[Air-l] email is 'out'

[Ellie Wix]

Rick, I have to agree with your point about multitasking.  Multitasking
while trying to be productive causes the work to take longer to produce.  I
have some friends who idealize the 'always avail' style of living and
believe they cannot study without tv, IMs, and their cell phone all going
and don't understand why they got bad grades.  When trying to write a paper
or get research done, I found that I get it done in half the time if I go to
the library and leave my life at home.  I've tried to live 'always
available' and found it tiring and stressfull to maintain.

I do try to maintain somewhat the 'always avail' style.  I leave instant
messaging programs and email open on my computer and check it when I can.  I
am virtually always available, but that doesn't mean I have to always be
behind the computer.

-Ellie

On 10/14/06, Richard Forno <rforno at infowarrior.org> wrote:
>
>
>
> On 10/14/06 9:22 AM, "Sarah Robbins" <intellagirl at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Deanya: I think I have to disagree with you about availability and
> overall
> > productivity. The "distributed attention" type model has shown that
> today's
> > students have a bit more ability to multitask well than we do.
>
> I'd have to lean in favor of Deanya's point. I could be wrong, but I'd
> posit
> that students/kids/people may be able to multitask (e.g., do more
> concurrently) but question how WELL each thing gets done. Obviously, if
> you're sitting on hold in a call center, you can multitask fairly
> productively, but I daresay if one or more of your tasks involves deep
> cranial cogitation (DCC, my new trademarked term, ha!) those tasks might
> suffer in quality because you're unable to focus.
>
> > There's certainly a time to shut it all off and focus on one task or one
> > form of communication but as someone who multitasks all the time myself,
> I
> > can't with good conscience preach to them that they'll have to ditch
> their
> > connectivity to fit in to corporate culture.
>
> Continuous connectivity seems to be the new norm in corporations if for no
> other reason than for everyone to feel important and
> "wired."  (Borgified?)
> Frankly, there are times when I wonder if we need to hold meetings in
> person
> or not, because all the people around the table are busy twiddling with
> their Crackberries and only giving 1/2 of an ear to the person in the room
> who's talking about the stuff they're supposedly gathered to discuss.
>
> In the corporate world, I wonder how much of that Crackberry-this and
> SMS-that are presenting the illusion of being knowledgeable, in-control,
> and
> otherwise on top of things....or whether it contributes to info-glut and a
> broad awareness that lacks depth.
>
> Granted, I have no formal evidence to support my claim here, but I think
> there's too much emphasis on "always-on" or "always-available" that it's
> borderline addiction.   I've seen some MSM articles on vacations that keep
> mentioning the need for folks to be able to shut it all down and step into
> realspace for a while.  I don't think that's such a bad idea, really.
>
> > Just my opinion as a techno-addict.
>
> I wonder about that, myself.  Given my recent musings on this whole
> concept,
> I wonder if I'm a recovering techno-addict or an up-and-coming Luddite.
> Will have to do the differential analysis sometime to find out.  :)
>
> -rick
>
>
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