It’s coming up on that time of year…time to unplug a bit. This is something I started last year, during the vacation I usually take between Christmas Eve and New Years, but this year I’m going to expand it to the whole month.

On the First of December I’ll be shutting down all my IM / Twitter apps for the month, I’ll only be answering email once a day unless it is for work (and not at all during my Xmas-New Year vacation), and blogging will be kept to a minimum. The only podcasting I’ll be doing is that which is currently a commitment, which will be for Playing For Keeps. I’m going to stop reading RSS feeds for the month and simply enjoy the quiet.

I’m always amazed at how much better I feel for stepping away for a time, and let’s face it…if it’s important, people know to phone me about it. There is a tremendous sense of false urgency that comes from trying to keep up with all of our various communication mediums all the time. Sometimes it’s best just to walk away, to retreat for a while and recharge your batteries.

(Kudos to Kris Johnson, who’ll be going even further than I will this year. You rock, sir.)