It’s Time to Talk

  Communications Management   ProjectsAtWork  

Digital distractions don’t just make it hard to focus on work; they make it hard to focus on people, too. As a result, we often miss out on opportunities to discover new ideas and forge deeper understanding. Here, communication expert and author Geoffrey Tumlin shares six ways to encourage more productive conversations.

In the digital age, we’re all shameless multi-taskers constantly on the lookout for our next dopamine burst of novelty.Unfortunately, multitasking and our ceaseless pursuit of the next clickable thing aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Research consistently documents the harsh reality that multitasking degrades our cognitive performance. Instead of fulfilling its promise of helping us do more with less, multitasking ends up “helping” us do less with more.

“Multitasking and excessive screen time rob our most important work and home relationships of what they need the most: our time and our attention,” says Geoffrey Tumlin, author of Stop Talking, Start Communicating: Counterintuitive Secrets to Success in Business and in Life (McGraw-Hill, August 2013). “It’s increasingly difficult for us to remain in the moment. As a result, our conversations falter and our relationships come under strain.”

Multitasking and constant clicking don’t just rewire our brains; they also rewire our …

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