In a world filled with smart phones, tablets, watches and eye gear all able to transport you into a different situation and distract you from your goals, how do you even attempt to get focused? When it comes to your job, or trying to do it anyway, digital distractions are not the promise of an easier, smarter and technology savvy tomorrow. Your technology may actually be contributing to your inability to do or find the work you want.
When we become so reliant on texting, email and any form of messaging we lose a little in the art of communication every day. It’s not that our thumbs are any less important than our tongue, but when we lose the method by which we show up for a job interview or even for work, we lose a part of who we are in the process. Being able to look someone in the eye, engage in a conversation and listen all play an important part in how successfully you are able to get your message across even if that means you are pitching a new sales plan or going for a job interview.
You are what you type and you are what you say. If you are not allowed enough situational opportunities to communicate effectively, like everything else you don’t use you will undoubtedly lose. Putting down the iPad to converse, using the phone instead of email or messaging are ways to help you remain engaged when you would like nothing better to do than to hide behind the digital toys imagining a world where you can multi-task your way to success. Finding the right ways to communicate does not mean you have to give up on technology all together.
Understanding that it takes focus and your attention to stay engaged means you are consciously aware of when you are relying too much on your gadgets and less on your innate communication skills. Try going for one day with out texting or emailing. Could you do it? What if you were to go back to the old fashioned way of actually picking up a phone and making a call without relying on the “LOL” abbreviations to say how you really feel?
When it comes to your work you may have fallen into what seems like socially acceptable means to communicate with your co-workers or even with your future boss. Knowing how to form a sentence, speak intelligently and to deliver a message using your thoughts and words is not a lost art, it is the only way to articulate what you truly want and to make a good impression on someone you may want a job from someday. The next time you are tempted to text or email instead of calling someone even if it’s to follow up on an interview, try picking up the phone and at least leave a message. See how that alien practice makes you feel and what result you get if you actually do connect with someone live. Leave the digital distractions behind you and remember how to have a real conversation with an actual person and not a hologram-it’s actually fun.
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