Leadership

Are You a Techno Addict?

By Jessica Stillman

Updated on: May 12, 2009 / 7:45 AM EDT / MoneyWatch

The Find: New research finds that about a quarter of professionals spend three or more hours a day on e-mail or texting, underlining the reality that an addiction to communication technology comes with real costs to management.
The Source: Research by husband-and-wife team of business professors Andrew and Nada Kakabadse, highlighted on the FT Management blog.

The Takeaway: All jokes about Blackberry thumb aside, recent research suggests that many managers are in fact addicted to their hi-tech communication tools and that this need for constant connection comes at a real cost to business. When the Kakabadses surveyed 1,200 professionals, about a quarter admitted to spending three hours a day or more on email or text messaging. More than half of respondents who were middle-aged or younger never turn their phone off at all. Interpreting these results, Stefan Stern writing for the FT argues that "we risk turning ourselves into busy fools, bamboozled by too much noise and information."

The numbers may bring the point home, but it's not a news that managers are struggling with information overload. Despite most of us being aware of the problem, few real solutions have been offered. Stern's prescriptions are hardly ground-breaking: accept the new reality and train people to deal with it.

The Question: What techniques do you use to keep a balance between being plugged in and being distracted?

(Image of Blackberry by theogeo, CC 2.0)