A common observation is that the youth is obsessed with gadgets and technology. Parents and grandparents firmly believe it. We’re so disconnected from reality, they say, when they see us tinkering with our phones. And when they zoom in on you at the dinner table, expect a litany on how we’ve lost values and manners that usually begins with “Back in the day…”
But see, what parents and grandparents don’t always understand is that we will (figuratively) die without our phones. We’re dependent, yes, but obsessed is too strong a word. It’s not like we play Candy Crush the whole day. In fact, Candy Crush is really a mom activity now. Millennials have moved on to newer, shinier games like the newly announced Pokemon Go. But I digress.
It’s not unusual to see a bunch of friends at a coffee shop not talking to one another. Instead, they’re on their phones. “Millennialing” is a term that my friends and I use to describe that scenario, which happens to us a lot. A few years ago, researchers said that is not proper social behavior. Phones are a distraction and you shouldn’t be checking them all the time when socializing with other human beings in the physical world. However, the thing is, we would be talking if we could. But we couldn’t. We are too busy answering work calls and emails, and messaging with colleagues and clients and suppliers.
We were being productive work-wise even when we were supposed to be spending quality time with friends. That’s the thing about technology – it makes everyone accessible all day everyday. Gone are the days when you had to wait for the next business day to ask your boss a question or give instructions to your employees. We all know we’re online all the time and we’re taking advantage of it. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is up for debate and not the point of this article.
The point is that we are not obsessed with technology and gadgets. We’re on our phones because we have to be. Most of the things we can do on a PC, we can now do on phones and tablets so we have to make the most out of them. I know of some colleagues in media who beat their deadlines by writing stories on their phones while stuck in traffic. Again, productivity.
And it’s getting easier to be productive on the go with the advent of phones with bigger screens and more app options for busy bees. Working lunches, working vacations and other working “whatevers” have replaced lazy weekend afternoons because our demanding careers now discourage us from being lazy anywhere.
I’ve had the pleasure of testing out the Microsoft Lumia 640 XL and I have to say that it’s one of the most productivity-friendly phones out there. It’s huge at 5.7 inches (it’s called XL for a reason), and the big screen size really helped me with work-related tasks because I didn’t have to zoom and scroll through a single page as much and it’s not as eye straining as a smaller screen.
The utility of the apps was not lost on me. The Office 365 suite consisting of Word, Powerpoint and Excel immediately became a go-to solution for my on-the-go productivity needs. I was able to instantly digitize scribbled notes with Office Lens, which scans handwritten and printed texts and converts them into Word and OneNote documents. I even made a couple of slideshow presentations more interesting by adding time-lapse videos I shot with Microsoft Hyperlapse.
So when you see me tinkering on my phone, please don’t think that I’m being antisocial or I’m shielding myself from the outside world with a digital screen. Chances are I’m on my phone because I’m working. I’m probably addressing concerns and putting out fires or editing a Powerpoint – and the device that you call a distraction is helping me do all that remotely.
Believe you me, if it were up to me, my phone would be in my pocket. I would rather be reading a book or people watching or having a spirited face-to-face conversation with my friends with no distractions. However, since constant connectivity is our reality today, we just have to live with the fact that our need to be productive will follow us wherever we go.
But that’s not a bad thing because it’s where “work-life blend,” the emerging productivity trend pegged to replace work-life balance, comes in. Let’s talk about that next Saturday.
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