Technophiles hit the pause button

Jeremy Heigh went on his "low-tech sabbatical" last summer deep in the British Columbia mountains with trepidation.

For the 32-year-old investment manager and passionate blogger, there were too many e-mails to answer, too much data to crunch, too many blog entries to log to comprehend escaping for the 10-day canoe trip with relatives.

Then one day in the solitude of the woods, it hit him like a virus: He was so connected to cyberspace that he had lost his connection to the world.

"I didn't notice until I was out in the bush how weak and flimsy I felt," Mr. Heigh said from his Edmonton office. "I felt like I was full of water. By the end of the trip, I could feel the strength growing inside me."

Overwhelmed by the volume of information spilling from technological gadgets intended to enhance communication and simplify life, some workers have started making a conscious choice to limit their reliance on the devices - or to take a break from them altogether to clear their heads. Call it the tech sabbatical.