I love my iPhone.  In fact, I’m probably obsessed with it.  The iPhone is one of the greatest inventions of our time. It has changed the way we interact with the world and it has changed the way we get work done.  The features are almost limitless.

But the biggest downside to the phone is the constant distraction it creates.  A phone that was created to make life more efficient is, ironically, having the opposite effect.  Let me take you through a typical workday to show you just how the iPhone is negatively affecting my productivity.

8:27 a.m: Wake up late. I had set my alarm on my phone the night before but forgot to charge it, so the phone died and I am now late for work.  I charge my iPhone in the car, while I speed to work.  I almost crash my car when I glance down at my phone following a notification that someone replied to my last tweet.

9:23: Almost a half-hour late for work.  I turn my computer on to start my day but not before I make my move in Words with Friends.  I spend 15 minutes trying to make a word with seven consonants.  I get pissed off and close the app.  (more…)

Meetings. Anyone with a job has been forced to sit though one or several hundred at some point. Some jobs require more meetings than others. In my job, I’m forced to sit through my fair share of them.

Meetings are a weird place. They have weird rules and cultures that cannot be found anywhere else in society. You act a certain way and use phrases that no person has ever uttered outside of a conference room in the history of mankind.

Where else but in a meeting do you use the word “nay” or “quorum”? Where else in life do we make a motion or have an agenda? That isn’t the worst part of it…

Minutes. This is by far, the most ridiculous part of the meeting. The only thing worse than sitting through a meeting is reading a recap of last week’s meeting. (more…)