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Three ways to power down in the age of always-on — Portland Business Journal
It started small. It was a sunny day, and I decided to take my daughter to the park. As she picked up leaves and chattered alongside me, I felt a familiar buzz in my pocket. It was a message from a coworker, a simple enough question from a teammate. I paused and fired back a quick answer. Another buzz. My answer had sparked a new question, and that answer branched off into several more. Soon, I was immersed in my phone, throwing distracted “mm-hmms” at my daughter while opening docs and chatting with several team members in my company’s mobile application.
When we got home, I felt defeated. What was meant to be a relaxing afternoon connecting with my daughter was anything but. I hadn’t been truly present with her. And, in my distracted state, I probably hadn’t solved my employee’s problem as efficiently as I could have. In trying to be two people at once, I did a mediocre job at both.
This is a common feeling in today’s age of always-connected technology. It’s especially difficult when companies have corporate apps to notify and update employees. Working remotely amplifies this by blurring the line between “home” and “office.” According to a 2019 study by Buffer (with over 2,500 participants), 22% of remote workers said they have a hard time truly “clocking out.” So, how do you separate…
