I may start sounding like a broken record very soon, but have a read of this article from Wired.
It's an interview with the author of a new book on the 'attention crash'. It compares the benefits brought about by digital and social media for communication with the downsides, and links interruptions and information overload to stress.
I'm seeing a pattern, that more and more focus is being put on how communications technology is making good and bad changes to the way we communicate, in equal doses. I'm seeing more articles in the media, more blogs and bloggers talking about it, and it's a topic almost always brought up at events. It's not just about wading through emails, it's about an attention crash in general. It seems being wired is as much a cause of burn-out as long hours. So have a read, and here's a few bits of the article in case you're short on time :)
"These are the problems of attention in our new world. Gadgets and technologies give us extraordinary opportunities, the potential to connect and to learn. At the same time, we've created a culture, and are making choices, that undermine our powers of attention.
"Interruptions are correlated with stress, and a cascade of stress hormones accompany that state of being. Stress, frustration and lowered creativity are pretty toxic. And there are studies showing how the environment shapes brain development in kids.
"In Distracted: The Erosion of Attention and the Coming Dark Age, Jackson explores the effects of "our high-speed, overloaded, split-focus and even cybercentric society" on attention. It's not a pretty picture: a never-ending stream of phone calls, e-mails, instant messages, text messages and tweets is part of an institutionalized culture of interruption, and makes it hard to concentrate and think creatively."
Nice post. The part of the article that stood out most to me was:
"In our country, stillness and reflection are not especially valued in the workplace. The image of success is the frenetic multitasker who doesn't have time and is constantly interrupted. By striving towards this model of inattention, we're doing ourselves a tremendous injustice."
This made me think about the billable hour that most of us live by in PR. If we're not creating, accomplishing, achieving something...anything, how can we justify the hour you billed?
It's hard. Thinking isn't measurable. Yet, it's probably the most crucial part of what we do.
Posted by: Amy Ziari | February 10, 2009 at 05:21 AM
Amy, I completely agree. In a lot of places, PR and elsewhere, fitting more jobs in is seen as the way ahead, when the bigger goals never get met as a result.
Posted by: Drew | February 10, 2009 at 02:10 PM