Digital Sabbatical Q&A;
Women in Business: What made you decide to take a sabbatical?
Gwen: It was two days before the end of June. I was on the bus, heading downtown to my office. I was mindlessly fiddling with my iPhone. I thought, “I’m mindless with my devices. I’m not approaching the Social Web with the spirit of discovery I once did. I want to get back there. It’s time to unplug.”
Two days later I started the Digital Sabbatical (http://www.gwenbell.com/digital-sabbatical/).
Women in Business: What affect has it had on your creativity? Were you inspired being away from your everyday life?
Gwen: Creativity comes easily to me. What has been more challenging in the past is my avoidance of seeing creative endeavors through to completion. The month unplugged gave me insight into why I tend to hop from project to project. Starting projects is fun! Following through on commitments is hard work!
So, I was inspired to take my creativity more seriously. To put some muscle into my creative life. Without the backbone of action, creativity is a nice idea.
Women in Business: What preparations did you take in order to escape for a month? re existing client/blog/business commitments?
Gwen: I made no preparations beyond setting the container for myself. I cultivated client relationships and traveled for business. One aspect of the container is that if I needed to get on the Social Web to research a client, I did so. I also received Daily Digital Digests, which kept me abreast of what was new on the Social Web.
Women in Business: Are you planning to make it a regular part of your business/life? Why?
Gwen: I’d like to work up to a year-long Digital Sabbatical, in the spirit of Stefan Sagmeister’s seven on, one off.
Why? It’s rejuvenating. It’s self-empowering. It’s smart.
Speaking of smart. When we were students, someone enforced breaks. You’re taking the summer off. You’re taking the winter break off. School is closed during those months. Load up on library books and prepare for self-study. Because the library will be closed, too.
Oh, I pined for school to start back up again! I hated breaks. I missed academic life.
I think our entrepreneurial selves are like students, without those enforced weeks off. We still need them, but because there’s no enforcer (which we love) we overextend (which can, like the slow wearing down of the enamel on your teeth, eventually create a cavity).
Cultivate space for yourself in the world. Practice mindfulness. Retreat. Study yourself. Not just for yourself, for your community. For the clients you serve. Unplugging gives you an opportunity to miss the work you do. Missing is good, it creates a desire to connect at a heart level.
Women in Business: What do you advise for people who love the idea but just can't take a whole month off?
Gwen: Here's where I'll push back.
I think entrepreneurs are able to take more time off than we admit. For a combination of reasons, stress has become a status symbol. Saying, "I simply can't blank, I'm so busy" is a choice, and it's story we tell ourselves.
In the evenings we don’t have to be online. And in the morning, when we wake up, it's telling that nearly a third of women ages 18-34 checking email and Facebook upon waking - and before using the bathroom. When we check email and our social networks first thing, we align with someone else’s opinion of how our day should run.
My suggestion: use your first moments of wakefulness to be with yourself. Have a daily mini-Digital Sabbatical. Sit still and meditate, for ten minutes. Do longer retreats as your schedule allows.
As entrepreneurs, we have the responsibility to build down-time into our schedules.
We’ve told ourselves a lie, societally-speaking. We’ve told ourselves if we don’t get back to someone right away - either the instant they message us, or the moment the phone rings - we’re doing them a disservice. Viewed differently, the person we’re doing a disservice by being always on is ourselves.
Reacting, rather than acting from our aligned center (you know the place in yourself I’m talking about) we overarch, overcommit, underappreciate and speed through our lives.
Slowing down for a slow steep, letting the water cool from a boil before pouring it on the tender tea leaves, provides us sustenance. We find an expansive place from which to offer our time, rather than begrudgingly meeting. Whether that’s the time we give in emailing someone or the time we spend researching a client we’d like to pitch, we do it full-heartedly.
Extending from a tender/solid center requires us to first find, and then cultivate, that place. I believe the practice of sitting each day, combined with choosing how we spend our precious time on this planet, is the way to approach not just the Web, but our daily lives.
*
Thank you for the provocative questions, Clare. May this interview help your readers on their paths!