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SPOKE stands for Sustainable Profitable Optimised Knowledge Entrepreneur. It is a system designed to create a new form of business online that gives you freedom AND a great income.Stress Of Connection Culture
I just saw an article today on the news.com.au website about the effect of email on productivity
The main thrust of the article is shown below.
“THE average employee is productive at work for just four hours a day due to a flood of disruptive emails and phone calls, according to a new study.
And the biggest culprit, say workers, is the constant interruption from internal emails.
The lost productivity is costing business billions of dollars a year and also taking a toll on workers’ health, with three quarters complaining of stress from too many distractions in the office, the Daily Mail reports. “
Now this is not a new phenomenon, there have been reports coming out like this very frequently for the last 10 years. As soon as business started to give their staff email and internet access the phenomena of continuous partial attention was born. There are so many things that you need to do, so many different streams of information that need to be monitored, and so many interruptions that you never get into a “flow” state. This leads with difficulty concentrating on complex tasks and working on large projects.
The thing is though, that as we move into an information economy this way of working is the norm. My job actually requires me to be monitoring and reacting to many different information streams, to be writing email, to be answering social media messages. The ability to be able to gather, synthesize and output large and diverse streams of information is going to be the skill to have for the next decade. The trick is to be able to do this, and then be able to “switch off” at some stage and manage your stress levels, interact with your “offline community” family and look after your mental and physical health.
There are a number of both subtle and large psychological changes that seem to occur in the always connected mind, from a mild nagging feeling that you are missing out on something if you are not online, to stress attacks from the overwhelming information. It can be as addicting as it can be empowering.
There is a current that is flowing through the blogging community at the moment as to whether social networking and microblogging on twitter is a distraction or if it is a vital piece of work to be integrated into the day. I think we need to explore what are the costs and benefits to connecting technologies, in the short term to our stress levels, ability to concentrate and ability to switch of, but also in the long term to beneficial results on career, connection, community and learning.
It is very early days for this technology, and we are just seeing the first glimpses of our future as a connected world.
April 19th, 2008 at 4:10 pm
For me it is easier as I am self-employed. Although I still need to respond to readers.
But at the moment I can largely the use the technology to make my life easier - to control who I contact when.
I realise this is a priveleged position that few are lucky enough to have.
April 19th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Steven,
Excellent post…thank you for bringing my attention to this article and your blog. In my view, every connecting technology has pros and cons associated with it. The net effect depends on how the technology is employed on a day-to-day basis. As you point out, a technology can have a negative effect if it prevents people from focusing on the aspects of their work where they achieve flow and experience the emotional benefits that come from it. Likewise, if the technology prevents people from connecting relationally, it also has a negative effect on people, individually and collectively. At the same time, flow and human connection may be increased as a result of a technology. In working with organizations, my business partners and I teach people to understand the valuable aspects of connection and how the “technology trap” can impair connection and the use of technology can enhance it. The forces of a Connection Culture that we teach are outlined in a free, downloadable manifesto I wrote for changethis.com. The manifesto is a very brief overview of a book I wrote entitled Fired Up or Burned Out. I would love to hear your reaction to my Connection Culture thesis given that we are thinking about similar issues. Here’s a link to the free download:changethis.com/44.06.ConnectionCulture
All the best…MLS
April 20th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Hi Steve,
You’ve highlighted a very serious problem that we have in the workplace. It’s something, I believe, not enough is being done about which in itself is ludicrous because of the heavy toll stress it’s having on individuals’ health and the profitability of businesses.
I offer some basic steps that individuals can do to better manage stress in an article I wrote titled - “Are You Overwhelmed, Overworked, Overloaded and Just Plain STRESSED OUT?” which you can check out by clicking the link below:
Are You Overwhelmed, Overworked, Overloaded and Just Plain STRESSED OUT?
Nickolove
April 21st, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Thanks for the comments Nickolove and Michael,
Both of the articles/posts that you have talked about in your comments make good points. I have posted my thoughts over on your blogs.
Steve
May 7th, 2008 at 9:02 am
A succinct summary of the modern dilemma, thanks. I’m self employed too but can’t claim the same level of control as Evan. I’ve been aware of psychological changes from long before, particularly to do with over-stimulation of the read-write part of the brain which can cause me to semi-compose replies or draft blog posts while cooking dinner or walking with a friend.