{"id":10566,"date":"2016-10-14T16:43:39","date_gmt":"2016-10-14T15:43:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.intercom.com\/?p=10566"},"modified":"2020-07-31T23:07:51","modified_gmt":"2020-07-31T22:07:51","slug":"when-phones-become-more-important-than-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/when-phones-become-more-important-than-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Your phone is getting in your way"},"content":{"rendered":"

When phones become more important than people, your productivity suffers.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s your usual busy day. You\u2019re sitting in a meeting, you check your phone to see how long you have left until the next one, you refresh your email and maybe check Slack to see what\u2019s for lunch later. You\u2019ve only glanced down at your phone for a few seconds, but it takes you another few seconds to bring your attention back to the room.<\/p>\n

As you look around you see phones out everywhere, some sitting next to laptops on the table, one cupped in your colleague\u2019s hand, and a buzz of an incoming email from another in the corner.<\/p>\n

Everyone is engaged in conversation, yet no one is talking to each other. Welcome to phubbing.<\/p>\n

Phubbing or \u201cphone snubbing\u201d is when you engage with your phone in the company of others. After countless lunches with friends glued to their phones, I realized how odd phubbing was. The whole point of a phone is to communicate, so why choose it over people?<\/p>\n

Psychologists are currently trying to understand the social norms around this behavior, and the links it has with FOMO, internet addiction and lack of self control. It might seem harmless to reply to the odd text during a meeting, but some research suggests it takes an average of 23 minutes and 15 seconds<\/a> to focus back on a task after an interruption. If you think about how many times a day you do this, it\u2019s pretty shocking.<\/p>\n

Why would you choose interruptions?<\/h2>\n

The “lighting up” of the smartphone display when a notification comes in, or the buzz of an incoming text, lock us into a habit of “checking” our phones. This is partly due to our dopamine system, which is conditioned to activate when we receive cues of something rewarding. It makes you feel good when your phone tells you that someone has reacted to your joke on Slack, or liked your photo on Instagram. The key to breaking this dopamine loop is to reduce the audio and visual cues in our environment. Turning off push notifications can limit this interruption somewhat.<\/p>\n

But we can\u2019t blame habit for all our behavior. When we get a text, an email or a notification that we deem important, we often feel like we need to reply, or we need to be available, choosing to give the phone priority over what we are currently doing.<\/p>\n

What do your actions communicate to others?<\/h2>\n

<\/p>\n

Phubbing is a barrier to conversation, a big \u201cdon\u2019t talk to me\u201d sign. Even when you try to limit phubbing by putting the phone down, its mere presence can decrease the quality of conversation. If you leave your phone out, you give the impression you\u2019re waiting for something. Others assume you will be interrupted, so an important conversation would be pointless.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the opportunity cost?<\/h2>\n

Why would anyone waste their time on someone who can\u2019t be bothered to put down their phone and engage? Not only are you wasting others\u2019 time, you\u2019re wasting your own. You are self-interrupting.<\/p>\n

The cost to this faster work pace? Stress.<\/p>\n

Switching attention from one activity to another, which research suggests<\/a> happens every 3 minutes and 5 seconds, can cause your brain to burn through its fuel much faster, making exhaustion more likely even after a short amount of time and compromising both your physical and cognitive performance. Recent research has found that people who expect to be continually interrupted during their day, work faster to compensate. The cost to this faster work pace? Stress.<\/p>\n

How does it become common?<\/h2>\n

How many times have you walked into the lunchroom and seen countless heads down, a sea of scrolling zombies? Recent research has shown that phubbing has a chain reaction effect. The more you feel you have been phubbed, the more likely you are to phub someone else.<\/p>\n

Put people first<\/h2>\n

Establishing a positive work culture is paramount to startup success. Here\u2019s how to set an example and make sure phubbing doesn\u2019t lower your and your team\u2019s performance ceiling.<\/p>\n