The day before going on holiday I was fortunate to be at the Oval in a hospitality box watching Surrey v Middlesex with eleven other people from the insurance world.
One of the guests was Andy who I hadn’t seen for a number of years and is a really nice guy but was permanently tied into his mobile phone. It would appear that he is at weekends and holidays too.
The next day we went as a family to Italy and I decided that I would only go into my mobile twice during the holiday, however when I did, I found that my international coverage had not been extended as I thought. So I had a whole 10 days without it. Even I had hankerings to go into it on occasions, so how would Andy have dealt with this?
When you go on holiday do you give your family or partner your undivided and full attention or is it still half an ear whilst you are on the phone, or one eye whilst keeping the other eye on your emails?
Perhaps if you are MD or owner of you own business you might need to keep an eye on what is going on whilst you are away from work. Otherwise unless it is a company mandate, which is very unlikely, you don’t! Most HR departments recommend having at least 2 weeks total break away from work to recharge your batteries.
Sky TV, IPads, IPods, and electronic games were substituted by cycling, swimming, walking, playing cards, dominos, and watching stupid programmes like Midsummer Murders and Don’t blow the Inheritance. Families enjoy real time together, doing things they don’t normally have time to do.
So many people are dictated to by their smart phone rather than they control it. The mobile can be switched off on trains or after 8pm at night. It seems that stress is on the increase at work and being involved 24 hours a day, 365 days a year will not help this. What camp are you in?
Does your spouse/family deserve your full attention in the evenings/weekends and say 10 days a year?
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