The downtime and switchover costs from multiple distractions may not be our only problem or our biggest yet. But it is, without a doubt, a widespread malaise and one that is threatening to compound every other problem.
You know when you're watching TV and you have to check what films an actor's been in, or what the live score is in that baseball game you're only slightly interested in...so you grab your smartphone? That's the future.
If you want to be charismatic, your mind can't wander while you're one-on-one with a customer or colleague. Here's a simple one-minute exercise to help you focus.
Do Twitter's Activity area and Facebook's Ticker give you anything you really need to know? With features like these, says Mike Monteiro, design director at Mule Design Studio, "you’re sniffing the exhaust fumes of activity.” That doesn't sound good.
Okay, so you probably shouldn't be mindlessly scrolling past photos of cats dressed up like palm readers when you're supposed to be tapping data into spreadsheets. But rather than pulling the plug on your web browser, interaction designer Eric St. Onge hopes to use the data of distractions to help make people more aware of their online choices -- and hopefully change their behavior for the better.
