Will You Unplug This Holiday Weekend?

Did you hear about that new labor reform bill in France?  It will give workers the right to disconnect from laptops and cell phones during their "off hours."  Companies with 50 or more employees will have to refrain from sending work e-mails after typical work hours.

My first reaction to this was that it's a brilliant idea and I hope other companies follow suit. I think we all feel the stress of communication overload with constant access to e-mails and texts.  But then I thought about a potential downside:  Monday mornings might be extra stressful dealing with everything that piled up over the weekend!  There are times on the weekends when I quickly respond to messages, to keep the work flow moving along, and I think that comforts me in some way.  Does that make sense?  Or am I just so used to the constant barrage of messages that I've lost touch with the idea of true downtime?  (I'm not just referring to radio station messages.  Remember I also run a voiceover business and am active in Rotary so my inbox gets really full.)

In any case, I'm interested in what you think of legislation that would encourage unplugging from electronic devices.  And here in Ocean County, do you expect to go "off the grid" while you enjoy the long weekend?