On April 12, I called out of work because my wife went into labor. Over the 13 days that followed I was out of the office

and really stepped away from my keyboard to focus on my new expanded family. Sure I Tweeted or checked in on foursquare or Facebook here or there, but for the most part, I was an inactive member of the social grid. Odd as it may seem, it wasn’t all that hard at all.

And you know what?

I didn’t miss anything aside from a cloud server going down. Sure my Klout score may have dropped a notch or two and I was attacked by a scary mom troll for a conversation I had with my friend Stephanie Wonderlin, none of this was really that impactful.

What was impactful were the visits of family and friends and well wishes that Mrs. Espo and I received for the young Espo. We truly appreciate all of the IRL and virtual love.

The time off the grid also helped me refocus on goals and priorities that I have both personally and professionally. I haven’t missed a beat in the grand scheme of things and returned to work with a new vigor and focus, despite less hours of sleep.

It also made me realize that you can take your eyes off of things every now and then. In this space we all take ourselves too seriously and sometimes we all need life to kick us in the ass or to stop and smell the roses… it’s the little things that matter.

On April 12, I called out of work because my wife went into labor. Over the 13 days that followed I was out of the office

and really stepped away from my keyboard to focus on my new expanded family. Sure I Tweeted or checked in on foursquare or Facebook here or there, but for the most part, I was an inactive member of the social grid. Odd as it may seem, it wasn’t all that hard at all.

And you know what?

I didn’t miss anything aside from a cloud server going down. Sure my Klout score may have dropped a notch or two and I was attacked by a scary mom troll for a conversation I had with my friend Stephanie Wonderlin, none of this was really that impactful.

What was impactful were the visits of family and friends and well wishes that Mrs. Espo and I received for the young Espo. We truly appreciate all of the IRL and virtual love.

The time off the grid also helped me refocus on goals and priorities that I have both personally and professionally. I haven’t missed a beat in the grand scheme of things and returned to work with a new vigor and focus, despite less hours of sleep.

It also made me realize that you can take your eyes off of things every now and then. In this space we all take ourselves too seriously and sometimes we all need life to kick us in the ass or to stop and smell the roses… it’s the little things that matter.

On April 12, I called out of work because my wife went into labor. Over the 13 days that followed I was out of the office

and really stepped away from my keyboard to focus on my new expanded family. Sure I Tweeted or checked in on foursquare or Facebook here or there, but for the most part, I was an inactive member of the social grid. Odd as it may seem, it wasn’t all that hard at all.

And you know what?

I didn’t miss anything aside from a cloud server going down. Sure my Klout score may have dropped a notch or two and I was attacked by a scary mom troll for a conversation I had with my friend Stephanie Wonderlin, none of this was really that impactful.

What was impactful were the visits of family and friends and well wishes that Mrs. Espo and I received for the young Espo. We truly appreciate all of the IRL and virtual love.

The time off the grid also helped me refocus on goals and priorities that I have both personally and professionally. I haven’t missed a beat in the grand scheme of things and returned to work with a new vigor and focus, despite less hours of sleep.

It also made me realize that you can take your eyes off of things every now and then. In this space we all take ourselves too seriously and sometimes we all need life to kick us in the ass or to stop and smell the roses… it’s the little things that matter.

On April 12, I called out of work because my wife went into labor. Over the 13 days that followed I was out of the office

and really stepped away from my keyboard to focus on my new expanded family. Sure I Tweeted or checked in on foursquare or Facebook here or there, but for the most part, I was an inactive member of the social grid. Odd as it may seem, it wasn’t all that hard at all.

And you know what?

I didn’t miss anything aside from a cloud server going down. Sure my Klout score may have dropped a notch or two and I was attacked by a scary mom troll for a conversation I had with my friend Stephanie Wonderlin, none of this was really that impactful.

What was impactful were the visits of family and friends and well wishes that Mrs. Espo and I received for the young Espo. We truly appreciate all of the IRL and virtual love.

The time off the grid also helped me refocus on goals and priorities that I have both personally and professionally. I haven’t missed a beat in the grand scheme of things and returned to work with a new vigor and focus, despite less hours of sleep.

It also made me realize that you can take your eyes off of things every now and then. In this space we all take ourselves too seriously and sometimes we all need life to kick us in the ass or to stop and smell the roses… it’s the little things that matter.