Time to Unplug
As I sit at my desk and turn on my computer, I realise that I’ve already been connected for over three hours. I’ve written emails, read the news, checked Facebook, tweeted what I ate for breakfast and nearly crashed the car whilst shouting at some idiot spouting nonsense on the radio.
And the question I’m pondering is, could I have used my time and brain power more wisely?
In an age of high stress levels and heart attacks, why are we spending our thinking time plugged in? I recently went on a Mindfulness course and the first phase is to step out of ‘Automatic Pilot’ unplug yourself, take time to smell the roses. They may be onto something, but do I have the time?
If we have less cluttered, clearer heads, then surely our time and thoughts will be used more effectively?
If you haven’t, you must see Eric Pickersgill’s ‘Removed.’ A series of photos with personal devices removed, it leaves us with some quite sad and certainly lonely images. Is this doing us any good? My work life balance is now so distorted that I feel I should be billing someone for my time.
Action
Ban all technology for a day, take your team off-site and talk to one another… use pens!
‘What will this achieve?’ I hear you cry! Let me quote an MD friend who did just that:
‘We got renewed sense of focus, a refreshed, energised team and a clearly defined strategy for the future.’
Enough for you? Let us know how you get on and if it worked, make it a quarterly event!
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