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NEW! From FAST COMPANY's "Must Read" column for August, 2001:

"Here's a project for the dog days: Take a vacation from technology. That's the proposal at the heart of Gil Gordon's sensible guide to a BlackBerry-free zone, Turn It Off: How to Unplug from the Anytime-Anywhere Office Without Disconnecting Your Career (Three Rivers Press, 2001). Gordon's no Luddite, but he's peddling relief for legions of businesspeople who are caught in a web of portable work, always-on technology, and bad habits."

NEW!From Net.Worker's May 21 edition:

"Gordon's goal was to write a manual to help workers take back their free time, and create solid boundaries between their work and personal lives. The veteran telework consultant doesn't claim that every worker who relies on a cell phone or text pager is in need of an intervention. In fact, many always -connected workers may feel less anxiety because they always know what's going on. But since Gordon realizes the challenge may lie in determining whether you have a problem, he devotes a chunk of the book to aiding readers in self -discovery. If it turns out you have a problem, Gordon offers a step by step approach on how to overcome it."
See the full review here.

From FORTUNE magazine career columnist Anne Fisher's April 23 Fortune.com column:

"If mobile gadgets are running your life and your personal time isn't your own, maybe it's time to power down.

You know how it goes. You're just sitting down to dinner when the cell phone rings. It's somebody at the office with a problem and by the time you get back to your fettuccini primavera, it's stone cold--and your spouse is steamed. Or you decide to check your e-mail on a Saturday morning and end up struggling to resolve a big client's crisis before your child's soccer game starts--but you miss the game anyway.

Says Gil Gordon, a former human-resources executive at Johnson & Johnson whose consulting clients include Citicorp, AT&T, Merrill Lynch, Procter & Gamble, and many more: "When laptops and cell phones begin showing up on the beach, at the weekend barbecue, or in the bedroom, it's time for us to take time out and craft a way of working that works--not one that creates stress, resentment and, most important to employers, poor on-the-job performance."

From TELEMANAGEMENT magazine's May issue:

"As one of the world's best-known exponents of telework, Gil Gordon can take some credit for the multitude of remote work centers that have sprung up everywhere in homes, hotels, and cottages. But now he is sounding a warning. His latest book, Turn It Off, aims to counteract telework's dark side - its use to extend the working day beyond reasonable limits ... New technologies are now expanding even further the possibilities of mobile work ... Gordon's Turn It Off is a timely stimulus to use this new capacity wisely."

From Noel Hodson's review on the ITAC site:

"The message of this book is unequivocal. In the 24/7 society we must learn to Switch it Off, Take a Break, and Get a Life. It guides readers on the practical steps needed, in the real world, to take back control of our lives from the largely self-imposed expectations and stress engendered by the modern telecommunications that threaten to engulf us. It contains innovative insights, questionnaires, tables, guides and corporate advice that will almost certainly become standard tools for the HR managers and consultants who grapple with the implications of the Information Society and E-commerce and who advise organizations. It is a very readable and thought-provoking book that will set the agenda for the next decade of flexible working and it may spawn a whole new industry of self-help-groups for rationalizing electronic work overload."

From Roger Herman's review on THE HERMAN GROUP site:

"Gil Gordon, an expert in telecommuting and virtual offices, shows us how to regain our freedom, privacy, space ... to get a life. ...An important point: Gordon doesn't tell you exactly what to do. He just shows you the path. It's up to the reader to determine how far to go, when, and why. Turn It Off gives you the blueprint, the skeleton design, the concept. It's up to you to use it in the way that will be best for you and your life. No, you can't borrow my copy-I've marked it up-lots of fill-in worksheets. And I want to keep this book."
See the full review here.

From Toni Kistner's review in NETWORK WORLD on March 26:

"Notebooks, cell phones and the BlackBerry let us work nonstop to shore up performance to use against getting canned. While the book doesn't claim everyone toting a handheld device requires an intervention, a fine series of self-tests will reveal whether you have a problem. If you do, it'll show you how to take back some of that eroded personal time."
See the full review here.

From the Home Office Partnership's FLEXIBILITY March newsletter:

"The publication of a new book by telecommuting pioneer Gil Gordon is a timely reminder that there is life beyond work. Gil's advice is to learn both how to control the anywhere-anytime office, and how to get away from it."
See the full review here.

From Amazon:

"His book offers a framework that anyone can use to divide the week's 168 total hours into three "zones" determined by how much we're willing to be "on duty" at any given time. It presents a flexible way to determine this level of availability and the days and times that each zone, which range from 0 percent to 60 percent to 100 percent involved, is then in effect. It also explains how to implement such a customized model, including advice for obtaining support from superiors, coworkers, and clients."
See the full review here.

From Bill Foster's "Niche Coach" site:

"Turn It Off's author, Gil Gordon, has devised a relatively simple approach to answering a generally inordinately complex problem, how can each of us achieve some balance in our lives? Written in a pattern somewhat similar to that of a conversational style manual, the book describes a series of techniques to use ... All in all this book is, in my estimation, the beacon to lead us to make the changes each of us are going to have to make to craft and live the lives we want."
See the full review here.

 From Bob Fortier's InnoVisions Canada site:

"Gil outlines benefits to taking action, the consequences of not doing so, and puts forth some models for balancing work and life, each of which can be individually tailored."
See the full review here.

From MSNBC's site on March 21:

"We check e-mail on the weekend or late at night, answer pages at all hours, send faxes from home, work while we're on vacation - all because we can. It's out of control. How can we reclaim the boundaries between work life and personal life and still excel at our jobs and maintain our professional livelihoods? In his new book, "Turn It Off: How to Unplug From the Anytime-Anywhere Office Without Disconnecting Your Career," telecommuting and virtual office expert Gil Gordon outlines how to unplug from the office.
See the review - and an excerpt from the book - here.

From Publisher's Weekly:

"Gordon has created a workable system he calls "100/60/0" to enable readers, no matter how plugged in, to be able to declare all systems off at least part of the time."
See the full review here.

"...Truly Enjoy Your Downtime.

If you feel like you never really leave work, you check your office voice mail on weekends and go on vacation with your laptop - set some limits. "Check your messages only once a night ... or not at all," says Gil Gordon, author of Turn It Off (Three Rivers Press, 2001). "And declare one day of your weekend totally work-free." You'll be more revved-up to tackle tasks on Monday morning."

From Winston-Salem JOURNAL
February 5:

KNOW WHEN TO UNPLUG, BUSINESS EXPERT ADVISES

If you work away from the office, know when to unplug. Cell phones, pagers and portable computers have freed many workers from the constraints of the office. But people who use this wonderful technology to work when they're away from the office need to be sure they know when to stop.

This warning will not surprise a lot of workers, but its source might: Gil Gordon, a telecommuting and virtual-office expert and consultant based in Monmouth Junction, N.J.

"It is kind of ironic," Gordon admits, that he has written a book called TURN IT OFF: How to Unplug from the Anytime-Anywhere Office Without Disconnecting Your Career. It will be published in March by Three Rivers Press.

But Gordon says just because telecommuting technology allows you to work anytime, anywhere doesn't mean you should. His book, he says, is a call to both managers and workers to take a close look at how they're using this technology now that it's no longer a novelty.

Gordon is not calling for a wholesale ban on working evenings and weekends. But he says workers need to ask themselves three questions: Do you have enough time for yourself, your friends and other obligations outside of work? Even if you think you're spending enough time away from work, does your family agree? And is your after-hours work truly helping your company?

From Dan Pink's FREE AGENT NATION eNewsletter for February 2:

"My friend Gil Gordon has penned a wise and timely book called TURN IT OFF. Gil's book, out next month, examines our obsession with always being connected. "If you're like most people," he writes, "it's been far too long since you've enjoyed the sheer pleasure of being unhooked, unwired, and unavailable." His main advice: divide the work week into three segments -- "on duty," "off duty," and "mid-duty." And he shows how you can accomplish this delicate balancing act without unbalancing your career."

From the San Jose Mercury News, January 30:

If You Work Away from the Office, Know When to Unplug By Margaret Steen

Article Excerpt:

Cell phones, pagers and portable computers have freed many workers from the constraints of the office. But people who use this wonderful technology to work when they're away from the office need to be sure they know when to stop.
This warning will not surprise a lot of workers, but its source might: Gil Gordon, a telecommuting and virtual office expert and consultant based in Monmouth Junction, N.J.
"It is kind of ironic," Gordon admits, that he has written a book called "Turn It Off: How to Unplug from the Anytime-Anywhere Office Without Disconnecting Your Career." It will be published in March by Three Rivers Press.
Full Article Available here: PDF document [8k]

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