Today Courtney Carver, from Be More With Less, posted this piece to her blog. I asked for her permission to re-print it here for you. She graciously agreed.

Let's start with Courtney's piece. Following her piece is my response. Please watch the video.

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It’s Time for a Digital Sabbatical

Written by Courtney Carver on October 27, 2010

I am reading Leo Babauta’s new book, Focus. This book is another masterpiece by Leo and I can’t wait to share more with you. He has a free and paid version so check it out. FYI – This is not an affiliate link. I am only telling you about it because it’s great and it will help you.

Gwen Bell wrote a chapter inFocus about taking a digital sabbatical that inspired this post. Gwen took a month long digital sabbatical and she is still relevant and still a rock star. I have written about simplifying your social media, and limiting the number of times you check your email, but not about completely disconnecting. The real reason I haven’t written about it, is because I haven’t done it. That is about to change! While I’m not ready for a month off, I am planning on one day a week to get started.

Gwen’s chapter about taking a break from the www includes great how to tips. You will have to read the book to see those, but the following I had to share:

“You will miss things. Unplugged or not, you’re missing something. Unplugging gives you perspective to decide what you don’t want to miss. Focus, by definition, means you choose one thing over another. You give your attention completely to the task at hand, not worrying that you’re missing something.”

So, isn’t that why you don’t unplug? Because you might miss something? What if someone tweets a really cool link and you miss it? What if someone emails you at 8am and you don’t respond right away? The real question is, what are you missing when you are plugged in? What’s going on in the world, your city, in your backyard, or at your child’s school?

I don’t remember the last time I went a whole day without checking email or twitter or Facebook. Even just a glance was enough to get by, but what did I miss? What did I glance away from, and how much time did it take to get back on track? Too long.

And my favorite part from Gwen’s chapter…”Unplugging gives you an opportunity to miss the work you do. Missing is good, it creates a desire to connect at a focused, heart level.” Think about that. Connecting at a focused, heart level is so cool and if we all did it, imagine how that would change the world. I haven’t asked Gwen, but I have to guess that “focused, heart level” came from her yoga mat. I told you yoga can change the world!

Always be on digital sabbatical in your car!

I wrote about my “oh shit” moment a few months ago. I had been driving my daughter home from school, taking work calls, thinking about the next item on my list of things I will never get done, and my daughter is talking about her day. She’s talking about her day, and I’m nodding and throwing in a couple of responses,  “really?” “cool!” and a few nods to let her think I am still involved, but by the time we get home, I have no idea what she said. Not only is that embarrassing, but it is really sad that I missed that opportunity to learn something, teach something or just engage and enjoy.

By being connected in my car, I was completely disconnected from my daughter. She deserves my full attention.

In addition to missing time with someone I really care about, I was endangering my life, the lives of my passengers and drivers around me every time I checked a message, sent an email or returned a call in the car. Texting at a red light counts as texting in your car. Please stop. The message can wait.

So, let’s slow down, or just stop as Scott Stratten, author of UnMarketing: Stop Marketing. Start Engaging puts it in this video. It is almost 15 minutes long, so save it somewhere so you have time to watch it to the end. It will move you and it might change you.

If you decide to join me in taking a digital sabbatical, read Focus and Gwen’s chapter starting on page 144. Then, pick a day or time frame that works for you. Thanks Leo, ThanksGwen, Thanks Scott. You’ve moved me and changed me.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to Be More with Less & share on twitter.

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Gwen's Response

Courtney,

I think the desire avoid “missing something” might be the biggest challenge – at a superficial level – of this generation. Here’s why I say superficial. When I unplugged I asked myself what it was I was afraid I’d miss. I wanted to dive into the heart of the fear and get clarity around it. What if I don’t check my email? What if I take the Twitter app off my iPhone? What if I read a book instead of a blog post?

What I discovered underneath all the superficial wanting to “connect” was a deep disconnect with myself. With my body (to which Scott alludes in the remarkable TEDx talk). With my deeper desires.

At the time I was working with an Executive Coach (we are now creating a 4-week course/support network to help people in Boulder unplug). I asked her what was with my desire to segment my day into tiny pieces (I call them hits. I want a quick hit, I just jump on Facebook). She didn’t give me a quick solution, but she did give me this metaphor.

With the web, she explained, it’s simple to be a water bug. Flitting from place to place, skimming the surface. Staying above water.

When we unplug, we take a deep dive. That deep dive into ourselves and our life experience can be tremendous. It’s both overwhelming and refreshing. It’s both scary and revealing. It’s boring, and it’s exciting. It’s all those things at once.

The social web provides a nice, superficial “party” for us to attend moment to moment. The easier it is to participate, the harder it is to put down. And that’s what the kind folks behind Twitter and Facebook and all our other online habits want. They want us to spend our lives on their sites. The board members and stockholders get rich through our participation in the parties they’re throwing for us 24/7.

So, what I’m saying is this. It takes a tremendous amount of willpower to power down. But it’s crucial, as you and Leo and Scott and me (and Tammy Strobel/Rowdy Kittens and Ev Bogue/Far Beyond the Stars and…) know.

When we say it’s time for a Digital Sabbatical what we’re also saying is it’s time for a deep dive. It’s time to evaluate, at a heart level, where we’re at, who we are and where we’re heading. That level of self-reflection changes everything (I have a post on the topic coming up next week at Kind over Matter). There’s a necessary un-meshing. A pulling apart. A period of recalibration.

But to my mind, it’s better to choose it than to have that choice made for us. It’s better to slow down, than to be stopped altogether. It’s better to power down now than to wish, sometime maybe years down the road, that we had.

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If you'd like more on this topic, read this guide to digital sabbaticals.

If you'd like to comment, please do so on the original post.