Can You Really Disconnect?
from the always-on,-always-connected dept
There have been plenty of stories about the always on nature of the worklife many people lead now that technology makes them reachable anywhere, anytime. Now eWeek is running a similar story that tries to look more at the importance of disconnecting, and suggests that, while this always on culture is enabled by technology, it's more a result of the way we view our workplace. While the whole idea of building up a work team is so that it can function without you present, people often have difficulty letting go -- either because they don't trust others, or they worry that if everything runs smoothly while they're away, they'll be viewed as expendable. Obviously, there are some situations where staying in touch is necessary. However, for plenty of workers, learning to let go (with maybe a brief connection to clean out the spam) would probably be helpful.
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Cruising...
This one is near and dear to my heart. Yearly I take a cruise in the atlantic. I do this simply because it is one of the only places where it becomes so expensive to get ahold of me that it becomes impractical.
I tried to prepare my coworkers for things that "could go wrong" while I was gone. Unfortunately, the DB failed...in a way I didn't prepare anyone for. They successfully got the system back up in an hour or two (and it's an internal-only system, so no customers were impacted), but I surely would have been interrupted if it didn't cost $10 a minute to call my stateroom, or if the Internet service offered on ship was compatible with our gateway.
One day...I'll be able to get wireless access on the cruise-ship... and they'll be able to get ahold of me. That'll be the last time I cruise. Why go on vacation if you can't get away?
I write a system that my entire company depends on...and although we couldn't just cobble together some third party solution to do the same, it doesn't mean the powers that be wouldn't try if it continually went down while I wasn't around. So my hope is that the sky *doesn't* fall while I'm "getting away"...but if it does...my hope is that reaching me is so costly, they try to fix it first themselves.
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Re: Cruising...
That's a fine line you walk there, preventing the PHBs from grabbing some half-assed shrinkcrapped solution off the shelf when your project occasionally fails, while also trying to get some piece of mind when you're off.
My money's on the Good Fight, but I just don't envy your hobbies.
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Re: Cruising...
I say screw it ...
turn the phone off while you're spankin' the monkey.
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disconnect
i WANT ALL MY FACE BOOK CONECTIONS DISCONNTED PLEASE
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