Checking emails, sending text messages and making telephone calls throughout the day make us more efficient at work and home — but without boundaries these activities make us less effective leaders and parents.
As iPhones and Blackberries become the norm, it’s become increasingly tempting — and accepted — for individuals to check email, send text, visit social networks or toggle between applications during meetings at work and during personal interactions at home. According to a recent poll by Harris Interactive, 55 percent of people agree that it’s ok to stay connected for business — even if it involves taking a laptop on a holiday or answering a cell phone during a meal.
However, knowing when to put your cell phone or laptop away isn’t just about manners. It’s about becoming a more effective leader or parent by being fully engaged in face-to-face interactions and building a healthy culture. This was highlighted for me this week, during Pathways to Leadership training. The program provides a roadmap to motivate, lead, engage and support your team at work. The tools offered in the program (created by Craig Ross and Steven Vannoy, author of 10 Greatest Gifts I Give My Children and Stomp the Elephant in the office) apply both at home and in the workplace.
Pathways training reminded me that multitasking isn’t the same as listening. It’s the opposite of listening. It’s also a myth because (unlike many mobile devices) the human brain can only focus on one thing at a time. Multitasking affects our mental clarity. Switching between tasks also makes us less efficient.
According to Earl Miller, neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, texting and emailing while doing something else is equivalent to knocking ten points from your IQ. It denies us essential pauses in our mental space (aka “magic moments”) needed to develop and utilize our inner resources and prevents us from interpreting essential visual and verbal cues.
Based on my recent Pathways experience, I’ve renewed my personal commitment to closing my laptop, holstering my cell phone and STOP preparing for one meeting while I’m attending another. It’s a small investment that reaps big rewards.
About Troy Janisch