WHAT'S DRIVING US TO DISTRACTION?

Surely there has never been a greater need to be informed and stay alert. After all, we live in an age of fierce competition.



Yet, there is mounting evidence that we have lost our ability to remain focused.



The most damaging proof of being scatter-brained is that the very technology that is helping us expand our knowledge and our horizons is also driving us to distraction. We have developed a relationship with digital devices that have become excessively addictive.



Just like an ear or a nose ring, today cell phones and ipods seem to be attached to people’s ears as if they have been permanently implanted there.

When a plane lands nowadays, BlackBerrys light up the way cigarettes once did. No wonder this device is often referred to as a CrackBerry.



Psychologists call this increasing addiction to Web-based activity "Online Compulsive Disorder" or "Screen Sucking".



So, if you are feeling more irritable than before; if you feel your productivity has declined; if you can't get organized; if you are making decisions from-the-hip rather than your head by giving things adequate thought; if you feel pressured to get things done quickly, then welcome to this new phenomenon.



"Unlike patients with typical 'Attention Deficit Disorder', which persists no matter the setting, many people today feel frantic only in certain situations – mainly in the workplace or, for at-home moms, while managing the home front," explained Dr. Hallowell, in a Harvard Business Review article last January.



"Online Compulsive Disorder" or "Screen Sucking" takes hold when we get so overloaded with incoming messages and competing tasks that we are unable to prioritize. The result is distractibility, impulsiveness and haste but also feelings of guilt and inadequacy. "People think it's their fault that they're falling behind," he says. "They think they have to sleep less and work harder and stay later at the office, which only makes it worse because they're not taking care of their brains by getting enough sleep."



How common is this phenomenon? "It's rampant," says Hallowell, who believes that corporate downsizing and job insecurity contribute to the problem.



In a study of 1,000 office workers from top managers on down, Basex, an information-technology research firm in New York City, found that interruptions now consume an average of 2.1 hours a day, or 28% of the workday.



The two hours of lost productivity included not only unimportant interruptions and distractions but also the recovery time associated with getting back on task and track, according to a Basex report titled "The Cost of Not Paying Attention".



In the Basex study, 55% of workers surveyed said they open their email immediately or soon after it arrives, no matter how busy they are.



So, what’s the solution?

First, try and single-task, forget malti-tasking.

Multitasking, for all its seeming popularity and efficiency, can exact a heavy toll on the quality of our output. Even simple tasks like driving and talking on the phone can also be down right dangerous.

Yes! We need to focus on one thing at a time in order to do it well. And most non-physical work really demands concentration.

Multitasking does not widen your horizon, its just being scattered and doing neither two thing brilliantly.

Perhaps the most unexpected and comforting, recent research confirms that the human brain retains an astonishing degree of plasticity and capacity for learning throughout life.

And the thing we do best is the one we love the most. That’s because at some point in our life we became passionate about something and put our consorted effort to improve our performance and our ability to do what we fell in love with.

Like great actors or athletes constantly strive to improve their performance with dedication and practice, focus on just one goal at a time.

You too would be more content doing just one thing and doing it just a fraction better each time.

Next, get connected to real people in real time.

Don't forget we are social creatures and to do our best work, we need to set aside time in the workday to connect with others.



We need to get significant doses of what Dr. Hallowell calls vitamin C–the live connection to other people.



"As much as we are connected electronically, we have disconnected interpersonally," he says. Compulsive screen sucking, he suggests, may actually be a symptom of vitamin–C deficiency.



So to perform our best, to maintain our optimum creativity, we need to have some face-to-face moments of closeness.



We also need to reenergize ourselves with moments of quiet time all by ourselves.



Oh! And when you do, don't forget to turn off that blinking BlackBerry or your cell phone please.



WHAT'S DRIVING US TO DISTRACTION? - To learn more about this author, visit Billy Sharma's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

E-Mail | Print | More

Related Articles
For Good SEO You Must Go Back To Basics
	As a search marketer I listen to many SEO podcasts and read many articles about SEO and organic rankings and whats "HOT" and whats "NOT" and many people claiming to know whats popular with Google and the search engi...
Costly Distractions
	During the entertainment on our cruise the light handler was flipping the spotlights around so every so often they would glare into our eyes. This distracted us from fully enjoying the singer onstage who belted his ...
Effective Landing Pages
	Whether the landing page is used for a PPC campaign, an SEO landing page or for some other ad, campaign the same principals apply. Your landing page is vitally important to your success, so make sure you follow the...
The PR Doctor’s Advice For Television Appearances
	The opportunity for a television appearance has great value if you are prepared for the opportunity. Business owners and key management people need to be prepared for new opportunities for television appearances on...
Staying Focused While Working at Home
	When staying at home to work it can be very easy to become distracted. If there are others in the house or things need to get done around the house the mind can start to wander and forget about the task at hand.

---

Related Forum Posts