Nicholas Carr and The Shallows - chicagotribune.com
Got to read this book. I love the quote from the review, to the effect that we have become a "nation of scatterbrains." I think this states the bottom line very clearly. Whether we attribute it to organic changes in how our brains process information or to the simple effects of living with constant electronic interruptions, the end result is that many of us have compromised our ability to maintain concentration. I am fortunate, in that I get to work alone most of the time, and I am able to maintain control over my interruptions, i.e., I decide whether to answer the phone, when to read my email, and whether to respond to tweets. In other words, I can maintain my concentration by shutting out interruptions.
However, I think there is an even worse unintended consequence of frequent electronic interruptions. Most of my colleagues in publishing and libraries don't have the level of control over their work that I have, and I think that the deleterious impact of interruptions is much more damaging to introverts than to extraverts. Most of the librarians, editors, et al, with whom I work are introverts. They do work that requires extended periods of mental concentration, and their work environment no longer provides this. Many of them suffer deeply because of this. They tell me this, but I can also see it in how they have changed their work patterns. Most of them used to welcome in-person meetings, for instance. Now, they are so over-stimulated by electronic interruptions, which they cannot control, that they refuse meetings, because meetings are something that they can control. Likewise, because electronic interruptions make maintaining an effective work flow difficult, I see people becoming more rigid in their routines as they try to hold onto the little stability they have in their work day.
So, not only are Twitter, email, FaceBook, etc., causing people to lose their concentration at work and their ability to concentrate when away from work, they are also causing people to back away from face to face human communication. This, in turn, leads them to greater dependence on the electronic media that are causing the problem to begin with.
There is, of course, a solution to this. It's nothing new, and you will find it in many books of the Getting Things Done type. People just have to limit how frequently they read email, Twitter, etc., by scheduling specific times for them rather than trying to respond to them immediately. But that is easier said that done, especially when we also have to work with people who expect immediate responses to their emails and tweets.
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