Tech Makes Working Harder

Ant wrote to mention a C|Net article exploring U.S. workers' productivity. People say they actually accomplish less now than they did a decade ago. Research blames technology as the culprit. From the article: "Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it's slowed everything down, paradoxically ... We never concentrate on one task anymore. You take a little chip out of it, and then you're on to the next thing ... It's harder to feel like you're accomplishing something.'"

Comments

Not a technology problem

[KingSkippus]

Well, without technology, I'd be unemployed, so in that sense, I guess I really am working harder because of it.

We never concentrate on one task anymore. You take a little chip out of it, and then you're on to the next thing.

This sounds more like a self-discipline problem than a problem with technology to me. When I have an important task to work on, somehow, I manage to concentrate on it. It's called prioritization, and it's something that people have had to deal with since a naked ape was put in charge of making sure the fire stays lit.

Re:Not a technology problem

[lawaetf1]

I don't think it's fair to dismiss the decline in worker productivity as being solely attributal to a lack of prioritization. Even if you *know* which task is the most important you still have to context switch to process and prioritize incoming information.

Phone rings -- "yes, hello? .. no.. sorry.. yes.. i understand.. no i can't help you with that right now... ok.. i promise i'll look at it in a second."

[back to task]

Instant message -- "Dude!!! HRPROD22-NA01 is down, WTF?"
"I know, I know, but I'm working on something else right now, it's next in the queue, i promise you."

and so on and so on, ad nauseum. Context switching causes a performance hit for computers and humans. Gone are the days when shutting your office door gave you a semblance of privacy.

In a grander sense, many conjecture that we're no longer producing works of genius with the same frequency as was the case pre-Internet / telephone for the very reason that the finite capacity of our brains is now being pulled in ever more directions. From a simple neurological perspective, the melody processing part of your cranium will not become as prominent if you're constantly engaging other aspects of your mind -- buying coffee from starbucks instead of having it brought to your room, talking on the phone with your agent instead of being left alone to compose, conducting interviews instead of simply focusing on getting the next piece perfected. Bad examples perhaps but I think the idea is right on.

Too much fuzz.

Re:Not a technology problem

[OverlordQ]

Think back to the 50's and 60's, then look at today. Compare the advances in technology, one would expect that with the advances in technology, we'd be working less and have more free time. Kinda gone the opposite way hasn't it.

Re:Not a technology problem

[MO!]

Sorry, that's not "technology" failing, quite the opposite - it's fulfilled that dream all too well. The problem is the rush to increase Productivity in the workplace. So instead of 40 employees working less hours and having more free time, we have 10 employees working longer hours doing the work 40 employees did then. I'd have to say the reason we feel overworked and less productive is because we've hit or are at least approaching a limit in this increased Productivity race. You can only reduce the workforce so much before those that remain can no longer keep up with business needs. That's not because technology has failed, it's because it's succeeded and is being expoited to an extreme degree.

Re:Not a technology problem

[KingSkippus]

You're exactly right, and I think that's one of the problems in America today: Businesses are exerting more and more pressure on its workers to accomplish more in less time.

But U.S. workers have to some extent let them get away with it. Once some people went on call 24x7 with their pagers, then cell phones, then Blackberries, it put a lot of pressure on the rest of us to do so. In spite of the fact that no one's really doing their job very well, no one's pushing back and saying, "Enough!" And, of course, the vast majority of CEOs and upper-level managers are either too stupid to recognize what's happening or they just don't care as long as they get their fat bonus.

I don't know what the answer to that problem is, but as far as my job goes, when I'm working on something really important, the pager goes off, the instant message service is put into "Do not disturb" mode, the cell phone stays on but will mostly be ignored, the work phone is forwarded to voice mail, and I focus on the task at hand. I don't have an office door, but people who try to talk to me have been told, "I can't talk right now, I'm working on something very important. I'll come see you later."

If you're trying to get in touch with me, it can be irritating, but if yours is the problem I'm working on, you'd better damn well believe that I'm your best friend.

If more people would do that instead of just sucking it up and trying to process six things at once, not only would they do their job better, but they would start seeing people respect them more as you showed positive results.

Or you may get fired for blowing off the wrong person, in which case you have my sympathy and I sincerely hope that you manage to find another job where management is just a little less stupid.

Or maybe..

[Turn-X Alphonse]

Or maybe it's the ear we live in. We're pushed so hard (must be ready 24 hours a day, while living three lives at once), that we're so tired/fed up with it we work less. Think of it like an army, if you march for a week without proper rest the last 3-4 days will be much slower than if you marched 6 days then took a rest on the 7th.

We push ourselvs untill our wills or body breaks. Theres no reason to care for typing in spread sheet numbers or carrying boxs, so we just do it and end up with half a job done.

Maybe if work was more rewarding (forget money, it's no real reward in this sense) and we weren't expected to be on call 24 hours a day, we would get a good rest and work three times as well (hence productive).

Technology is Neutral.

[malkavian]

The tech part is entirely neutral in the equation.
The real issue here is management. Because information is available, management often believe they do need it.
Often, that's pretty far from the truth. People spend so much time now gathering useless figures, processing those, and presenting them that they often don't bother to take care of the issues that don't readily fit into numeric analysis, or worry about whether they're introducing noise into the signal (which only needs to be filtered out again later).
What people need to do is take a step back and determine what they really need to do their job, and get a process in place that'll automate delivery of the figures they actually need to them when they're needed.
That way, they'll likely find that the job does increase in efficiency.

Not just that

[Lord_Dweomer]

Not only do I feel like I actually get LESS done with tech....I also feel like more is expected of me. Its like....ok, we gave you this computer that can do all these things, now do it in half the time it used to take. Not to mention that since tech definitely does increase efficiency in some area...suddenly they dump even more work on you to fill up whatever free time you might have had their. So instead of being able to be more thorough and spend more time with a project thanks to the free time the technology enables, instead in leads to us getting rushed through it more and more.

Not to mention that tech has only added to the problem of employers thinking they rule your life...expecting you to stay late every night and work on weekends.

Its funny...but I'm sure I'm not the only one here who wishes for simpler times when life was a bit slower.

you know this is true

[Paua Fritter]

"Technology has sped everything up and, by speeding everything up, it's slowed everything down, paradoxically ... We never concentrate on one task anymore. You take a little chip out of it, and then you're on to the next thing ... "

+1 true.
I had to post a reply to this even though I was right in the middl

And furthermore...

[qwertphobia]

And furthermore, I think that society today ...

What? One billion songs? wow! I still gotta get that new Santana CD. Let me see if it hit Amazon yet. Oh, cool, there's a sale on Digital cameras!

Now, where was I?

Re:What's happening...

[gclef]

I hate to sound like a fogey, but I'm in my mid-thirties, I grew up using computers, and trust me, it won't help.

The problem is not familiarity with computers. It's an overload of tasks. Productivity is expected to rise on a regular basis (heck, we measure the growth of our economy this way), which means we are expected to do more with the same resources. Automation of common tasks has helped immensely in keeping up with this curve, but eventuallly the edge cases (the things that don't fit in the automation) overwhelm your time.

I'm starting to see that regularly at my office: I've automated about as much as I can automate, and my job now consists of firefighting the systems that (for various technical and political reasons) I can't automate. It's not that I don't know how to use computers, it's that the task list is rising faster than I can finish them or automate them away.

So true

[bioglaze]

So true. Context switching wastes clock cycles, but pre-emptive scheduling is still a must. I have tried to learn to manage my own time from operating systems studies. I still have a lot to learn. Especially IRC is bad. Just have to check new messages frequently. These things can help to improve workflow:

- Use laptop, without network connection, so you can find a quiet and comfortable place
- If you listen to music, make sure it's pleasant
- Think about room's lightning and improve it if necessary
- There's on/off button on your cellphone
- Noisy computer distracts your mind
- Keep only tabs related to your work open in your browser
- Human mind takes ~15 minutes to concentrate on a subject, so that's a good minimum running time of a process
- Meditation and yoga can help on concentration