We are overwhelmed. A short manifesto

Our cup is too full. We need to disconnect to reconnect.

As Cybergrrl, I spent the early 90s telling people they should “Get Online!” More recently, while promoting my 10th book, Social Media Engagement for Dummies, I wanted to talk about the tech elephant in the room: that a big challenge we all face engaging people through social media is that everyone is overloaded, bombarded by information and ads and pummeled by constant, ubiquitous social media news feeds.

“You CAN’T talk about that when we’re trying to promote that businesses SHOULD USE social media,” I was told.

“But if people are more MINDFUL of how they use social media and actually take time to UNPLUG and decompress, they can go back to their social media marketing with clear eyes and mind. They’ll be able to better evaluate what is working and what isn’t working for their brand and for themselves. They’ll be able to operate with a fresh perspective.”

Well, “Mindful Tech” was not “hip” a few years ago and seemed, at least on the surface, to be a contradiction of everything I’ve been championing around the Internet, the Web, Social Media and Mobile.

The truth is this: Disconnecting is now more important than being connected. Stepping back is more valuable than total immersion in our gadgets and digital conversation streams. Breaking bad tech use habits will benefit all of us mentally, physically, and spiritually.

I hope you’ll join me on my journey – and the journey of others – exploring ways to get a better grip on our technology for the benefit of not just our work but our lives and wellbeing.

[And no, it is not lost on me that I will be exalting the benefits of “unplugging” online. Not lost on me at all…]

View the Manifesto.

How do you achieve #worklifetechzen?