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There are dozens of other good reasons, but I think those are serviceable for our needs.
How to Disconnect
So how do we go about disconnecting? There are varying strategies, and no one is better than another. I won?t be able to tell you what will work best for you ? I suggest you experiment, and find a method that fits your needs and situation best. Often that will be a hybrid approach, which is perfectly great ? every person is different, and no cookie-cutter approach will work for everyone.
Some ideas:
1. Unplug. Just unplug your network connector or cable, or turn off your wireless router, or go to your connections settings and disable temporarily. Close your browser and open another program so you can focus on creating without distraction. Do this for as long as you can.
2. Have a disconnect time each day. It?s like setting office hours if you?re a professor ? you set the times that work best for you, and you can even let people know about these times. Let?s say you are disconnected from 8-10 a.m. each day, or 4-5 p.m., or even anytime after 2 p.m. Tell people your policy, so they know you won?t be available for email or IM. And use this time to create.
3. Work somewhere without a connection. For me, this might be the public library ? while it has computers with Internet access, there?s no wireless in my library. Some coffeeshops don?t have wireless connection. Some of you might have to look for a good building that?s quiet but doesn?t have free wireless. Go to this disconnected zone ready to create, or perhaps just to relax and enjoy the quiet.
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4. Get outside. Leave your devices behind and go for a walk, or a run, or a bike ride. Enjoy nature. Watch a sunset, go to the beach or a lake or river or forest. Take your child or spouse or friend. Recharge your batteries, reflect and contemplate.
5. Leave your mobile device behind, or shut it off. When you?re on the go, you don?t always need to be connected. Sure, the iPhone and Android and Blackberry are cool, but they just feed our addictions, they make the problem worse than ever. If you?re driving, shut off your device. If you?re meeting with someone, turn off the device so you can focus on that person completely. If you?re out with your family or friends and not working ? leave the device at home.
You don?t need this personal time to be interrupted by work or your impulse to check on things.
6. Use blocking software. If you?re doing work on the computer, you can use various types of software to shut yourself off from the Internet, or at least from the most distracting portions of it. For example, you can use software to block your web email, Twitter, favorite news sites, favorite blogs, and so on ? whatever your worst distractions are, you can block them selectively. Or block all Internet browsing. We?ll talk more about software in a later chapter on tools.
7. Alternate connection and disconnection. There are any number of variations on this theme, but let?s say you disconnected for 20 minutes, then connected for a maximum of 10 minutes, and kept alternating in those intervals. Or you work disconnected for 45
minutes and connect for 15 minutes. You get the idea ? it?s almost as if the connected period is a reward for doing good, focused work.
8. Disconnect away from work. A good policy is to leave your work behind, when you?re done with work, and a better policy is to stay disconnected during that time, or work and browsing will creep into the rest of your life. Draw a line in the sand, and say, ?After 5 p.m.
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(or whatever), I won?t be connected, I?ll focus on my family and my other interests.?
How to Beat the Connection Addiction
Being connected is an addiction ? and it?s one that can be extremely hard to beat. Trust me, I struggle with it myself, all the time.
Like any addiction, connection has very quick positive reinforcements and only long-term negative consequences. When you take drugs or eat junk food, for example, you get instant pleasure but the negative health effects aren?t felt until much, much later, when you?re already firmly addicted.
