Northwest Iowa — Everywhere we turn we’re surrounded by technology. Between computers and smartphones, email, social media and streaming video, technology sometimes feels like it rules our lives.
Now, a technology expert at Iowa State University is recommending you take some time away from your electronic devices to make your life a little easier. Rey Junco uses technology every day for research in his role as an associate professor of education and human computer interaction. But he decided about five years ago that he needed to set it aside to refresh himself.
He admits it was tough to stay away from some technology.
Junco created an automatic reply email and activated a few days before his vacation, to let people know that if they needed to reach him, they would need to resend their email when he returned. He says it was tough at first, but he got used to it and found he could really enjoy his vacation. Junco says the same thing will work for you.
Your boss might want to stay in touch with you and send you email while you are on vacation. Junco has this message for those managers.
He says putting down the technology is a natural and important thing.
Junco says he could understand how it could have been frustrating for some to not be able to immediately reach him during his breaks from technology, but he says he got a lot of people who understood his need to take a break. Which is maybe something we all need to do from time to time.
