Techno-Break

Human Highlighter Suit Tally: 8

When I took on the deanship at Milano more than two years ago, a Blackberry was part of the standard issue equipment. I only had a run-of-the-mill cell phone, and it seemed pretty cool.  Having a Blackberry issued by your office means you are important, right?  I don’t think I ever got to crackberry status—I never slept with it, which I’ve heard that others do—but I definitely used it more than necessary.  I charged it on the counter in my bathroom, and looked at it right before I went to sleep, and when I woke up.  First thing.  I tried not to check it in meetings, but it was hard not to, and sometimes it was helpful for moving things along during a busy day…

The Blackberry was just one more thing that nudged me into supreme multi-tasking mode.  I found myself taking cabs instead of the subway so that I could knock a couple of calls off my list.  I ate lunch at the computer, or while reading documents, if I was not in a lunch meeting.  I called my mom on the short walk between my office and the subway.  During meetings I made lists of things I needed to do after the meeting.  With the exception of an all-too rare lunchtime yoga class, I hardly ever did one thing at a time.  And, as anyone who practices yoga and meditation knows, the doing mind finds a way to creep into these activities as well.

If I am honest with myself, the Blackberry was useful in a few ways.  I liked being able to look up an address or a website when I was away from my office.  It helped me communicate with my assistant during super hectic days.  But many of the emails I checked while in transit required a long response that I was unwilling to tap out on that tiny keyboard.  And the easy, short ones got crossed off my list, but also tended to generate another email, thereby necessitating another response…  So in the end, it was not always an efficient use of my time.  Clearly, this is my own damn fault.  The true test of a technology’s usefulness is whether you can control it, or whether it controls you.  And there is something about the pull of an iPhone of a Blackberry that puts many of us into the former category.

On my last day at the office, in late July, I handed in my Blackberry, with no plans to replace it.  Once here in Barcelona, Alec and I both got the cheapest local cell phones we could find.  Alec is pretty much the only person who calls me, so that’s just fine.  We use skype to stay in touch with family and friends.

I do not miss it.  In fact, it’s been so nice to have some white space in my day that I’ve put some other guidelines—I hesitate to use the word “rules”—around my technology use.  I don’t use my iPod when I’m walking on the street or on public transit.  I use it at the gym and sometimes at home.  It’s interesting, actually, that I’ve done much more walking and yoga than aggressive cardio workouts with blaring TV and music since I got here.  I do miss some of my favorite podcasts, like This American Life and The Splendid Table, but I catch up every now and then.

And I’ve been trying to limit the amount of time I spend on email.  Ideally, I’d like to check it in the morning, and at the end of the workday.  I haven’t quite managed that, but it’s something to shoot for.

The good thing is that, in addition to leaving a job that made me feel as though I needed to be connected at all times, Barcelona is a pretty supportive environment for taking a break from technology.  Very few people wear headsets in public.  It’s not unheard of, but it’s a lot less than in the US.  It’s rare to see people talking on cell phones, or texting, while they walk down the street.  On Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, these talkers and texters cause traffic jams for the other Type-A’ers who are trying to barrel down the street at top speed.  I know, because I have these tendencies.  And perhaps the biggest shock of all is that, while cell phones work on the metro here, virtually no one uses them on the platforms or on the trains.

Is it cultural? Or have folks here simply not “caught up” with the state?  I hope it’s the former, and that there are pockets of places where more human contact is valued over techno-connection.

Let me know if you are interested in joining me in my quest to limit my time online.  I am happy to provide encouragement from afar.  And feel free to check up on me once I’m back, and the temptations present themselves all over again.