An Internet-Free Week

From about early December to late January the academic world takes a little breather as many universities end their fall quarters and start their spring. Many students and faculty are away, the universities are ghost towns. A time for rest, a chance to catch up on some of those tasks we've been putting off for the fall. A chance to get ready for the next quarter or semester. This week between Christmas and New Years marks the nadir of activity: Absolutely nothing interesting should happen this week.

But over recent years this season seems far less quiet. We also work in a more global society and many countries, like Israel and India, treat this week not much differently than any other week. We can access the internet from anywhere and more importantly, we know everyone else can access the internet from anywhere. Taking time to visit relatives and friends or even going on vacation for many does not mean a break from email. Yesterday, Christmas Day, I received several actionable emails almost at the level of a typical workday.

We need an internet-free week. We should just shut down the whole network for seven days. Some people would use the time to relax and take a break knowing they will not be missing anything important. Others would continue to work finding themselves surprisingly much more productive than usual.