Turn It Off | A new book from Gil Gordon

For Immediate Release
Contact: Brian Belfiglio
(212) 572-2551

The first book that shows how to cut the electronic leash!

TURN IT OFF: How to Unplug from the Anytime-Anywhere Office Without Disconnecting Your Career
By Gil Gordon

The good news is that e--mail, cell phones, pagers and laptops have liberated us from the workplace so we can work almost anytime and anywhere. The bad news is that we do. The boundaries that used to exist between work and the rest of our lives have been blurred for many people - and in some cases have disappeared entirely. In TURN IT OFF, Gil Gordon, a telecommuting and virtual office consultant, shows readers how to re-establish those boundaries that separate work and personal life - and to do so without getting fired or losing clients.

TURN IT OFF traces the evolution of the anytime-anywhere office, noting that management, workers, and technology have all contributed to the phenomenon --management asked for it, workers enabled it, and technology let it happen. Is the answer that everyone should smash their cell phones and pagers and demand a return to the 35-hour work week? Absolutely not. This timely book isn't intended to stir up a workplace revolution, Instead, TURN IT OFF will help readers use and deal with technology more effectively in three ways:

Understand the role that mobile-office tools and technology play in their lives, and determine whether the tools are hurting as much as helping.
Decide how and where they want to draw the line between anytime-anywhere work and their personal and family life.
Develop a customized plan to regain control of these communications tools by discussing their plan and its implications with their clients, manager, and co-workers-in a way that will gain their cooperation.

--MORE--

Best of all, TURN IT OFF breaks down the 168 hours in a week and helps you apply Gordon's "100/60/0" model where you decide which hours of the week you'll be "on" and available to the office 100 percent, part of the time, or not at all. It also offers tips for managing e-mail and voice mail effectively so that they don't take over your life.

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. With helpful quizzes and checklists along with valuable advice on how to communicate your plan to your boss, clients, or co-workers, TURN IT OFF is a long-overdue guide for helping today's workforce deal with an issue that will only become more pronounced in the years to come.

"I wouldn't give up my laptop or cell phone for anything," notes Gil Gordon, "and we're never going back to the 'good old days.' But we simply can't go on with a workstyle that drives out our lifestyle - there are ways to make them fit together so employers and clients get what they want and workers get what they need."

About Gil Gordon
For more than twenty-five years, Gil Gordon has immersed himself in the challenge of making life in organizations more productive and more satisfying. Following almost ten years in Human Resources with Johnson & Johnson, he launched his own one-person management consulting business in 1982 to implement telecommuting and virtual office programs for employers in the U.S. and elsewhere. Today, he is recognized around the world as a leading telecommuting and virtual office expert and a true pioneer in the field. His client list includes companies such as Citicorp, AT&T, Merrill Lynch, Ernst & Young, Schering-Plough, Procter & Gamble and many more, as well as public-sector employers and government agencies in the U.S. and around the world. Gil Gordon has been featured in publications such as The Wall Street Journal and USA Today, and lives in Monmouth Junction, New Jersey.

TURN IT OFF:How to Unplug from the Anytime-Anywhere Office Without Disconnecting Your Career
By Gil Gordon
Three Rivers Press
Publication Date: March 20, 2001
Price: $12.00 (paper/original)
Pages: 240
ISBN: 0-609-80697-1