For millions of people, technology is making their lives harder, not easier. They're bombarded with so much information they can barely read it, let alone process it. They're tied to the office-through email, cell phones, pagers, voice mail and fax machines-24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Their sense of balance is under assault from the relentless onslaught of data and the feeling that they must be constantly "connected."
For everyone who yearns to simplify life, slow down, and get centered, all without compromising their career, Dot Calm offers more than hope-it offers answers. Based on the authors' in-depth interviews and survey results, Dot Calm outlines a wide variety of proven tactics that real people in all walks of life are using to cope with the ubiquitous problems of information, access, and work overload. This book provides an unprecedented chance to leverage the success strategies of people who have managed to sever the "electronic tether" that kept them constantly bound to their jobs.
Dinnocenzo and Swegan show that you don't have to sacrifice productivity or efficiency to have a sane, balanced life. On the contrary-technology can so overwhelm people with data that they have a hard time focusing on those activities that truly matter. Unplugging will actually make you more effective.
About the Author: Debra Dinnocenzo and Rick Swegan have lived the issues described in Dot Calm: The Search for Sanity in a Wired World, throughout their marriage and partnership, long before they decided to write this book. Debra is president of ALLearnatives(R), a learning and development
firm that consults with organizations to help implement alternative work strategies and remote work initiatives. Debra has more than twenty years experience in marketing, sales and product management. She has worked in executive positions for Development Dimensions International (DDI), Ridge Associates and Learning International, a division of Times Mirror. A graduate of Central Michigan University, Debra holds an M.A. and B.S. in business. In addition to publishing numerous articles, she is also the author of 101 Tips for Telecommuters (Berrett- Koehler, 1999). In her spare time, Debra enjoys walking in the woods near her home, writing poetry, and spending time with her daughter Jennimarie.
Rick Swegan currently serves as global account manager for Development Dimensions International (DDI), where he manages the firm's relationship with its largest global client. He is DDI's career sales revenue leader and has been awarded top sales honors for nine consecutive years. Prior to his tenure at DDI, Rick was vice president of human resources for a fast food chain and held administrative positions at several colleges and universities. He received his B.A. from The College of Wooster and an M.Ed. from Ohio University. Rick is a voracious reader and collector of books--he still has all the books he ever owned and especially enjoys collecting juvenile books. In addition to spending time with his daughters, he enjoys exploring his family history (which he's traced back ten generations) and serves as a partner in ALLearnatives(R).