Buried By Digital Noise
<rant>
Some days I work hard and realize I did not get anything done. Emails, cell phone, twitter, blogs, IM, door bells, they are all one constant interruption. Our generation has gotten to much in the habit of the of “Now! - and get me someone while I am waiting!”. I have people email me and if I did not respond in 1 hour they email me again and are “put out” because I did not answer already. Maybe I was taking a walk and decided to leave my iPhone at home to get some peace.
Days I decide to shut off email, IM, and the phone are days code flows from the brain to the fingers and into the computer. Those are the days I don’t have to look up as many examples of code because my brain is working the way it should when writing software. I think I am going to start two days a week only checking all the digital gizmos for request of contact/response once every two hours. This way I can do a “normal” week’s work in two days. Hey, who else is in!?!
</rant>
What prompted my rant was this article I read called “Why You Can’t Pay Attention“. It is worth the read.
Sean McGrath Said,
November 5, 2008 @ 7:40 pm
I totally had one of those days today too. I think you’re on to something with shutting the email off, killing twitter, and turning off IM. I think I’ll try that tomorrow and see how i make out.
Jason Row Said,
November 5, 2008 @ 8:06 pm
I know it’s one of my issues as well. Social media is great but so addicting. I can’t turn off my e-mail during the day but I know I could control other time wasters.
I remember 15 years ago when some co-workers only checked their email twice a day. Once in the morning, and once after lunch.
buKit Said,
November 6, 2008 @ 5:29 am
Funny. Being that I’m landlocked at home with dial-up access and shotty cell phone reception (haven’t bothered to get a iPhone yet as a result, but I lust for one) - I’m headed in the opposite direction. It takes me 15 minutes to dial-up, boot my browser, sign into gmail and get mail. I would LOVE to have that go faster so I’d have time for other stuff. Cripes, I mean it took almost 1 min 15 secs just for this page to load….
Rory Said,
November 6, 2008 @ 4:02 pm
I’m with you. I often have to shut it all down and change venue. In addition to all the digital distraction, my cube seems to get a visit every 15-30 minutes. Unhooking and heading to a free wireless zone where I can’t be found often fixes me up.