Performance in our activities and digital distractions
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And how do you think this has affected us? On the one hand, information and communication technologies (ICT), especially in this last year of pandemic, have been incorporated to a great extent in our lives, and activities that were only face-to-face have become totally virtual. Certainly the new technologies, especially social networks, allow us to have an easier life and living in this situation we have also obtained many benefits. Many people found the need to learn how to handle the devices and connect to stay in touch with their family and friends, continue with their jobs and their studies in the middle of the confinement.
At the beginning, particularly as a university teacher, it took me a while to adapt to the distance learning modality, especially in the area of chemistry, but today I think it has been a challenge and it is the way in which we will continue to move forward despite this situation, and it is also an alternative for our young people to follow their careers and not waste time.
On the other hand, before reaching this situation, being distracted while working, eating, walking, driving because of the phone was unavoidable for many, even if it was only for a moment.
Being aware of the latest notifications, whatsapp messages, emails, see photos on instagram among others, can easily span from 10 min to hours, we are only aware of the phone and stop doing more important activities and remain hooked to the mobile.
This habit is gradually incorporated into our lives, thus decreasing productivity, taking more time and I think the most important thing is that we are distancing ourselves from the people we can simply have by our side. I have been able to observe how in family meetings, with friends, some spend their time just looking at the phone, ignoring everything around them and sometimes they go to a corner of the room and isolate themselves, surely if something is commented they do not pay attention to them.
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In the past, we were distracted either because we were thinking about things that worried us, or because someone else distracted us when passing by or commenting on something. However, these digital distractions today can be worrying, although we do not believe it they bring neurological consequences, the brain energy consumption is high, and this increases if the activities that are performed require a lot of attention. For example, if we are used to working with the phone at hand, we will probably check it frequently, this simple action makes us disconnect from what we are doing, so we have to focus again on the activity to continue. If this is done several times it can cause us to become mentally fatigued and we will have a low performance, we may tend to make more mistakes, to lose focus and not complete the task or we must spend more time.
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If for example you are doing exercises and you receive or make calls, you lose concentration in your activity and in the end the exercise is not done correctly, you do not take advantage of the time and maybe you do not even answer the phone properly.
It may be a little difficult to disconnect to avoid being distracted, but if we want to increase our performance here are some recommendations
It is better to turn off the cell phone when working or studying or answering a call only in case of emergencies. We must perform our tasks in adequate and organized spaces, it is preferable to place the mobile in another place to avoid the temptation to check it by having it nearby.
Limit the use of email, choosing the best time to check incoming emails and focus on what you do.
Avoid using it during physical activities such as walking or running.
Disable notifications, many times that information is irrelevant to us.
If you prefer to work or study with music, it is preferable to download the playlist and it is not necessary to download them at the time to avoid the temptation to check the latest music and get sidetracked.
If we are doing any activity we should stay focused and concentrated so we will be more productive.
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What do you think, does your phone distract you easily?
I look forward to your comments, see you next time!
Hello dear friend, a topic that is excellent for today, I think all of us at some point have fallen into these distractions, sometimes we spend hours on the phone and we do not realize, we waste valuable time on things that simply do not leave us any benefit. We have forgotten how to be human and we are becoming more mechanized. Unfortunately, that's where we are headed. Greetings!!!
Hello friend! Everything indicates that every day will be greater use of the phone because with so many applications you can perform many operations and be connected with people, however, we must maintain control and not allow us to isolate us. Greetings!
Hello @yusvelasquez
Certainly, one of the consequences of the pandemic is an addiction to the telephone, for one reason or another.
At first, it was very distracting, but I managed to control its use and it has given me excellent results.
The tips you mention in your publication are excellent, most of them I put into practice.
Great reading.
Have a great day!
Best regards.
Hi @janettyanez, good that you managed to control the use of mobile phones, certainly with the pandemic digital life has accelerated but you have to set limits. Thanks for commenting, greetings!
Good morning. Your reflections are excellent. We cannot continue to give first place in our lives to the telephone. On the other hand, not every call is an emergency. I like how you related it to productivity. Thank you.
It seems that the mobile phone exerts a kind of control over people, as you say we should not let it monopolize all our attention and affect us in our day to day. Greetings
Exactly. Using mobile continuously can be reason for wrong postures and pain. Moreover, there are lots of disadvantages of over use of mobile but you have shared great solution. Solid read.
Thanks for your comment! Many times people stop doing really important activities because they are connected to the mobile phone, as you say, it can even cause illnesses because they stop exercising during the time they are using it. Regards
Hi @yusvelazquez, reality tells us that the digitization of many jobs started last year with greater force, and will continue for a long time, I think it is up to us to adapt.
However, if I see with some concern the fact that many lose a lot of time in networks, and gain absolutely nothing. This has led to a certain vacuum in human communications, but, I suppose we have to adapt to that as well.
Many things have changed rapidly since last year, as you say we have to adapt to digitization in many fields as it also offers advantages, we just have to limit its use and really see how it will benefit us. Greetings!
Concentration on a certain task at a time will yield a more productive result than trying to get our hands on so many activities at the same time without getting any meaning result.
That's right, believing that you can multitask is not good, you have to focus on what you do to get the desired results. Thanks for commenting!
Digital technologies such as smartphones generate a distraction not only at work but can even distract us from everything we can get done in a day. Greetings and thanks for sharing.
A lot of time is spent reviewing information that in the long run is not important and so you can spend your days not performing well enough in your activities. Thanks for your comment, Regards!