Is Email Making Us Dumber?
June 9th, 2010
Photo by Glenn Campbell
Sounds counter-intuitive doesn’t it? Can email really be making us dumber? Well, in the age of gadgets and technology that we think are going to give us an edge, we could really be doing the opposite to ourselves.
Find out why I think email is making us dumber, and what you can do to stop the madness.
What’s All This About Getting Dumber?
I read an eye-opening article over at Entrepreneur magazine recently that made the case as to why and how email (and other technologies) are making us dumber as a society. It’s called “Email is Making You Stupid”. What struck me about this is that the promise of technology from the very beginning was to help you get more done in less time.
When computers were extremely expensive, and very large, the promise of placing a computer in your business was that you could crunch more numbers, invoice more customers, and print out more marketing in a fraction of the time of traditional methods. How’s that working out for us? Are we getting more done in less time?
Actually, we are. But, instead of filling our freed up time with relaxation or relationship-building activities, we’re just cramming more and more busy-work into our lives. All in the name of “being competitive”.
Are You Good at Multitasking?
The article goes on to explain that email and other technologies are making us more stupid by the day. For example, the article suggests that multitasking is a myth. It’s a myth, because the human brain is equipped with two types of attention, voluntary and involuntary.
With that, if we keep getting distracted or interrupted, it becomes physiologically impossible to produce quality work. I work with lots of people who think they can multitask effectively. I hate to break the news to them, but they aren’t.
Anything that requires deep thought or concentration gets put on hold when interruptions occur. If this happens a lot, then a process called effortful control erodes. This can actually damage our ability to control attention.
I remember before reading this article, when I was interviewing a candidate for a technology position at a company I worked for. I told this person, “I’m not going to ask you if you’re good at multitasking, because I don’t believe there is any such thing. The real word for multitasking is called ‘interruptions’. So I’m going to ask you if you are good at handling interruptions, then getting back to what you were doing.”
He chuckled, but totally got me.
My Truth About Multitasking
I think that multitasking is a non-thing. I see it as more of a marketing fluff than something real. That’s because gadget makers want you to think that by owning their latest smart-gizmo, you can multitask better and get more done and “stay competitive”.
It’s eaten away at our ability to produce quality deliverables to each other and to our customers. I’ve been in meetings where the person calling the meeting will stop the entire meeting to answer a cell phone call. So, all the productivity, all the train of thought that was moving in a forward direction was brought to an abrupt halt.
And so, in that case, what would be the worst that would happen if the call went to voice mail? The person calling would either leave a message or not. Either way, the task at hand, which is solving problems via the meeting would have been allowed to fully flourish, and help many others.
In many cases a business call is not something life or death, and certainly not worth derailing a brainstorm session that could generate thousands if not millions of dollars for the company.
What Can Be Done About It?
The article suggests a few tactics to be able to “Climb Out of the Inbox.” I’ve started using several of these, and I have to say, they have helped reduce my stress level considerably. The best part is, if you use them smartly, and discreetly, no one will ever know you’re not multitasking.
Instead, what you get is less stress, and others will think you are amazing, because your quality of work will actually improve!
Here’s some suggestions from the article:
- Turn off your visual and audio e-mail alerts.
- Check email only a few times a day, and never any sooner than 45 minutes apart.
- Don’t just use email to communicate. Use the phone or in-person meetings to build and bolster relationships.
- Only use Reply to All in extreme and infrequent instances.
There are several others that are highlighted in the article as well. Also, I’d like to share a few my own productivity boosters that I’ve gained from personal experience:
- When in a meeting, silence your cell phone. Give the meeting your undivided attention so you finish faster, and give more focus to the tasks at hand.
- When on a call, don’t click over for call waiting. Doing so makes the person on the other end feel less valued, and it takes away focus from the call itself by way of annoying interruption. Plus, it makes you look very disorganized, too.
- Carve out time on your calendar for essential tasks. If you “wait for some free time” to get it done, it will never happen.
- Use your voice mail as a personal assistant. Let the caller know specifically when you’ll be returning calls (then stick with your promise), and let them know why you’re out (in a meeting, at a conference, left early to spend time with family). This will go a long way toward gaining flexibility with your caller. That’s because we all naturally tend to think that anyone who doesn’t answer their phone is simply avoiding us. Irrational, I know, but that’s the truth. Explaining your absence and when the caller can expect a return call will do wonders for your perceived effectiveness and your relationship with the caller.
- In a services organization like HelpfulAdvisor, I’ve put systems in place so that everyone we talk to gets our undivided attention. It’s important to know that you and your needs are still a top priority.
Sometimes, little changes can have big effects in our business and personal lives. In this case, the biggest eye-opener for me was that by cutting out distractions, I can actually gain a lot more productivity, and build stronger bonds with my clients. That’s because when I’m with them, they are my only priority.
It sure is nice to give someone my undivided attention. Wouldn’t you like the same?
Thanks for reading and for doing something positive today!
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