Where's The Off Button For The Always On World?

from the radio-silence-please... dept

While it seems like some of the backlash to the always on world goes a bit too far, it is true that the always on world can be quite overwhelming. People are constantly being interrupted by emails, phone calls and instant messages -- and it takes some time to get back on track. Some of this is a situation where people need to learn that they don't have to immediately respond, but it can also be a situation where technology can help. As the article linked above notes, it would be great if a system could learn which messages are important enough to interrupt you (either from someone important, or related to what you're working on). In the meantime, though, people are learning how to put themselves into "radio silence" mode -- where they shut down their email and IM and turn off their phone in order to concentrate to get stuff done. That doesn't mean those technologies, or the always on connection, are bad or somehow "worse" than the alternative, but that people often need to recognize when it's the right time to turn them off.

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