The Jeff Pulver Blog: Question of the Day: How Often Do you Allow yourself to go "Unwired?"

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May 29, 2007

Question of the Day: How Often Do you Allow yourself to go "Unwired?"

A couple of days ago, a friend of mine said "Jeff, Guess what I did yesterday...you will never believe it." And he was right, not only did I not guess what is was, but I didn't believe it when I heard it. My friend said "...I went the entire day without picking up my cell phone and making a phone call!"

And for a person who could spend 18 hours a day making deals and being constantly on-call that was a major accomplishment. Especially when he also said "I don't remember the last time I ever did that."

Which in turn got me thinking? While I know for myself, it is difficult for me to go a few hours without feeling the impulse to make a phone call, the harder challenge for me is to disconnect from the internet and go totally "Unwired." The last time this happened for any extended period of time was back in 1998 when I spent a weekend unintentionally "Unwired" in Sandhamn, Sweden with Ericsson's senior management team. Back then I ended up being disconnected for the entire weekend which started out being very stressful and then ultimately relaxing once I got over the fact that I was not going to have any Internet connectivity. This amounted to me being off email for almost 80 hours. Let’s just say this hasn't happened to me since. These days, wherever I travel to, having reliable broadband internet access is much more important to me than whether the hotel offers room service or a TV. And if broadband isn't an option, if it is a location where my EvDO service and/or Blackberry won't work, this isn't a place I will want to visit on purpose.

Which leads me to today's question of the day: How Often Do you Allow yourself to go "Unwired?"

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Posted by jeff on May 29, 2007 07:12 AM | Permalink

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Posted by: Cheap Viagra at June 4, 2007 03:36 AM

Your question and BL Ochman's post today got me thinking about real benefits to the human brain that unwires for the weekend too:-)

I came up with five that might surprise some. Great post and discussion here -- it was too tempting not to throw my hat in the ring with another angle on your compelling question.

Posted by: ellen weber at June 2, 2007 08:11 PM

Tech dependency is something I've been cursed with. When I travel, I also place having stable broadband connection as the top priority.

Posted by: Bosco Brand at May 31, 2007 07:02 AM

Every Sabbath for 24 hours!

Posted by: Richard Kligman at May 30, 2007 03:55 AM

Interesting question. I attempted to unwire this past weekend but could only muster the willpower to stay away from email for about 18 hours...but I do see the value in avoiding the "steady stream of communication" and devoting time to sustained ponderation. So I'll keep trying.

Posted by: Jamison at May 29, 2007 11:42 PM

I find myself unplugged less and less, but this past holiday weekend I found the times I was offline, I did not miss it too much. Sure I checked email and blogged a bit on Monday evening, but I did not turn on Twitter notifications (except once when I decided to tell the world my son learned to ride a bike).

It was nice, and I am going to do it more.

Posted by: Doug Haslam at May 29, 2007 02:01 PM

It was nice, and I am going to do it more.

Posted by: Doug Haslam at May 29, 2007 01:38 PM

Man, I go camping as often as possible... and I leave my phone OFF. I only bring it in case I break my leg (yes, Cingular reaches to Virgin Falls), but I budget time to go lose myself in the wilderness... laptop not invited.

Pax,
Matthew

Posted by: Matthew Ebel at May 29, 2007 01:00 PM

I am trying to unplug much more often nowadays. I went most of this past weekend without much connection time, but it was still kinda there. I think I should make one day a week where I unplug completely.

Posted by: Jeff at May 29, 2007 12:43 PM

I don't unplug too often. It drives me crazy. The only thing I've done more of lately is delay my response. Oh, and I sleep more often. But no, I really get twitchy when I'm not plugged in, even when my productivity suffers from touching the web too much.

Great question. The question itself made me feel twitchy.

I'm not an addict. I can quit any time I want. : )

Posted by: Chris Brogan... at May 29, 2007 12:40 PM

Usually on Saturday's. It seems that Sunday has become the 'pre-work week' day that generates emails that need a reply. Saturday I can safely turn off the BB and try and have a life outside of work!

Posted by: Randy at May 29, 2007 12:38 PM

I have been experimenting for the last 2 weeks with unplugging for one whole weekend day. Reinhard Engels (of everydaysystems.com) has a system he promotes for managing connectivity overload, he calls it "weekend luddite".

Posted by: Kevin Kennedy-Spaien at May 29, 2007 12:31 PM

It's hard for me to go unwired for a day. Right now I've been able to do it for longer periods of time, but it's always relaxing to be able to check up on email before I goto sleep. I just feel better knowing no one is expecting a response from me.

Posted by: Jonathan Bloom at May 29, 2007 12:12 PM

Spent a long weekend in southeastern Minnesota and had sporadic Blackberry connectivity. Didn't miss the laptop, the cell phone or Twitter *at all*.

Overcame the spousal distaste for email checking when I demonstrated the pitch-by-pitch feature of MLB.com for the Red Sox game.

Posted by: Barbara at May 29, 2007 11:51 AM

Jeff....This weekend, I unplugged. Sure, I still "checked" email on my BlackBerry, but in most cases, I did not respond.

I am taking Chris Brogan's advise and only checking and responding to emails 2 -3 times a day.

Posted by: Alan Weinkrantz at May 29, 2007 11:34 AM

On the one hand, I enjoy the occasional day being unwired. My family and/or friends also appreciate my being able to devote full attention to them on such a day, although they don't appreciate it if I'm too grouchy because I'm disconnected. Therefore, I have to choose my unwired days carefully, so that there isn't something brewing that I'm overly-curious about or need to deal with.

On the other hand, I've long believed in the "bail out the bilges" theory - if I go more than 24 hours off email, it's like sailing along in a leaky boat without bailing out the bilges. Sooner or later, you sink!

Posted by: Dr. Question at May 29, 2007 10:58 AM

Almost never, in fact I can't remember a single day where I didn't use a computer/cell phone or other gadget to stay connected some how. Too much of my real life is on line, I don't see the point in not checking on it, especially if its something I like doing.

Posted by: Wolfman-K at May 29, 2007 10:29 AM

I'm not addicted...I am unwired every day from 3AM to 8AM! ;-)

You know, Jeff...there is a TV-on-the-'Net program in this idea...shades of "Unplugged" back in the day, dontcha know...

Posted by: K² at May 29, 2007 10:07 AM

the short answer is not often enough!

Posted by: Jim Long at May 29, 2007 09:41 AM

I almost never have for the last several years. When you are nurturing a startup it is very hard to do as it feels very counter-intuitive. I did take a trip to Hawaii recently but had to work on a spec for the first week so I bought a broadband card. This in turn led to our condo becoming the internet cafe for our group. Everything from checking emails to checking out local attractions was accomplished. I do however drop off the map for a bit and only return essential emails. That is different though I guess because I am still usually checking.

Cannot wait to get a real break though. One of these days I guess.

Posted by: Jesse Chenard at May 29, 2007 09:22 AM

I rarely turn my cellphone off these days, apart from when I get on planes of course. I don't always answer it, though. For example I don't use the phone while driving.

In terms of going without email, blogs, twitter etc., yes this is still a fairly common occurence. My phone has GPRS, so in principle I can use the Internet, although I rarely do as it's such a fiddle trying to use a phone for web surfing. The screen's too small, entering text is hard, and the browser just doesn't work with many websites.

If I'm staying somewhere for a couple of days for work I do usually sign up for the hotel WiFi (although the charges can be outrageous) to keep in touch. However for short trips of one day or one night/one day I'm quite often happy to catch up with the backlog at home with broadband. Faffing about trying to get the laptop up and connected in airports is usually not worth the bother.

When I go away for my Summer holiday I'm usually completely off the grid.

Posted by: Martyn Davies at May 29, 2007 08:48 AM

Partner and I often unwire for a weekend trip down south in Western Australia - turn mobiles off, (not that there's that much coverage where we go anyway,) and avoid everything except radio and MP3 player.

I'd say we get about 14 completely unwired days a year. Mind you, I blog about it the moment we get home so maybe it's counterproductive...

Posted by: ted at May 29, 2007 08:24 AM

As often as possible!! *grin*

Last summer I was 6 days and nights completely off the grid while canoing with my father in the Boundary Waters and it was amazing. I didn't miss it one bit. No TV, cell phones or computer. Ahh....

Every couple of weeks I try to take a day on a weekend and leave the computer off. Just get outside and away from it all. It's a huge stress reliever and trust me, while the world is still moving it can survive without you for 24 hours. You'll be better for it.

Posted by: C.C. at May 29, 2007 08:23 AM

Not often enough of course... I'm not tethered by a Blackberry mainly because I spend most of my day in front of a computer screen.

I do make it a point several times a year to disconnect, let people know I won't be checking e-mail. I took my cellphone along, but for the most part it was turned off and just there if I needed to call out.

Amazing..the world did not come to an end.

:o)

Ann

Posted by: Ann at May 29, 2007 08:23 AM

May 29, 2007

Question of the Day: How Often Do you Allow yourself to go "Unwired?"

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