Executives learn to see through the 'data smog'

When too much information undermines real connectedness.

from the August 1, 2007 edition

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Competition in the workplace plays a role as well. Many executives, Ehrlich notes, want to get as many e-mails as their co-workers do. If they don't, they think that they are "out of the loop."

Ehrlich works with executives so that they become masters of their technology and not the other way around. He advocates that you only check e-mail twice a day – "really chunk it so that it doesn't use up all your time."

And he wants executives to decide on a case-by-case basis if they want to deal with the various distractions that beckon them during the workday. Doing so is tough, he says, because Americans are not that good at being able to sit back and reflect. "We have to change the environment," he explains. If focus is needed for an important task, he continues, "turn off the computer screen or the TV or the BlackBerry. Make those structural changes."

More important, he says, "we have to discipline our minds to slow down."

When the cellphone rings or the instant message comes in, don't automatically answer on that first ring, he says. Pause a moment, take a breath, and decide if you want to interrupt what you're doing to answer. On the second ring, take another breath and focus on the new task. On the third ring, another breath, pick up and phone and connect with that person.

And if you can't avoid being interrupted during a conversation, you need to let the person you are speaking with know that you're expecting another call or important message.

Sounds easy, right?

It's not.

Sometimes it can take people years to unlearn old technology habits and develop new ones, Ehrlich says.

And sometimes we just have to say "no" to more technology, by not answering every cellphone call, or responding the every IM, or answering e-mail all day long.

Ehrlich believes that by following this path we'll do our jobs better and be happier, too. The trick, he says, is don't get on every "thought train" because they are not all headed where you need to go.

"You have to control your own attention, not let it be controlled by technology," he says.

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