Running on Empty: The Right (and the Fight) to Disconnect

Hmmm,who thought up 24/7 and why did we go along with the idea?

In caseyou have not heard, Ontario now has a Rightto Disconnect law. This law requires employers with 25 or more employees tocreate a written policy on the right to disconnect from calls and e-mailsoutside of regular work hours.

Yes,this is a good thing. However, being the analytical person that I am, mythoughts turn to the question: How did we arrive at a time and place where suchan idea is conceivable and is a law really the best solution?

At firstblush, the dizzying advancement of digital technology is the culprit. Handhelddigital devices have made us accessible at virtually anytime through e-mail orby telephone. More than a few of us are attached at the hip to our digitaldevice.

Well,not me, but I have always been odd. I did recently pass the threshold where Ihave the necessary technology since my employer has given all staff a Samsungphone.

I curse it regularly, but more because I have trouble figuring out how to operate the damn thing. Six months in, I still have not mastered the swipe motion to answer calls. There is something in the action that my fat, Baby Boomer fingers cannot master. But I digress.

The lines between work life and privatelife have blurred. But the fact that we are so digitally interconnected is really more of an enabler than the root of the problem. Ifwe are being honest with ourselves, there is something deeper going on. The ringsand beeps are like an itch that says:

Theoutside world is calling. There is something happening and if you disregard it,you may miss out on something and there may be consequences.

We have come to believe that what isgoing on around us is always and bydefinition happening to us. We thinkthat we are the centre of our universe and things will fall apart if we are not on all the time.

This is an illusion and a dangerous one.In most cases, the universe will do just fine without us. But if we depriveourselves of the right to tune out and recharge, we will all too often berunning with the needle sitting on empty.

We owe it ourselves to ignore the rings, musicalburps and vibrations after hours. Stick your device in a drawer under a pile ofdirty underwear to muffle the sound if necessary.

24/7: We are told that is a good thingand something to which to aspire. But is it? I may just start a petition tohave it excluded from our lexicon. Are you with me?

~ NowAvailable Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: HuntingMuskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet

~ Michael Robert Dyet is alsothe author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel whichwas a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’swebsite at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .

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