A client observed to me this week that information overload is nothing new – it’s just taking a new form, and requiring new capabilities. We were remembering the ‘old’ days (yes I was alive then) when the inbox was an intray. It always seemed to be piled high, and just when we cleared it out, someone walked by and deposited another ‘important’ document or file. An empty intray contributed to restful nights and weekends. We also fed other peoples’ intrays, using a small matrix on the front of the file to indicate we had read the file and who it needed to be distributed to. Granted a ‘primitive’ method for forwarding and copying, but much slower than ‘copy all’ or ‘reply to all’ which we tend to use indiscriminately (the inventor of that little tool has much to answer for). In closing, the client suggested that we have always had to manage distraction – just that now the intray has become the inbox.
Another client remarked about the tendency, and in fact the nagging desire, she experiences to “check my email” or “see if the news website is updated”. Almost everyone I speak to identifies with this urge, this electronic itch crying out for attention, only to increase its demands as we scratch away.
Perhaps this is one of the key differences between the intray and inbox. Although the intray lurked on the corner of the desk, we could choose to leave it alone and get on with the task at hand, usually allocating specific time to review its contents. But we were never tempted to search out some other piece of obscure or arcane information. We certainly never called out to the secretary “have you got anything else for my intray?” Simply expressing it here highlights the ludicrousy of doing so. But we are addicted to the sound of the ‘pop’ signifying new email, and sometimes check for more just in case we don’t have the latest.
I am rapidly concluding that we are our own worst enemy. Have we become dependent on, and addicted to, distraction? Are we starting to organise our lives around those distractions, and accept this electronic ailment in others? How socially acceptable has it become to check emails during meetings, interrupt conversations to take phone calls, receive texts (with the most unusual tones) during church services or movies, …? In other words we are accepting the addiction of society, and paying less attention to one another and the task at hand.
Like any other dependency we have moments when we are completely free of the urge, and then it creeps up on us and we find ourselves fighting desire. Arguing with ourselves about whether we will or not. Rationalising away the feelings and tendency, with claims that this is normal, or necessary. Feeling disappointed when we have given in. Recognising while we are wasting time browsing the net that we are wasting time browsing the net – but still doing it, seduced by the Gnostic myth of hidden knowledge.
Now this all may sound quite morbid and reek of Frankenstein’s fears – that technology is capable of creating an out of control monster that dominates our lives. Technology is neutral however. We shape and use it according to our own choices.
And this is the point we need to address. What are the choices we make? How will we use technology? What will we do to eliminate, or minimise distraction? Do we give our full attention to the person or task at hand?
This is (so far) my biggest observation – by creating WhiteSpace I can give undivided, undistracted, and untempted attention to the person or task at hand. I don’t have to fight distraction, because it is unavailable. (Although I have, as noted in previous blogs, had to relearn the art of attention.)
Are you keeping track of your productivity increases? I mean, generally speaking, how many minutes or hours are you gaining? You might work it out based on how number of interruptions avoided multiplied by the time take to recover your train of thought.
You could then report it back here.
It’d be interesting at the end of the year to see something like: 100 days of whitespace gained me 30 days of productivity.