Is it time to unplug?

I have written many times about my so-called bucket list.

That, of course, is that list of things you want to do before you die.

Zooming up that list is to have one day when I do not touch a device, when I am unplugged.

No email, no Twitter, No Facebook.

Whenever I am out speaking to groups, I am always asked about the challenges of the job. Certainly there are no shortage of daunting issues facing the newspaper business and industry in general.

But one of them - one not often written about - is the horrific toll that the 24-hour news cycle and our mania for being "plugged in" is taking on us. And it's not just journalists. It's society in general.

I fear we are going to wake up one day - not nearly as far off as I once thought - and realize the price we are paying for our need to constantly be consuming information and social media.

Turns out I'm not the only one.

One of the first tweets I saw this morning was from a former co-worker who indicated she was about to "unplug" for the evening. I know, it used to be normal. Not anymore. And kudos to my college at the New Haven Register Randall Beach. He's also writing about it.

Now if you'll excuse me I have a website to update. And Tweets to push.

Life goes on. Unfortunately, it's a life I don't think any of would have recognized just a few years ago.

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