The Culture of Connectivity

Day 289 / 365

In the book “Deep Work”, Carl Newport talks about the technopoly that’s surrounding us today. What it means is that today whenever a new technology or internet-related thing comes up, everyone wants to adopt it straightaway in their work. People don’t stop to think about the pros and cons of a new habit. As long as it is hi-tech, it is accepted as the best practice.

Take email and instant messaging for example. Every new office has that, and people are expected to respond to mail and messages straightaway. People think that this increased connectivity will increase productivity and get things done faster. But is that really the case?

Whenever you switch from one task to another, you will always have some residual attention from the previous task. It will take you a few minutes to get immersed in the task again, and most probably before that you would be hit with another email.

The only way to be at your peak productivity is to put in long hours where you are free of distraction and fully focused on your task. Unfortunately, anyone who would try to switch off his email to focus on his work will be scrutinized in today’s corporate environment.

People confuse being busy with being productive. Replying to lots and lots of email lets you fell busy and lets other people know that you have a lot going on as well. It’s the easiest way to give the illusion of being productive, which is why people adopt this behavior. But clearly, if you are looking to do deep work, this is a habit you will like to avoid.

This post is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog — Deliberate Practice