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Getting Away from it All - Living an Unplugged Life as an IT Pro
- 1. Searching for connection... ..... ..... ..... Connection not found. © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 2. © 1983 by MGM/UA Entertainment Co. © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 3. ï¶ In just one minute, YouTubeÂź users upload 400 hours of video ï¶ ...and TinderÂź users swipe profiles over a million times ï¶ Every day , FacebookÂź users generate 1 billion âlikesâ. ï¶ Average phone use is up to five hours a day ï¶ ...with most interactions lasting < 30 seconds âą 46% of study subjects said "they couldn't live without their phone" http://www.becomingminimalist.com/unplug-please/ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23088719 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=sparrow+google http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2014-52302-001.© 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 4. âLife, at its best, is happening right in front of you. These experiences will never repeat themselves. These conversations are unfiltered and authentic.â - Joshua Becker, 7 Important Reasons to Unplug and Find Space © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 5. Less More How toThou Shalt © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 6. © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 7. © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 8. © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 9. "To the well-organized mind, death unplugging from the internet is but the next great adventure." - Hogwarts SysAdmin © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 10. ? © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 11. © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 12. © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 13. ⹠30 min sorting email and deleting garbage. o Not reading or responding. Just sorting and deleting so that the essentials are left. ⹠30 min to respond to critical social media issues. ⹠Which accounts do you NEED to look at? ⹠How far back (in hours) will you scroll? © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 14. PRIORITIES⊠GET THEM STRAIGHT © 2015 Marvel Comics© 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 15. THERE IS ONLY ONE CORRECT ANSWER: © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 16. © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 17. © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 18. âŠSAID NOBODY, EVER© 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 19. PERSPECTIVE © 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 20. Network found. Re-connecting now... @LeonAdato @SolarWinds #HeadGeek© 2016 SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC. All rights reserved.
- 21. SolarWinds, SolarWinds & Design, Orion, and Thwack are the exclusive property of SolarWinds Worldwide, LLC or its affiliates, are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and may be registered or pending registration in other countries. All other SolarWinds trademarks, service marks, and logos may be common law marks or are registered or pending registration. All other trademarks mentioned herein are used for identification purposes only and are trademarks of (and may be registered trademarks) of their respective companies.
Editor's Notes
- For the next 5 minutes, I dare you to put down your phone, close up your laptop, set aside your tablet. I double dog dare you. In fact, I've got a pile of SolarWinds swag on the table that says you canât just sit and listen to me, free from the bondage of electronic beeps or tweets or pings. --- I. triple. dog. dare. you.
- I. triple. dog. dare. you. Separating ourselves from our devices and the internet is not a new topic. And weâve gotten here remarkably fast. The iPhone debuted in less than a decade ago. Today 2/3 of all Americans own a smartphone. --- And we already know what theyâre doing to us, even if we canât quote figures off the top of our head.
- And we already know what theyâre doing to us, even if we canât quote figures off the top of our head. Youâre probably not surprised to hear: That people feel less satisfied with their life after visiting Facebook That screen use is connected to sleep disturbances and symptoms of depression ----- And we all know what our screens are pulling us away from:
- And We all know what our screens are pulling us away from: Life. Joshua Becker recently said: "Life, at its best, is happening right in front of you. These experiences will never repeat themselves. These conversations are unfiltered and authentic."Â --- But this talk is NOT about how bad it is to be connected. That would be disingenuous since I ALSO spend the majority of my day in front of a screen.
- But this talk is NOT about how bad it is to be connected. That would be disingenuous since I ALSO spend the majority of my day in front of a screen. And it wouldn't be particularly helpful. Â But I wanted to start by making the case that disconnecting, some-times and for some-significant-time, is important and can have a very real impact on the quality of our life, both online and off. --- You've probably read essays telling you to take a "technology cleans" or a "data dietâ, as if packets could gum up the colon of your brain.
- You've probably read essays telling you to take a "technology cleans" or a "data dietâ, as if packets could gum up the colon of your brain. And⊠Ew. You may have thought "what kind of wing-nut actually does that?" --- Iâm here to tell you there is a secret society of wing nuts who do this every week. We call this crazy idea Shabbat and it is observed by Jews across the world.
- Â Iâm here to tell you there is a secret society of wing nuts who do this every week. We call this crazy idea Shabbat. Before I go any further, I want to be clear that Judaism is not big on converting people so I'm not asking anyone to join the tribe. I'm also not going to sell you Amway. --- On Shabbat anything with an ON switch is OFF limits. But Shabbat only comes into play if you are, in fact, Jewish. Which begs the question: if I'm not telling YOU to be Jewish, where am I going with this?
- On Shabbat anything with an ON switch is OFF limits. But Shabbat only comes into play if you are, in fact, Jewish. Which begs the question: if I'm not telling YOU to be Jewish, where am I going with this? Â --- In addition to being part of that crazy group of wing-nuts, I've also worked in IT for 30 years. I've disconnected every single week which gives me a unique perspective plus some tips and work arounds.
- In addition to being part of that crazy group of wing-nuts, I've also worked in IT for 30 years. I've disconnected every single week which gives me a unique perspective plus some tips and work arounds. Here is some advice I can share: ----- First, Like almost everything else in IT, you will succeed for fail in the planning phase. For example: what counts as "online". Maybe you decide youâll turn off anything that connects to the outside world, including radio. Does playing a CD count? If so, what about music streaming? And then what about podcasts? Â
- Plan what counts as "online" for you. Maybe you decide youâll turn off anything that connects to the outside world, including radio. Does playing a CD count? If so, what about music streaming? And then what about podcasts? The point isnât to make the perfect choice, but to make A choice, and continue to tweak it as you go along. --- Remember to communicate your intentions ahead of time. Tell key friends, relatives, and coworkers know that you will be out of data and cell range.
- Remember to communicate your intentions ahead of time. Tell key friends, relatives, and coworkers that you will be out of data and cell range. Thatâs exactly how to phrase it. NOT that you are just taking a day to unplug. Â When you come back online, do the OPPOSITE. Don't tell ANYONE that you are back online. Trust me, they'll figure it out for themselves. --- How often should you unplug, and how often?
- How often should you unplug, and for how long? My simple advice is as often, and as long, as you think is wise. Period. It's more important to get into the habit of disconnecting and experience the benefits than it is to try to stick to some one-size-fits-most specification. --- Set some specific parameters for how you reconnect.
- Set some specific parameters for how you reconnect. If turning back on again means 5 hours hacking through email and social media, then all that hard won rest is gonna go out the window. --- Mentally prepare to be offline. An artist I know goes offline every week. He literally exhausts himself creatively all week so that he isnât going crazy with ideas he canât write down.
- Mentally prepare to be offline. An artist I know goes offline every week. He literally exhausts himself creatively all week so his day away is time to recharge, not go bonkers with ideas he canât draw This made me re-think my work. Now I work on things that would otherwise pull at me and make me crazy on Shabbat. --- Iâve also learned to look at notifications differently. Notifications are really interruptions.
- Notifications are really interruptions. Try this for the next few days: Note how you are contacted during real emergencies and how often those emergencies actually happen. Â Be aware of how often notifications turn out to be nothing, or at least nothing important. --- Which leads right into the worst interruption of all â outages.Â
- Which leads right into the worst interruption of all â outages. Despite the claim of supporting work-life balance, your company will not consider your âme-timeâ to be inviolable when the order entry system is down. Â So how DO you handle REAL emergencies? Spoiler Alert: Always opt for keeping a steady paycheck. My point is to BE FLEXIBLE --- OK, so that takes us to on-call.
- OK, so that takes us to on-call. I have had managers who respected my religious schedule, and others who told me my religion was my problem to solve. What I've learned is that  The solution will ultimately rest with your coworkers. Not with your manager and certainly not HR. ---- If you can work out a solution with the team, you're home free. Because everyone hates their on call schedule; and wants more options.
- If you can work out a solution with the team, you're likely home free. Because everyone hates their on call schedule; and wants more options. YOU, my friends, represent those options. Offering to trade days is incredibly effective. Another trick is to take their whole on-call week for an equal number of offline days during your rotations.
- But what about perception? If you unplug regularly, won't people notice and start judging you? Â First, don't over-think it. When people hear what you are doing, theyâll most likely say "I wish *I* could do that." Â Second, if you followed my suggestions about communicating and prioritizing you will have done more than most IT folks ever do when they walk out the doors.
- The choice is yours. If you made it to the end of this talk without checking those interruptions then you have my gratitude as well as respect  If you COULDN'T, you might want to think about why that is, and whether you are OK with that situation. Learning to disconnect regularly and for a meaningful amount of time offers benefits to your physical health, your piece of mind, and even your career; and there are no insurmountable challenges in doing so.