HOW TO UNPLUG FROM YOUR TECH DURING VACATION
Nearly one in 10 Americans checks their phone every three minutes while on vacation, and some use their phone more than 300 times a day.
David Pogue, a tech columnist for Yahoo Finance, offered some advice on setting boundaries for checking your phone while on vacation.
“Announce to your family or companion what your expectations are,” Pogue said. “Say, ‘I’m allowed to check the sports scores before bed, I’m allowed to check the news in the morning, but other than that I’m off the phone.’ And that way, you will guilt yourself and they’re allowed to nag you.”
Pogue also talked about what companies are doing to help their employees truly enjoy their time off. “The big one is Daimler, the German automaker,” Pogue said. “They give you the option when you go on vacation, your out-of-office auto-reply can say, ‘by the way, I’m on vacation, your email will be deleted.’ There’s nothing to stop anyone from doing that.”
It’s not always work that keeps people glued to their phones, though. It the case of social media, Pogue suggested fighting apps with apps. “For Android there’s one called Offtime,” Pogue said, “It’s like ‘do not disturb’ on steroids. It blocks all apps, calls, texts except from the people you designate as important.”
Another app called Onward offers similar features for iPhone users.
Pogue said this is the year for digital health and noted both Apple and Android are developing new modes that show users how often they check their phones and allow them to set time limits on certain apps.