So, you’re sitting at work and a string of unmentionables has just escaped your lips.Yes, dear cubicle dweller, your computer has just frozen up, fritzed or fried.Who ya gonna call?Many Americans first learned the term “digital detox” when musician John Mayer completed a one-week detox in 2010 and encouraged his fans to do the same.
Digital Detox Week, an annual event in April, is gaining in popularity. National Day of Unplugging is set for March 23 and 24 this year.
Excessive connectedness is straining our bodies and brains, says Kim John Payne, author of “Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier, and More Secure Kids.”
“Neurologically, we can’t sustain being on high alert any more than one-third of our waking life,” Payne says. “What’s happening as a result of technology is our brains are saying, ‘You have to be switched on, in top gear, for 10, 11, 12 hours a day,’ and basically we become adrenaline and cortisol junkies. Our brains and our bodies are simply not set up to tolerate that.”
An AOL study in 2010 on email usage found that 47 percent of respondents believe they are hooked on email, 59 percent check email in the bathroom and 60 percent check email on vacation.
The latest research by the Kaiser Family Foundation shows that the average child in the United States between the ages of 8 and 18 now watches more than 7 1/2 hours of entertainment media per day.
“It’s shocking to a lot of people,” says Payne, “but when they stop and think about it, they say, ‘Well, yes, that makes sense.’ That is tremendously out of whack.”
Some companies, including Google, are insisting that their workers unplug for certain parts of the day, recognizing that to innovate, employees need time to unplug.
“Back in our early startup days, we found that great things happen more frequently within the right culture and environment,” Katelin Todhunter-Gerberg, a Google spokeswoman, said. “That’s why we offer Googlers a generous host of benefits today to help them unplug and unwind.”
Google employees are offered use of bikes and walking trails for informal meetings, onsite fitness classes and onsite massage therapists to ensure they are comfortable and refreshed.
The movement to unplug and detox from technology may be taking root.
“People are much more discerning and conscious about their use of technology now,” Payne says. “It’s like we got all caught up in technology, about how amazing it was, how wonderful it was, but now a lot of people want to control the technology rather than the technology controlling them.”
