The trouble with texting

- I want to tackle a challenging subject, perhaps even a controversial subject when it comes to time management. I ask for your patience as you and I explore this together. The topic is text messaging. Because people are so comfortable with text messaging in a personal context, they may have the tendency to carry text messaging into the professional context, into business. When they do this, it creates all sorts of problems.

One of the biggest problems is that people typically keep their text message app open, meaning they've set it up to notify them at any time. If you're familiar with my work on the myth of multi-tasking, you'll know that if you leave yourself open to switches in attention like this, it's going to chew up your productivity very, very quickly. Constantly jumping from one thing to another is switch-tasking, and it's highly counterproductive. This isn't to say that text messaging doesn't have value, it just needs to be used in an appropriate manner that doesn't perpetuate switch-tasking.

So, what is an appropriate way to use text messages in a professional context? For the purpose of this video, whenever I'm referring to texting, I'm also including any kind of instant messaging app. First, you can use texting when you need quick information. For instance, if I just need to ask a coworker, "Hey, what was the measurement on that window "that we were working on?" Or, "Can you give me the address of where "I'm supposed to go?" These are questions that can be responded to without having long, complete sentences or attachments.

Also, text messaging can be used in emergency situations. For instance, I see people who work in network support, who use text messages to be notified when something catastrophic happens to a client's network. It makes them quickly aware that something's happening and they need to take immediate action. However, outside of these two quick needs, texting starts to lose its value. One principle of business productivity is to move from a culture of now to the culture of when.

The culture of now says if I have a question, I need it answered now. That culture perpetuates a lack of focus and constant switches of attention. Text messaging is one of the worst culprits when it comes to the culture of now. On the other hand, the culture of when says I'm going to respond to every single message that you send me, and this is when I'm going to do it. I'm going to do it in a timely manner.

This is why the primary method of communication in business is email. Email allows more room and more space to clearly explain what you mean. It allows easier sending and retrieving of attachments. Perhaps most importantly, it allows people to respond to and process the messages in their time. They can create a schedule, such as the processing schedule that I talk about in my courses, where they check and respond to their emails in an appropriate manner, but not in an immediate manner.

If text messaging is necessary for your workplace, I recommend having a candid conversation with everyone in the company about ground rules. When is text messaging appropriate, and when is it not? Getting on the same page when it comes to texting will help reduce frustration and help everyone be more focused.