Corporate ladder-climbers once wore their ever-connected smartphones as a kind of workaholic's badge of honour. Now, the most sought-after prize is the ability to be off-line and off-the-grid, unplugged and gadget-free, just for a while.
The benefits of taking a break from your desk – clear the head and get fresh perspective, spur creativity and problem-solving, calm down and reduce stress – are widely known. But when that break is accompanied by a smartphone or tablet, the effect is greatly diminished. Organisational psychologists and workplace behaviourists are reporting increased levels of stress – and ironically, less productivity – stemming from the pressure to respond to every query immediately.
Employees spend so much time reacting to immediate challenges that they have little opportunity to think and act proactively, to future-gaze for solutions to problems that haven't happened yet – but these are the keys to unlocking innovation.
In addition to the lack of productivity caused by almost constant distractions, those studying the side-effects of always-on in corporations report poor decision-making, lack of time management, shortened concentration spans, and increases in illness and absence.
The negative impacts of always-on have led several multinational corporations to implement “switch off” policies. Global auto-maker Volkswagen stops forwarding emails to staff from the company servers after the end of the working day, while Goldman Sachs encourages its junior analysts to take weekends off.
Cary Cooper, a professor of organizational psychology and health at Lancaster University, says the imperative to be constantly reachable is taking a toll on the work delivered at the office. "Employees are turning up, but they're not delivering anything."
While smartphone addiction isn't a medically recognised condition – yet –it has spawned a growing self-help industry of digital detox coaches, therapists and unplugged retreats. Non-profit organisation Reboot promotes a National Day of Unplugging that started in the US in 2010 and now takes place from sundown on the first Friday in March, to sundown on the Saturday.
The tourism industry has cottoned on too. From Dublin to Pennsylvania, Fiji to the Caribbean, there's a boom in device-free holiday options that are attracting burnt-out executives, hyper-connected remote workers and families looking to actually talk to each other face-to-face.
Some are in urban settings; most in remote, wild places. While many offer voluntary, gradual withdrawal options, the more extreme have guests signing up to have their devices physically confiscated on arrival and, in a kind of digital rehab, be forced into off-grid social interaction.
There's even a gadget-free summer camp in northern California, Camp Grounded, geared to grown-ups reconnecting with themselves and with the off-line world. For families wanting to “disconnect to reconnect”, some hotels will go so far as removing televisions and docking stations from your room.
The benefits are immersion in the sights, sounds, smells and tastes of the destination, rather than focusing so much on capturing the moment to share in a tweet or Instagram that you forget to actually experience it yourself.
Digital detox coach Frances Booth says the benefits of a technology break include feeling calmer and less stressed, a greater sense of perspective and freedom, the chance to think, and sleeping better.
These radical rehab options aren't for everyone – and they aren't necessarily a sustainable solution once the detoxed have returned to the office.
Without the same levels of all-pervasive connectivity of North America and Europe, but with broadband access growing rapidly, savvy African holiday destinations are offering the best of both worlds.
Tracking the global desire for switched-off holiday breaks, Lalibela Game Reserve (www.lalibela.net) in South Africa has taken the route of obliging guests to make a conscious decision to be connected, or not.
Reserve manager Lee Phillips said the owners and management decided to buck convention by limiting the availability of wi-fi to small sections around the bars and lounges of each of the Big 5 reserve's three lodges.
“Our wi-fi access is free of charge, but not freely available. We don't believe in forcing people to give up their gadgets at the entrance gate, but, by limiting wi-fi availability, we do make going online a choice that has to be made.
“We've had guests returning from a game drive and immediately hitting the wi-fi zone to check the progress on a multi-million-dollar deal on the other side of the world. For them, we offer the choice to be connected, but most guests choose to 'zone out' and enjoy being switched off,” she said.
Australian guest Jack Taylor said: “After most holidays, we haven't been sure we've actually had a holiday because we've been connected to our offices most of the time. Here, we could have connected but we chose not to. After three days, we feel totally relaxed, and not fussed about what's happening the other side of the world – it can get along just fine by itself.”
Phillips said that, unlike other safari lodges in its bracket, Lalibela had chosen not to have television in the guest rooms or communal social areas, with the exception of the children's playroom in one of the three lodges, where a TV with DVD player is available for rainy days.
“We really want people to switch off,” she said. “Because we've seen the benefits, and we know that it is this disconnected-reconnected experience that people value and that keeps them coming back.”
As for the almost forced nature of social interaction in organised digital detox vacations, Phillips says: “We don't have to force social interaction – it happens naturally. When you spend three hours with people on a game-viewing vehicle, you start exchanging everything from life experiences to travel tips. Faced with a three-ton rhinoceros, conversations about the meaning of life just flow.”
Once they've sat under the big star-laden skies at Lalibela, in South Africa's mostly rural Eastern Cape province, and inhaled the fresh, unpolluted air, the chances of that elusive good night's sleep are excellent, says Phillips.
The reserve is offering not so much detoxification as intoxication – deep immersion in remote wildness, abundant wildlife, and natural beauty, and, if you want to, the opportunity to share it.
Writing in The Guardian earlier this year (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/20/digital-detox-holiday-natural-world-wi-fi), English author and media academic Sue Thomas proposed “another kind of resort, one that offers not detox but intoxication – with both nature and digital life”.
The ingredients, she said, are an “outstandingly beautiful forest, beach or wilderness with a comfortable hostelry in your preferred style, lots of pleasurable group and solo activities, and lashings of Wi-Fi”.
If you have all that kit in the first place, she says, “you are a lucky grown-up living in the 21st century”. So why not star-gaze in the clear skies while tracking the constellations on your tablet, share wonderful photographs on your chosen social media platform and blog about your experiences? You can always turn geo-location off while you do.
More about Lalibela Game Reserve:
Lalibela is a Big 5 game reserve on the Eastern Cape coast of South Africa, 90km east of Port Elizabeth, the nearest airport. In addition to the Big 5 (lion, rhino, elephant, leopard & buffalo), the 7 500 ha (about 18 500 acres) reserve is home to other predators such as cheetah, hyena, jackal and lynx, as well as numerous plains animals including giraffe, zebra, warthog, impala, wildebeest, blesbok and various other antelope species. Overlooking indigenous bush and watering holes, accommodation is in a luxury tented camp and cosy safari lodges. The reserve is known for its relaxed informality and warm hospitality, with buffet meals enjoyed at communal tables or under the stars in an outside dining boma.www.lalibela.net
Blog: lalibelablog.wordpress.com
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