Over the 4th of July holiday, I took a trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Despite having lived in this state most of my life, I had never taken the trek over the Mackinac Bridge into that wilderness known as The UP.
Like I do for every vacation, I took my Treo phone, along with my laptop. Even though I expected there to be little action over the holiday weekend, doing the basics – returning email, reading documents, spreadsheets, and PowerPoints – are all part of my vacation routine. When I went to Israel last summer, I had a great little T-Mobile Sidekick that kept me plugged into the office and our clients.
Imagine my shock at finding no cell service, and a cottage without a phone jack. Of course, that meant no Internet. My first reaction was panic. But after a day without email, I felt like I had just been the recipient of a full body massage.
Like any form of withdrawal (no Starbucks in the UP either), it got better every day. In fact, not being connected to the Internet was liberating, relaxing, and truly the getaway I needed. Perhaps for many of you who read this blog, that’s how you vacation anyway. But if you’re at all like me – connected most of your waking hours – unplugging from the World Wide Web takes you back to quieter, unwired times.
Yes, it helped to be in the middle of nowhere, but that’s why people live in The UP to begin with. I recommend it – highly. That is, until I got home and found 228 emails to read. Hope your holidays were as restful as mine.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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I share your pain about taming unruly email inboxes, especially after a vacation. My 2-step plan for reclaiming email sanity:
1. Switch: https://www.apple.com/getamac/ :->
2. Subscribe to Merlin Mann’s 43 Folders blog, and catch up on how to be an EMail Ninja: https://www.43folders.com/2006/02/06/email-ninja/
That simple prescription has earned me the “cleanest inbox award” from our IT Director for about 24 straight months now. Of course, I miss out on the occasional Nigerian opportunity, but I file those under “Someday/Maybe.”