NY office and ask for___________ or _______________who will be able to assist you and who can reach me in an emergency. Thank you!”
And I do delete my inbox. Do drop out!!