A Blog Sabbath?

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03 Mar 2008 08:57 am

This essay struck home:

Nathan Zeldes, a principal engineer at Intel (employees there read or send three million e-mail messages daily), is running a couple of experiments, one in which people spend a morning a week at work but offline, another in which people consciously reduce their e-mail output. Though he’s not reporting results, he’s encouraged and he says people are participating.

“Even many corporate leaders now believe you need time to hear the voice of the new inside,” said Anne Dilenschneider, a spirituality consultant in Montara, Calif., a coastal town 17 miles south of San Francisco. “And this time need not be a day, or even a specific period, activity or lack of one. It doesn’t necessarily mean a Zen sit, just some time of solitude.”

I'm finding that this is a real challenge for bloggers especially. Especially during this campaign, I'm all but surgically attached to the web. I'm working 24/7, and increasingly isolated from social interaction. Going to the Atlantic offices helps, but getting a grip on this thing is hard. The blogging mind does not easily adjust to reading a book or allowing an unformed thought stay unformed. Even when you carve out time for more offline reading or living, it's hard to switch gears. And the danger of burnout is serious.

Any thoughts on how to counter this? I know you're often as bad as I am - in reverse (I blog; you read; how many times have you hit refresh today?). My fear is not getting the time and space to think and rethink. I now force myself to work out every day; I have tried transcendental meditation; the dogs and husband help enormously. But still the addiction grows.

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