Rather than long, opinion-based blog posts I thought I’d try something new. According to a recent Economist article, ‘the wired generation [have] short attention spans and [an] addiction to social media’ so in an attempt to address this, I’m taking some time to reflect on what I’ve read, but naturally I’ll be sharing this via social media!
So, here are three of the articles that have caught my attention this week.
On Linkedin this week, Jono Marcus posted an article from the HBR blog: Digital Natives Are Slow to Pick Up Nonverbal Clues. In it, John K. Mullen argues that if one has grown up with technology, it is more difficult to understand implicit messages that come from tone-of-voice and body language. To a large extent, I agree with the sentiment, and am going to continue to make a conscious effort to push for face-to-face conversations as opposed to an e-mail chains. A must read for anyone under 30.
In a related note, I stumbled upon: slaves to the smartphone in the Economist last week. At the beginning of this year, I was trying out a ‘digital diet‘ as coined by Daniel Sieberg who argued that we need to see technology in a new light. The Economist article neatly outlines the master/slave mentality we have with new technology. What I like is the suggestion that it requires a collective effort to try and minimise ‘hyperconnectivity’ – a state when we are constantly ‘switched on’. A must read for anyone who checked their e-mails first thing.
Lastly, the Fast Company ran Work/Life Balance is a Myth. Is there the ‘holy grail’ where there is a balance? Where you are fully contented for 8 hours and then return home for an equally contented period of time? Craig Chappelow dispells the idea, and it’s worth reading his tips on what you can do about it. A must read for anyone who feels overworked.
I usually tweet articles as I go along, so be sure to follow. I’m hoping to make this sort of blog post a regular feature.
Asad Dhunna 