LEIGH K CUNNINGHAM Switched On
Research conducted in the UKi suggests the mere presence of a mobile phone in another room affects our ability to
connect with those who are in our presence. Also affected are trust and the perception of empathy—fundamental
building blocks for relationships, personal or business.
We’ve become an ‘instant response society’ addicted to knowing what is going on in our extended world at any
given time.
Technological advancements since the ‘mobile’ phone was first introduced now make smart phones an indispensable
part of life and possibly our identity. Nomophobia, the fear of being out of mobile phone contact is on the rise and is
destined to become one of the most prevalent anxiety-based phobias for generations who have never known a time
without everything instantly in the palm of their hand.
When we send an email to an employee, colleague or business associate, we expect a prompt if not immediate
response no matter what time or day it is. This then changes the dynamics of our lives and relationships and work-life
balance is less about keeping the two separate and more about managing work as it inserts itself into our private lives.
There is an insatiable amount of communication and information exchanged instantly and as the UK research
indicates, simply moving one’s mobile phone out of sight or turning it off, doesn’t mean attentiveness and focus is
achieved with those around us; addiction overrides these strategies.
What is considered ‘urgent’ these days would not have been considered urgent a decade ago when we weren’t
contactable for every minute of the day. Before the Internet and smart phones, work issues would simply have to wait
until you learned about them when you arrived at the office the next morning. Anything that rolled off the fax
machine over the weekend stayed there until Monday morning. The portable nature of our business and issues today
however means we can deal with urgent issues anytime and anywhere without for example, leaving our family on a
Sunday morning. But it’s not the mobility that is at issue; it is the expanding definition of ‘urgent’ and our need to
constantly know what is going on.
Even on holidays we still check messages and emails and respond to them. Some are able to manage this by only
checking twice a day—in the morning and evening. However, one then tends to spend the rest of the day thinking
about what was in the morning mailbox. It’s difficult to remember a time when ‘holiday’ really did mean an extended
period away from work and life’s demands. Those holidaying with you, children, might come to accept this divided
attention as normal and perhaps it will not matter—they have their own portable devices to entertain.
Our new world is one of endless distraction and divided focus. Boredom is replaced with overdrive and for the most
part, we’re engaged with a device or a social network and less so with real people. Relationships (personal, work and
business) are ended this way, via email, tweet or text message and the less we have to deal with face-to-face, the
better.
In hindsight, many of us might mourn the passing of our grandparents’ era.
Leigh K Cunningham is a multi-award winning author of four titles including
Being Anti-Social. She has been a senior executive for various public
companies in Australia and Singapore and has three master’s degrees:
Master of International Trade & Investment Law, Master of Commerce
and an MBA (‘Top Student’). http://leighkcunningham.comi Helen Lee Lin, Scientific American, How Your Cell Phone Hurts Your Relationships.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=how-your-cell-phone-hurts-your-relationships