Unplugged: How moderating tech use can improve productivity, effectiveness

Focus is the base requirement for critical thinking and relationship development. Distractions prevent focus.

The use of multiple screens in our businesses is commonplace based on the practice of having email applications open all the time while working on the other screen reviewing data, preparing proposals, creating applications and other tasks. But the frequent email notifications interrupt us, distract us and lengthen our workdays as a result. Credit: Andy Dean/Adobe Stock

About twenty years ago, the newly elected chairman of our state’s Association of Independent Agents began requiring that everyone turn off their cell phones during board meetings. This but in the era of addictive BlackBerrys and before the advent of pocket-sized supercomputers. The chairman, though he may have been a bit of a Luddite, felt very strongly that no one could give their full attention to two things at once and he wanted meetings to be as productive — and short — as possible.

Since that time, I’ve noticed technology has served to simplify some business and personal aspects of our lives, but at the same time, technology has been determinantal to our productivity and effectiveness. In the insurance business, essentially a people business, its impact has been noticeable. While other technologies also present this double-edged sword, the pocket supercomputer has had the most profound impact, damaging our business and personal relationships.

Dissecting the distractions

I’ve followed my friend’s lead and banned cell phones from meetings. In doing so, I’ve increasingly observed that individuals still seem distracted and unable to focus. Of course, this is a classic sign of addiction. The dopamine issues with cell phone use are well documented. Studies like those at Ohio, Illinois and Nebraska universities cited by the BBC demonstrate that the often-touted benefit of “multitasking” is a canard and that, in fact: “It is a common occurrence to observe students who are physically present, yet mentally preoccupied by non-course-related material on their mobile devices.”

Of course, our own industry has reams of data to back up a human’s inability to multitask when it comes to smartphones. One just needs to explore the sky-rocketing loss ratios related to distracted driving reported in recent years.

None of us are immune to this disconnectedness. A few years ago, after stopping to check email in an internet cafe in Paris, I realized later in the day that I didn’t know where I was. My body was on vacation in Europe, but my brain was working back at the office in Oklahoma.

In addition to this inability to multitask, I’ve observed that the technological interruptions facilitated by email, texting, “feed” notifications and the like actually interfere with our abilities to thoroughly think through problems. The tech also puts us at a disadvantage, as interactions via this technology do not allow us to fully benefit from the interplay and mutual learning that take place when interacting face-to-face with other humans. Focus is the base requirement for critical thinking and relationship development. Distractions prevent focus.

While I don’t have an academic study to cite, I have made some personal observations with five years of data recorded by my fitness monitor that support my thinking. When I take a few days off from work without my computer or cell phone, my stress levels decline and my sleep improves dramatically as compared to when I use those devices during time off. This leads me to conclude that this never-ending use of these ubiquitous technologies is preventing us from ever fully switching off the working brain.

All these distractions and the inability to completely shut down are producing a generally lower level of critical thinking. Users of this technology have an increased inability to focus on a discussion. As a result, meetings are longer. A heightened amount of distractedness surrounds us. People attempt and fail to be in two places at once. In the workplace, people ask questions in meetings that have already been answered and on and on.

How to disconnect

So, in a permanently connected society in which handheld supercomputers are morphing to wrist-mounted devices and likely eye glasses that will project even more information into our brains, how can we manage to correct the aberrations that these technologies have introduced? While I don’t have all the answers, I can share tactics I have tried that do seem to reduce the problems created by continual connectivity.

Set limits. Following my friend’s lead, and that of the Dallas Cowboys, who are required to drop their phones at the door before film sessions, we have started requesting that cell phones are not brought to meetings. If your experience is like mine, greater participation and shorter meetings will result. I think those meetings have also been more productive though I can’t document that with data. Even at home, where we have agreed not to bring our phones to the dinner table, our interactions have increased and improved. For a business built on relationships, improved communication by reducing distractions can be a game changer.

Tony Caldwell (Courtesy photo)

Turn off the technology. The use of multiple screens in our businesses is commonplace based on the practice of having email applications open all the time while working on the other screen reviewing data, preparing proposals, creating applications and other tasks. But the frequent email notifications interrupt us, distract us and lengthen our workdays as a result. Simply turning off the email application and instead managing email during limited, focused times can improve productivity.

There are certainly other strategies to employ to reduce distractedness, increase focus, improve productivity and deepen relationships by reducing our dependence on technology, but the first step is to recognize that there is a problem. Just like nourishing food that benefits our health in moderation but destroys it when its consumption becomes unchecked, we need to take control of how, when and why we use technology if we hope to maximize our personal performance.

Tony Caldwell is an author, speaker and mentor who has helped independent agents create more than 250 independent insurance agencies. Learn more by visiting www.tonycaldwell.net or contacting him at tonyc@oneagentsalliance.net.

Opinions expressed here are the author’s own. 

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