Posted on 07/21/2005 7:49:37 AM PDT by Mike Bates
The typical office worker is interrupted every three minutes by a phone call, e-mail, instant message or other distraction. The problem is that it takes about eight uninterrupted minutes for our brains to get into a really creative state.
The result, says Carl Honore, journalist and author of "In Praise of Slowness," is a situation where the digital communications that were supposed to make working lives run more smoothly are actually preventing people from getting critical tasks accomplished.
Honore, who cited the estimate of an interruption every three minutes, acknowledges that he would not part with his laptop or phone. But he adds that "it's possible to get too much of a good thing. As a society, that's where we are at the moment."
People are coming up with low-tech strategies and companies are developing software to help workers tackle the flood of e-mail, calls and messages.
Microsoft, which created much of the software that allows for instant interruptions, such as the alerts that pop up with each new e-mail, is aware of the problem.
"It used to be: 'I've got to be online, it's so frustrating that I can't get on,'" said Chris Capossela, a vice president in Microsoft's Information Worker unit. "Now that's happened. People are ultraconnected. And you know what? Now they are starting to realize, 'Wow, I want to actually stop getting interrupted.'"
For years, technology has worked to get people more connected. In the office there's e-mail, instant messages and the phone. On the road, cell phones and BlackBerrys enable workers to stay in touch with colleagues.
There is a mini rebellion under way, however. Desperate for some quiet time to think, people are coming up with low-tech strategies to get away from all their technology.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.com ...
Eight minutes? Try years for some of us. Well, me, anyway.
I am a software engineer and I hate technology... There I feel better.
FR is my main distraction at work.
Now take a deep, cleansing breath. . . .
Every one of these "time-savers" has an ON-OFF button, does it not? Selecting the "off" position is not rocket science.....
There is a mini rebellion under way, however. Desperate for some quiet time to think, people are coming up with low-tech strategies to get away from all their technology.
Being my incorrigibly indelicate self, one of my favorite remarks for years has been, "I don't have to experience Syphilis to know I'd rather not". Some things can be judged instinctively.
I have allowed being given two different telephones exactly once, for a project that made it convenient for me. Most of the time they were in the off position.
There is no one so important that they should feel free to call me any time, 24/7 ... because they can.
The doorbell at home is the same way. It's there to tell me that someone wants to see me. It's up to me to make the final choice.
Same with the home phone.
It became clear early on that having electronic leashes was viewed as a badge of status.
I've been laughing ever since.
I turned the ringer on my phone off. My Outlook only polls for new mail every hour. I do not have a cell phone.
I wish I could do something non-tachnology and make the same income. I hate reading all the techno stuff just to keep up with the young guns.
The most important piece of technology to come into my life in the last ten years is the new Driver I just bought last week. I picked up 30 yds off the tee.
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