{ unplug } How I Have Managed to Disconnect for the Holidays

{ by } Jeanne Rose

{ source } Yahoo! Voices, 2011.12.18

I start cutting my Internet time down by 2 hours each day, so that once the holidays begin, and I am going here and there to visit family, I have mastered finding other things to do besides sit in front of a computer screen.

Christmas is quickly approaching, which means many people will be leaving their homes to go on trips to see family and friends. One of the many challenges that come with the holidays is learning to disconnect from the online lives we have created, especially with the addition of smartphones. The increase in technology really has made it difficult to spend time with family, and relax. I have had a lot of trouble with disconnecting from the Internet through the holidays, but here are a few tips I can share from my experiences, about how to connect more with your family, and connect less with technology.

{ unplug } Disconnect to Reconnect This Holiday

{ by } Angela Woods

{ source } Yahoo! Voices, 2011.12.19

I've learned to make use of away messages. Away messages can politely let people know you're disconnecting for the holidays.

The way to reconnect is to disconnect. It sounds like a paradox, but wisdom often does. We all know, however, that sometimes the technology designed to keep us connected is exactly what caused us to be so disconnected in the first place. Smart phones might be intelligent, but they lack wisdom. They don't know that if you want to give the gift of your presence you have to unplug occasionally. I've missed several holidays (in spirit) because I was too busy responding to texts and Facebook messages or answering phone calls to notice my own absence. I know I'm not alone in that. So I've devised some ways to reclaim family time.

I've learned to make use of away messages { see footnote }. Away messages can politely let people know you're disconnecting for the holidays. Use automated email responses, Christmas Eve status updates or pre-holiday texts to say you're going unplugged for a while. You can send a message that gets right to the point, letting people know that you'll get back to them later. Or you can aim to amuse.

{ unplug } 5 Ways to Unplug Your Holidays

{ by } Caroline Knorr
{ source } Common Sense Media, 2011.12.10

An outright ban on digital devices won't win your kids' respect -- or compliance. But with a little planning, you can balance your family's tech activities with much-needed face time. 

Family time doesn't have to be spent in front of a screen -- here are 5 ways to take a breather from media over the holidays.

Is this the most wired holiday ever? There are apps for organizing your holiday events, online wish list-creators for kids, sites that will send your kids an email from Santa -- and lots of new electronic devices geared for kids. And between texting, video games, and social networking, you might find it hard to get a word in edgewise with your kids.

As much as we all love and depend on our high-tech toys, our reliance on them -- let's face it -- can get in the way of the warm and cozy family time we so carefully scheduled (probably on our electronic calendar!).
An outright ban on digital devices won't win your kids' respect -- or compliance.

{ unplug } Why we should take a holiday from our networks

{ by } Aleks Krotoski

{ source } The Observer, 2011.05.29

{ topics } unplugging, holiday, multi-tasking, boredom,
pleasure principle, conditioning , digital hermit, internet addicts,

conspicuous consumption, re-hab, de-tox, relaxation 

The web has been described by anthropologists as the modern water cooler, and it is increasingly where we hang out. So we head to our technologies in order to be part of the party.

A digital break will do you good. Switch off and try it.

It's the Sabbath, and I do hope you're reading the dead tree version of this column. After all, it's a long weekend, and isn't it time you had a holiday from the web? Even the ultimate how-to guides to life, the doctrines of the major world religions, recommend at least one day off a week. And by off, they mean nothing, nada, zilch. Not a peep. Not even a tweet. And don't even think about touching your BlackBerry.

Yet so many of us – myself included – have an incredibly hard time letting go of our devices. What is it that compels us to maintain our vice-like grips on our digital realities?

The web has made it feel impossible not to be connected all the time simply because it connects us. As social creatures, we are keen to belong, and we perform our belonging – online and offline – by reaching out and touching someone. One of the important ways we demonstrate connection is by sharing information with one another, deepening our relationships and making them more enduring. The web has been described by anthropologists as the modern water cooler, and it is increasingly where we hang out. So we head to our technologies in order to be part of the party.

It's a mistake to assume that your friendships will suffer if you take a break from conversing online.
Photograph: Westend61 GmbH/Alamy

{ unplug } DTAC "Disconnect to connect" TV commercial

{ by } Oeil S Jumratsilpa

{ source } Oeil SJ, 2010.10.12

{ topics } unplugging, disconnecting,
turning off, mobile phones

The brand DTAC has always had a friendly and easy-going personality. This TV commercial doesn’t forget the unmistakable personality even when criticizing the society and its current issue.

DTAC is the second largest phone company in Thailand and is owned by a Norwegian phone company called Telenor. Thailand is known to have its own way of appreciating and responding to advertising and branding. Telenor, being a foreign company, made a good choice when they decided not to brand DTAC as a Norwegian company but instead did a good research on the style of branding and advertisement Thais respond well to.

The brand DTAC has always had a friendly and easy-going personality. This TV commercial doesn’t forget the unmistakable personality even when criticizing the society and its current issue.

{ unplug } What Happens When Mom Unplugs Teens for 6 Months?

{ by } Vicki Panaccione
{ source } Ezine Articles, 2011.02.16

{ topics } unplugging, rediscovering,
hobbies, focusing, relationships

Unplugging really can have a remarkable effect on the whole family. And after a while, they don't seem to miss the electronics. Aren't willing to unplug for the long haul? Then here are some suggestions for adding unplugging into your regular routine.

There isn't a parent I meet nowadays who doesn't complain about the amount of time his or her children spend using electronics. These range from electronic hand held games, to iPods, to cell phones, Internet and TV. Just imagine what your life would be like if your children were unplugged!

Well, that's exactly what Susan Maushart did! { see previous article: 'I took my kids offline' } A NY mother of 3 teenagers (ages 14, 15 and 18) decided she'd had enough. Like so many teens, they did their homework while simultaneously listening to music, updating Facebook and checking text messages. Instead of laughing when amused, they actually said "LOL" aloud. Her daughters had become mere "accessories of their own social-networking profile, as if real life was simply a dress rehearsal (or more accurately, a photo op) for the next status update." So, for six month she took away the Internet, TV, video games, all electronic hand held games, iPods and cell phones.

{ unplug } Three powerful lessons I learned when I got offline

{ by } Tony Schwartz
{ source } Harvard Business Review Blog Network, 2012.01.04

{ topics } unplugging, time management, life balance,
curiosity, search, instant gratification, distraction

As the days passed, the biggest loss I experienced was that I couldn't instantly search Google for more information about something each time the thought occurred to me. I'd always told myself I did that only out of a desire to know more and go deeper.

I hadn't been offline for more than a few hours in two and a half years — and only then because I was on safari in Botswana and had no choice.

Typically, the first thing I would do when I got up in the morning was to get on my laptop to check a series of sites, including Twitter, Facebook, Google Analytics, and HBR.org, to see what comments my blogs had accumulated overnight.

All day long, between doing my main work, I found myself checking one site or another, or reading and responding to email. Far too often, I got right back online after dinner. The lure of email and the Internet had come to feel compulsive, irresistible, and increasingly uncomfortable.

On the evening of December 24th, I decided to see if I could shut it all down for nine days, cold turkey. To my surprise, it wasn't that hard.

'Unplug / Holiday' by HOW / Parse