Why You Need a Tech Free Vacation

tech-free-vacation-art-sleeping-man
Written by David Michaelis

Take a real tech free vacation. You need one. Here’s why. Tech Free Vacation infographic.

aNewDomain — Here’s hoping you took a real, tech free vacation over the Labor Day Weekend. Maybe you went to Burning Man and nabbed some serious breathing space to create, think and meditate. Or sleep. If you didn’t take some real time off to do whatever, studies show you might live to regret it.

If you’re suffering from sleep deprivation, poor concentration, eye irritation or other ill effects from too much screen time, consider showing some tough love to your gadgets. And if you see being on all the time as some perverted kind of badge of honor, pause and ask yourself if you’re addicted to the work, to the praise of being always available and connected or both.

Everyone works more these days. According to U.S. Census data, the share of employed American men regularly working more than 48 hours per week is higher today than it was 25 years ago. But we don’t always seem to work better or more efficiently. Microsoft exec Linda Stone, in an interview with The New York Times, talks about gadget overuse and a new kind of attention deficit, Continuous Partial Attention (CPA). You know it if that’s you.

Check out the below infographic. Then turn off your tablet. And take a nap. (Click to enlarge)

tech free vacation

Cover art: By Roman Bonnefoy ( ?Romanceor?[parlons-en]). Website : www.romanceor.net. (Own work) [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0-2.5-2.0-1.0], via Wikimedia Commons