Job change, turning off email bring 5 days of disconnected bliss

One of the last things I did on my final workday at the Deseret News was turn off the corporate email account on my smartphone.

Thus began a stretch of five straight days without work email.

It was wonderful.

True, I didn’t feel the change all that much during the Saturday, Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend, because I never had received many messages over weekends and holidays.

The only time I really noticed my temporary disconnectedness those first few days was when I checked my phone. Whereas I would usually have at least a handful of emails every time I checked, even on a weekend, I was going hours without a single message.

Yes, I was still checking my phone obsessively. Some habits are tough to break. But I found that, more quickly than I expected, the time between those checks grew longer.

By Tuesday and Wednesday of last week, the change was much more noticeable. Although I had started my new job, I was in orientation those two days, so I was not yet able to access work email.

Those two nights at home, I barely checked my phone. I stopped worrying about who might be messaging me, and I really focused on my family.

I thought I did a good job of that before. I always tried to help out with homework when possible and assist my wife with chores around the house. I thought I had done my best to be part of what was going on with the family during our nighttime routine.

However, it was a rare evening that I didn’t receive a message from work that required my attention. Even if resolving an issue only took a few minutes, it pulled me out of what was going on around me. And I’ve found that, once you’re removed from that flow, it takes time and effort to get back.

I’m not blaming anyone but myself for my behavior. In most cases, it wouldn’t have been a big deal if I had let things go until the next morning, or at least until after the kids were in bed. As I said, I got into a bad habit of checking my messages too often, and it was a hard habit to break.