Off the Grid

I've been writing many posts recently 'off the grid'. Disconnected from both wifi and mobile signal at Lee Abbey in Devon. Apparently, if I walked to the top of the hill I could pick up a faint signal, but it would be a lot of effort for not much gain.* There seem to be both advantages and disadvantages to this.

Advantages

There is a certain clarity of thought gained through being here. And I think that is partly down to cutting down distractions - such as not being able to access e-mail, Twitter, text and the like. Since becoming a GCT, my e-mails have rocketed and even though many of them aren't relevant to me, it still takes a certain amount of effort to process the information.

Another reason for the clarity of thought is the place itself. It is beautiful. The curves of the tree lines on the hills, the slope down to the bay and the arc of the bay itself. I'm sure there's something on Maslow's heirarchy about that.

Disadvantages

I am used to checking things that I'm not too sure of, and my favourite method is Google. For example, when I referred to Maslow's Heirarchy in the previous paragraph, I would have liked to check that my guess was correct and maybe provide some helpful image to explain what I meant. But Maslow's Heirarchy is one of those things that I'm not completely sure about.

Another downside is being disconnected from my PLN. My PLN, particularly on Twitter, has become increasingly inspiring over recent months - not because of any radical changes to personnel, but more because I've become a better listener. Posts and tweets from my PLN have inspired me to think new thoughts and write new stuff. Probably 75% of what I blog about is inspired directly by other people's posts.

Impact

How will I post this post? It's written now. Will I hit the e-mail button so if gets posted as soon as I get back in range? Or will I wait until I get home, check out the Maslow's heirarchy thing, add a few appropriate images of the bay I talked about? What's more important to me, the process or the product? How many times should I re-draft a blog post?

*that's a joke for electrical engineers.