So what is technology consciousness?
It’s the awareness of how technology is impacting upon your working or personal life. Impacting negatively and positively, so that you make informed choices about how to get the best from it.
As an IT professional of over 20 years, in roles of IT training, IT support, IT management and Cyber-Security I have seen how tech affects the performance, productivity, and well-being of employees that use it to perform.
Poor use of technology can lead to wasted time, frustration and increased costs. With the growing threat to the digital economy from Cybercrime, it can also put the resilience of your business under threat.
Make an estimate on how many times are you are distracted during an average workday.
Now take that number and multiply it by 25.
That’s how many minutes of concentration you’re losing. It takes an average of about 25 minutes (23 minutes and 15 seconds, to be exact) to return to the original task after an interruption, according to a study by the University Of California. That’s time we can ill-afford.
It’s not just distractions that can affect our performance, its also about making the right choices about the kind of technology and applications we use to achieve our goals. Just because we can have numerous forms of tech and apps within arm’s reach – does it make us more efficient?
Technology amplifies our own tendencies which can be a good thing and it can also be a cause of stress and frustration. Studies are proving that trying to multi-task only reduces quality and increases anxiety. The constant need to be connected or near a smartphone screen to check emails or social media is causing a new wave of addictions. Social skills are being eroded by the preference of younger generations to use emails or shortened messages. It’s not uncommon to see ‘buffer face’ now in real life as people are tuning out due to the vibration from their devices!
This all could sound like I’m not an advocate for technology, maybe you already have strategies in place to ensure that technology is used only as an enabler to grow and sustain your business. Technology Consciousness is about smart choices to make it work for you and your goals. Getting your time back, improving your attention, making better choices and being in control.
As a solopreneur, I see how the solo business leader can get the best from their technology whilst retaining their creativity and freedom. All too often the tools we have at our finger-tips offer us the ability create anything and solve any problem, however, in practice they can consume our time, attention and distract our focus away from what we are good at.
That’s why I am offering my experience and skills to businesses to help them to start getting the benefits of technology consciousness.
How could improving your technology consciousness help you today?
