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Jul 23 2014

Infomania Could Be Making You Sick

Martina New

Technology and today’s widespread connectivity that is available any hour of the day, any day of the week and year, is supposed to make our lives more convenient and help reduce our workload and previously more time-consuming tasks. The truth is, it might actually be making many of us sick!

In a Global and Mail article on 29 March 2014, feature writer Erin Anderssen shared an eye-opening investigative piece in a week-long series on digital overload. In it, she shows the growing scientific evidence that indicates our state of distraction and “unchecked infomania” adds to making us physically and mentally ill.

Research from multiple experts at Stanford University, including experts on technology and distraction, shows that the convenience of constant connectedness has become a stress factor, and often even an addiction. The seduction of beeping or flashing cell phones, smart phones, e-mail, and social media sites is all too often irresistible. Yet, even though we seem to think otherwise, life does go on even if we don’t check and respond immediately to those interruptions. When we do, we’re paying less attention to the things that truly enrich our lives and in ways that electronic addictions rarely or never can do. Too often we allow devices to disrupt the flow of a good conversation, dinner with friends or family, playtime with our children or a relaxing walk with our dog, or even disturbing our personal quiet time or much-needed sleep.

Stanford’s Calming Technology Lab reveals that obsessive visits to Facebook have been linked to eating disorders and depression in teenage girls. In adults, dealing with never-ending e-mails or conducting web searches can cause users to take shorter breaths, or even hold their breath. This is called Screen apnea.

Here is my confession: while I do not consider myself a device addict, I do experience screen apnea whenever I hyper-focus for a long time on computer work, or when I flit between e-mail, web searches, and computer documents that I need to finish in a rush. My breathing becomes shallow, changes from a healthy diaphragmatic `belly breath` to a hectic – and to my body unsatisfying – short chest breath. When I leave it unchecked for too long, I suffer increased tension and stress symptoms by the end of the day.

Researchers at Kings College Institute of Psychiatry in London found that constant e-mail and social media use (unchecked infomania) even resulted in a temporary drop in the IQ of their study participants. Another survey shows that 22 per cent of adults have walked into obstacles while distracted by texting!

We laugh, but how often a day do you have to swerve around a walking texter, or even witnessed a pedestrian almost stepping out into traffic because they’re not paying attention at an intersection? I see both with disturbing regularity!

Anderssen`s article closes with the suggestion that we should think less about time management and instead consider more attention management. With that said, I will quickly submit this blog by e-mail, and then step away from my computer to make and enjoy a nice cup of tea.
Source: Anderssen, Erin. “Digital overload: How we are seduced by distraction”, Globe and Mail, 29 March 2014, F1. bit.ly/UnR5JY

Martina Rowley is the founder and operator of Beach Business Hub – THE co-working space east of the Don Valley. She combined her passion and experience in the environmental sector with her community engagement side to create a local work environment where space and resources are shared. She fosters and facilitates collaboration, networking, and learning for and with small business owners and new start-ups. Contact her at:http://www.beachbusinesshub.ca, on Facebook and on Twitter

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Martina Rowley · Tagged: attention management, Beach Business Hub, blog, business development, Business Woman, Calming Technology Lab, Canadian Small Business Women, cell phones, connectedness, connectivity, digital overload, distraction, Email, Erin Andersen, Erin Anderssen, Facebook, Globe and Mail, Infomania, information overload, IQ, Kings College Institute of Psychiatry, London, Martina Rowley, Screen apnea, small business development, small business owners, smart phones, social media, Stanford Calming Technology Lab, Stanford University, Technology, texting, time-consuming, uncecked infomania

May 07 2014

If it’s worth saying, say it right!

Sheralyn

Whether in business or in life, the importance of effective communication is paramount.  We have all been on the receiving end of a text that came across the wrong way or an email that was peppered with 13 completely unnecessary exclamation points! These leave an impression and not always a favorable one.  Make your words matter.  Don’t leave people guessing and don’t inadvertently assign them the difficult task of attempting to decipher your true meaning.  Clarity counts, no matter what the message or the medium you choose for its delivery.

Looking at the first example, what do we think of the author with the excessively exuberant use of exclamation points? The truth is we tend to take them a little less seriously and perhaps also question whether they are familiar with some of the basic rules of business communications. Exclamation points are seen as a juvenile expression of emotion and we might ascribe to the writer a personality that suggests they are prone to over-exaggeration. Similarly, the ALL CAPS WRITER also leaves us frowning, maybe even more so.  Unless you’re my 75 year old uncle, a recent convert to the internet age, who seems to have taken his “caps lock” function literally, anyone receiving such a message gets it LOUD and CLEAR but not always in good humour.  Use of capitals implies the sender is YELLING AT YOU TO MAKE A POINT! Don’t be that person.  As the reader you are forming the impression that the writer is angry or short-tempered.  Expressing oneself in ALL CAPS is neither businesslike, nor conducive to fostering an environment of teamwork and cooperation.

In our digital environment another common error in communications is the medium chosen to deliver your message.  While it seems some days that we are in an “anything goes” world, there are still some generally accepted rules of etiquette and common business practices.  Texting, for example, never falls into one of these categories. Should you be texting a co-worker about important financial documents? Texting a client to say you will be late with your deliverables? Absolutely not.  Personal contact with an explanation in the latter example and common sense would suggest no in the former.  The reality is however that common sense seems to be in short supply these days.

Emails are more problematic.  Many businesses are now creating policies around the use of email and tracking and storing all of their employees electronically created data.  That’s a good thing. When choosing email as your communications option, a guideline is to ask yourself a series of questions before you hit “send.”  Should you forward to your boss, co-workers or clients that hilarious joke you saw on Facebook? Clearly no. Is the subject matter only business related and something that should be documented and tracked? If so, go ahead and send an email.  But what about those times when you choose to send an email rather than pick up the phone or stop by someone’s office for an important or potentially difficult conversation?  Are you making that choice because “it’s easier” for you?  Take stock. What needs to be said? What is the best method for communicating that message?  Who needs to hear it? When should it be heard and how should it be heard?  Like any other business process, communications should follow a defined step by step model that anyone can refer to when in doubt.  Cleary, the use of email is important, sometimes faster and more efficient and it provides a well documented trail if necessary in legal matters.  Email only works however, when we also remember all the other pertinent facts:  use proper sentence structure, review your use of grammar, don’t write in all caps and never use email as a means to avoid a conversation when talking would be more appropriate.

Finally, never underestimate the power of both tone and body language in communications. Telling someone to “Have a nice day” can turn from sarcasm to a pleasantry with just a slight shift in tone. How you stand, where you stand and what you are doing with your hands sends another message to your audience.  Like that Seinfeld episode, “close-talkers” are intimidating.  If you stand with your arms crossed you appear defensive and not willing to listen.  Hands on your hips suggest an angry tone and can be construed as confrontational.  If you talk with your hands you are perceived as expressive and more open. Standing over someone who is sitting is a position of power and you will gain far more trust and cooperation if you match your level to that of the person you are addressing.

Make the clarity of your communications paramount.  We have all, at some point in our lives, opened our mouth, inserted a foot and hoped the ground would rise up and swallow us.  Communication takes time and practice to get it right. Take five. Make your communications matter. After all, if it’s worth saying, it’s worth saying right, the first time, every time.

 

As Owner and Principal partner of “Writing Right For You” Sheralyn is a Communications Strategist – working together with entrepreneurs to maximize profit through effective use of the written word. Looking for web content that works, blog articles that engage or communications strategies that help you get noticed?  Contact Sheralyn today. Sheralyn is also the mother of two children now entering the “terrible and terrific teens” and spends her free time volunteering for several non-profit organizations.

Sheralyn Roman B.A., B.Ed.

Writing Right For You

Communications Strategies that help you GET TO THE POINT!

416-420-9415 Cell/Business

writingrightforyou@gmail.com

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Written by Dwania Peele · Categorized: Sheralyn Roman · Tagged: All Caps Writer, avoiding conversation, business development, Canadian Small Business Women, close-talkers, common business practices, communication, Communications, Email, entrepreneur, exclamation points, Facebook, Leave an Impression, Loud and Clear, Make Your Words Matter, networking, professional etiquette, Seinfeld, Sheralyn Roman, small business, texting, Writing Right For You

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