Dot Calm

The Search for Sanity in a Wired World

Debra Dinnocenzo, Richard B Swegan, Richard B. Swegan

• Publisher: Berrett-Koehler Publishers
• Year: 2001
• ISBN:
  9781609943370
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Business General
• Index: Business

For millions of people, technology is making their lives harder, not easier. They're bombarded with so much information they can barely read it, let alone process it. They're tied to the office-through email, cell phones, pagers, voice mail and fax machines-24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Their sense of balance is under assault from the relentless onslaught of data and the feeling that they must be constantly "connected." For everyone who yearns to simplify life, slow down, and get centered, all without compromising their career, Dot Calm offers more than hope-it offers answers. Based on the authors' in-depth interviews and survey results, Dot Calm outlines a wide variety of proven tactics that real people in all walks of life are using to cope with the ubiquitous problems of information, access, and work overload. This book provides an unprecedented chance to leverage the success strategies of people who have managed to sever the "electronic tether" that kept them constantly bound to their jobs. Dinnocenzo and Swegan show that you don't have to sacrifice productivity or efficiency to have a sane, balanced life. On the contrary-technology can so overwhelm people with data that they have a hard time focusing on those activities that truly matter. Unplugging will actually make you more effective.

Part One
Problem/Opportunity

1

It begins almost imperceptibly. A small voice within quietly whispers. Its persistence becomes somewhat familiar—a soothing sound that both nudges and nurtures. Words are not formed, though the feeling becomes clearer. And you slowly begin to understand. It is like a radio signal that is garbled by static, though the station is unquestionably transmitting. And as you travel forth, the static dissipates, the sounds emerge into words, and the small voice within is heard clearly:

Something Is Not Right!

This is the often slow and circuitous route by which you come to realize that your life is out of balance and that any semblance of control is only a distant memory, having long since been replaced by an overwhelming sense of O-V-E-R-L-O-A-D.

Throughout this book you will find sections set off by large quotation marks. These are direct quotes from respondents whose comments, provided via interview or survey, were especially relevant or poignant. We did not create any of these quotes. Each is an authentic—and sometimes instructive, provocative, or sad—statement from a real person. The authors are grateful to these contributors who offered such valuable insights, ideas, and wisdom.

This overload of information, communication, and the demands of work is beginning to take its toll. How often do you:2

• Feel inundated by the volume and pace of information that relentlessly streams your way each day?
• Yearn for the days when taking a vacation meant that the office didn’t travel with you?
• Let phone calls interrupt precious time with family and wonder where to draw the line on the intrusion into your life that technology enables?
• Feel that “the faster I go, the behinder I get” as you satisfy the demand to operate at net speed, while seeking the elusive work/life balance you so desperately desire?
• Wish you could simplify your life, slow your pace, feel more sane and balanced?
• Feel the desire to be connected—not to networks or databases or message systems or wireless access, but to something deeper, higher, greater… and to others?

“

Access to information is so fast now that I try to get done as much as I can as fast as I can. Therefore, I try to put more on my plate because I can get it done quicker, which leads to more stress and shorter deadlines. Add in e-mail and having to manage that—and it can cause havoc in your life.

”

“

I close the door to my office and leave it all behind. I focus on family. Work comes and goes, things come and go, but family is eternal. I am going to focus on the eternal things, because they are the important things. All this fuss we make about our livelihoods stops after we die. The family doesn’t.

”

WHAT TO DO? This is, of course, the operative question. While we can enumerate the virtues of technology and the myriad advantages we all enjoy as a result of nearly limitless access to information and communication resources, let’s face it—most of us are exhausted, stressed out, frenetic, and oftentimes unfocused. Further, regardless of the technology tools we currently use to stay informed, connected, and tethered to our work, expect them to be replaced by newer, faster, and more intrusive tools aimed at increased productivity or accessibility. Improved technological tools and resources will not inherently minimize related problems without a conscious effort to manage the ways you deploy that technology in your work and life.3

In the spirit of the simplicity everyone seems to crave, we have made every effort throughout this book to be efficient in the way information is provided and the ways you can access and apply it. Our hope is to transform the voice so that the calm, persistent message within you evolves to:

It Will Be All Right!

The wealth of ideas and solutions we have compiled were gathered through interviews, questionnaires, conversations, and e-mail messages involving people from a wide variety of jobs, industries, and career stages. From hundreds of sources, we have distilled the essence of their searching—the challenges, choices, and solutions for managing overload and achieving balance. So, as you read, bear in mind that we wrote according to the “rule of reality,” recounting the struggles and successes shared with us by so many contributors. The stories are real, the frustrations authentic, and the solutions rooted in real-world questions that beg for answers. Out of these myriad suggestions and solutions, we trust you will find a kindred voice that speaks to your needs and offers solutions for which you, too, have been searching.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler.

—Albert Einstein

1
Take Heed of Net Speed

5

Imagine a world where noise is everywhere. Not just surrounding you, but following you wherever you go. Some of that incessant clatter may be pleasant—bursts of music, laughter, sound of water. And some may be jarring—atonal, harsh, discordant. The constant din and jumble of sound seems to press on us, creating a brooding sense of tension, anxiety, and overload.

For most of us, this world doesn’t really exist (although, as you walk through a busy city or a crowded airport, you may think so). If we substitute the image of noise for the reality of our daily lives, the accuracy of the image becomes clear. We live in an increasingly fast-paced, high-energy, constantly moving world where outside events intrude on our privacy and personal life. Everything around us shouts faster—faster connections, quicker service, and even faster fast food. No one is saying let’s work more slowly and take our time. Whether you work in a “new economy” or “old economy” firm, run your own business, work in education, operate in the public sector, or attend school, the demands to make every minute count, to eke out every precious second for maximum multitasking, are constant. We now live in a 24/7 wired world bombarded by information that reaches us at lightning speed.

Prove the premise yourself. For a block of time, say, two weeks, notice how many articles, TV segments, radio spots, and advertisements address the issue of our increasing state of busyness. You’ll be amazed by the results! We did a similar study and found:6

“

I carry an AA card, not because I drink, but because the 12 Steps remind me of the need to take one day at a time.

”

• Articles in two weekly news magazines about children being overscheduled;
• A TV segment about the increasing number of business people who stay in touch with the office while on vacation;
• Articles about people disconnecting from their everyday work world;
• Several articles about rudeness associated with the use of cell phones;
• Countless articles about one aspect or another of Internet usage; and
• A variety of print ads and commercials targeted to those who are burdened by overload and/or those who seek more and faster connections.

These results provide a quick and compelling sense of the issues that are causing increasing discomfort for all of us.

Dot Calm: The Search for Sanity in a Wired World provides strategies for living and working well in the increasingly complex world in which we all live. We discuss both the speed and pace of our evolving e-world, and the serenity and calmness we all seek. The desire for calmness is a search—a journey that holds challenges, choices, and consequences. It is a never-ending process as each of us adjusts to new issues, challenges, and technologies.

The challenges we have faced, individually and as a couple, in efforts to balance the demands of work, relationships, family, and faith are also reflected in Dot Calm: The Search for Sanity in a Wired World. Our experie...