Leaving it all behind

These are the so-called Dog Days of summer. Business slows. Indeed, in Europe, where I find myself this week, most companies have entered a state of suspended animation that will last until the first of September. People relax. The outdoors beckons. Families cry out for attention. Work's grasp weakens.

Or does it?

After a rare weekend away from e-mail, I returned to a Monday morning mountain in my inbox and a to-do list that had miraculously grown between 8 p.m. Friday and 7 a.m. Monday. Never mind that the intervening days were perhaps the most beautiful Silicon Valley had seen in months. Apparently, there's always time to dash off one more message between barbeques and beach outings.

Of course it would be irresponsible for me to tune out completely for more than a weekend. Even while on holiday in faraway places, I sneak off during siesta to find an Internet connection in order to cull my e-mail.

But I wonder ... can the technorati - those of us whose lives and businesses depend on technology - really turn off? Can we leave it all behind? I suppose it's possible for a brief time, provided you work like a dog before you leave for vacation and work double time after you return. Any beneficial effects of a restful holiday quickly fade at the realization that, boy oh boy, have you got mail.

With my bike newly tuned and the long afternoons begging for an early exit from the work house, I wish I had a strategy to better balance my always-on life. Do you?

How do you handle the tug off summer amid the demands of your techno-savvy life? Sure, it may be a cheap question designed to wrap up this column and get out on the playing field, but I really do want to know. I welcome comments and e-mails from anyone who's figured out how to leave it all behind ... and returned to it without terrible consequence. And now, I'm going to ignore my inbox for a bit and go out for a late evening stroll ...