Send and Receive...my procrastinator
Last weekend, during a routine day of writing, I realized something about myself. I have an addiction…it’s called email. It came to my attention while on line; a friend asked me rather bluntly…”how do you get any work done during the day?” Meant as a funny, his sarcastic tone was in reference to my quick and speedy response to each and every email I received. But, still, it provoked a thought inside of me. Since email was introduced to society, almost a decade ago, it has made the world smaller, people closer, and work faster. Even now as I reflect on the phenomenon of this “new” communication, and it’s influence on our culture, I also notice the chapter that I still have not finished writing. It makes me wonder, has email inadvertently slowed things down? Moreover, what aren’t we doing, while we are emailing?
For me, personally, it all comes down to the “Send and Receive” button. Pressing send and receive has become a natural instinct, an involuntary reflex; like breathing, or blinking. At any given moment, when there is a stall in my thought process, I do a quick click. And, when there is new mail to receive, it’s like the universe has sent me a reason to not finish the paragraph I was working on. Thank you!!! I think Microsoft should have been more realistic when designing outlook, and actually named it the “procrastination” button, or ”a reason to chat and not do what I need to” button.
Ironically, I lived without cable or Internet in my home for almost 9 months. I actually prided myself on the fact that I could find numerous other things to do with my time. Of course, when the cloud covered the Valley last fall, and the weather turned 27 below, I knew it was necessary to “get connected” since I had no intentions of spending much time outdoors. I don’t think I knew how literal “getting connected” meant, since, with options like msn messenger, I can’t seem to disconnect. It’s that little bloopy sound that hooks me, the one that notifies me every time, someone I know, gets on line. I figure, this is the closest thing to having them in the same room. So tell me, how do you ignore that? How do you focus on work, when the fact that your buddy, eagerly awaits a hello (especially when the blue bar at the bottom of your page keeps flashing “CONVERSATION”!)?
It’s a challenge. What could I be doing if I wasn’t on line? Even as I write this now, with my laptop on the floor of my living room, I feel the need to plug in and check to see if any messages await me. And that is the addiction because you never know what you are going to get. It’s a rush. The problem arises when the fun of emailing takes away from getting the job done. And I know I can’t be the only person who is finding it difficult to cut the ties with email. For example…the people who create email attachments like chain letters, quotes, questionnaires etc. Who are these people? What are they not doing in a day to come up with these things? I often wonder where they would be in the world, if they channeled this creative energy into something profound, versus “Pick The Dessert That Best Describes Your Personality”. However, their words have spread through outlooks all over the world, so obviously they are doing something right.
Even more intriguing is interoffice email. Rather than walking 2 feet to talk with a coworker, or actually pick up the telecom, we now send emails. “I’ll have that script for you in by lunch” (send/receive). It’s rather fascinating actually. We have allowed verbal communication to evolve into an electronic transmission. Granted, email keeps the people who I care about close to me. The fact that I have a sister, who lives on a tiny island in the Atlantic, doesn’t matter with email. I can talk to her daily. It also makes moving to a new town feel less far away. I guess that is my trade off; enjoy the brilliant invention of email, but beware that completing a future bestseller will just have to wait.
© Desiree Daniel February 13, 2005
For me, personally, it all comes down to the “Send and Receive” button. Pressing send and receive has become a natural instinct, an involuntary reflex; like breathing, or blinking. At any given moment, when there is a stall in my thought process, I do a quick click. And, when there is new mail to receive, it’s like the universe has sent me a reason to not finish the paragraph I was working on. Thank you!!! I think Microsoft should have been more realistic when designing outlook, and actually named it the “procrastination” button, or ”a reason to chat and not do what I need to” button.
Ironically, I lived without cable or Internet in my home for almost 9 months. I actually prided myself on the fact that I could find numerous other things to do with my time. Of course, when the cloud covered the Valley last fall, and the weather turned 27 below, I knew it was necessary to “get connected” since I had no intentions of spending much time outdoors. I don’t think I knew how literal “getting connected” meant, since, with options like msn messenger, I can’t seem to disconnect. It’s that little bloopy sound that hooks me, the one that notifies me every time, someone I know, gets on line. I figure, this is the closest thing to having them in the same room. So tell me, how do you ignore that? How do you focus on work, when the fact that your buddy, eagerly awaits a hello (especially when the blue bar at the bottom of your page keeps flashing “CONVERSATION”!)?
It’s a challenge. What could I be doing if I wasn’t on line? Even as I write this now, with my laptop on the floor of my living room, I feel the need to plug in and check to see if any messages await me. And that is the addiction because you never know what you are going to get. It’s a rush. The problem arises when the fun of emailing takes away from getting the job done. And I know I can’t be the only person who is finding it difficult to cut the ties with email. For example…the people who create email attachments like chain letters, quotes, questionnaires etc. Who are these people? What are they not doing in a day to come up with these things? I often wonder where they would be in the world, if they channeled this creative energy into something profound, versus “Pick The Dessert That Best Describes Your Personality”. However, their words have spread through outlooks all over the world, so obviously they are doing something right.
Even more intriguing is interoffice email. Rather than walking 2 feet to talk with a coworker, or actually pick up the telecom, we now send emails. “I’ll have that script for you in by lunch” (send/receive). It’s rather fascinating actually. We have allowed verbal communication to evolve into an electronic transmission. Granted, email keeps the people who I care about close to me. The fact that I have a sister, who lives on a tiny island in the Atlantic, doesn’t matter with email. I can talk to her daily. It also makes moving to a new town feel less far away. I guess that is my trade off; enjoy the brilliant invention of email, but beware that completing a future bestseller will just have to wait.
© Desiree Daniel February 13, 2005
posted by Desiree Daniel @ 4:54 PM
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