Last week we took a family vacation, nothing unusual about that (well, somewhat unusual for us since we're not terribly great about taking vacations). But what was more unusual was that I took a vacation from the Internet. Upon arriving in the kitchy town of Helen, Georgia, where we rented a condo for a week, I turned off my iPhone, which meant no phone access, no Internet, and no camera. (I forgot my camera since I'm so used to using my iPhone to take snapshots and wanting to take a vacation from the InterTubes, I knew I wouldn't be able to just use it as a camera.)I thought, why not try it myself? One of the goals of the professors' trip to was to understand how technology affects our attention. Anecdotally, I know this is a problem. I often have my laptop open while I'm watching TV, which means I've got limitless options to take my attention at my fingertips in addition to what's on the tube. Oh, and not to mention to take my attention from those other people in my house.
So, what did we do during that week? We floated down the river on inner tubes, went to the water slide, swam in the pool, paddled around the pond in boats, played in an Uno Tournament (which I won, thankyouverymuch), floated down the river again (tubing for the whole family was the grand prize of said Uno tournament), and such. Oh, and I read. One Hundred Years of Solitude was my book of choice. (Y, no, no lo leí en español. Lo siento. Sé que es heresía leer un clásico como este en inglés, pero estaba de vacaciones.) And I wrote a bit too, in my journal, that is. You know, with pen and paper. So old-fashioned.
Well, what are the results of my one week vacation of exchanging the InterTubes for Inner Tubes and Facebook for a Week of Solitude?
At first I actually found myself anxious. Who's emailing me? Calling me? What did I forget to finish up before I left? What if...? I wonder how so-and-so is doing? This is similar to what the article reports about how multitasking decreases our performance. Even "the expectation of e-mail seems to be taking up our working memory," according to the researchers.
Then it started to dissipate and I relaxed. I noticed I was more focused on the single thing I was doing, like floating down a slow-moving river in a yellow inner tube or getting into the lives of the Buendía family. Or what my family was up to or into.
The lack of a camera had an unanticipated effect. I tend to photograph everything. I love documenting what the kids are doing. I love to take pictures of scenery, especially landscapes (even though I haven't done much of it lately). But not having a camera during the week forced me, like not having email and Internet access, to focus on one thing: the activity at hand. I wasn't constantly worried about snapping a shot of the kids doing this or that or capturing a perfect sunset or mountain scene. I was able to just "be."
That's not to say that I plan to go camera-free in the future, but it was instructive of how I could become more focused on the moment and less focused on the Kodak Moment. I finally flipped my phone on as we drove out of town so I could at least take a picture of a display of lost flip-flops next to the river (posted above). It was too good to pass up. And the tubing company took pictures of you as you came to the conclusion of your floating adventure. I was happy to pay for some great shots they captured. I think this one pretty much sums up the week:
