July 29, 2014.

To Unplug on Vacation, Your Own Tech Can Help

"No, Winston, you reduced yourself to it. This is what you accepted when you set yourself up against the Party. It was all contained in that first act. Nothing has happened that you did not foresee."

I wanted to write this column over my vacation last week, but my laptop stopped me. "Your time is up," it flashed after 30 minutes online. Begrudgingly I closed the lid, sipped my coffee, looked out at the sailboats on the ocean, then opened a real printed paperback book. I was having a tech timeout.

He paused, and then went on:

I've never been good at unplugging----not from work, not from social media, not from any screen. Of course, I've heard the advice: Disconnecting is good for the mind, body and soul. Yes, but in my guide to Zen, so is aimlessly scrolling through Twitter TWTR +1.74%  and Instagram and having zero unread emails.

"We have beaten you, Winston. We have broken you up. You have seen what your body is like. Your mind is in the same state. I do not think there can be much pride left in you. You have been kicked and flogged and insulted, you have screamed with pain, you have rolled on the floor in your own blood and vomit. You have whimpered for mercy, you have betrayed everybody and everything. Can you think of a single degradation that has not happened to you?"

This summer I vowed to myself and my family to spend more of my vacation and weekend time with the screens off. I didn't promise to go cold turkey. Our phones are so core to our personal lives, that almost seems impossible. Instead, ironically, the best way I found to control myself and my screen time was to use the devices I was trying to take a break from.