A long weekend

It used to be that when you took a vacation or even a long weekend away, it was a break from work entirely. You couldn't carry your desk with you. You couldn't forward your phone calls to you. Your mail couldn't find you.

Not so today. Everywhere you go, people are attached to their cell phones. You find more cell phones on the beach than radios or boomboxes.

When the boss or client tracks you down on a holiday weekend - they expect you to have all their information at hand - pushing us more and more towards ipods, blackberries and other gadgets, never mind taking the office desk (aka your laptop) with us.

I was flummoxed to hear at a conference a few months ago that companies now expect key personnel to stay in touch when they go away. Gone are the days that you can get away from everything and everyone.

How do we get balance this way? How do we take a break to recharge, reflect and get renewed?

Myself, I'm heading to the beach for the holiday weekend with a couple books I've been waiting to read - no phone, no email. I'm looking forward to lots of cribbage and backgammon in the sand.