{"id":2755,"date":"2022-04-06T17:30:22","date_gmt":"2022-04-06T23:30:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:10043\/?p=2755"},"modified":"2025-03-07T07:12:44","modified_gmt":"2025-03-07T13:12:44","slug":"try-these-tech-tips-to-avoid-multi-tasking-distracted-communication","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.atiba.com\/try-these-tech-tips-to-avoid-multi-tasking-distracted-communication\/","title":{"rendered":"Try these tech tips to avoid multi-tasking, distracted communication"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article originally appeared in\u00a0The Tennessean<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

In my last column I talked about \u201cthe busy signal.\u201d<\/p>\n

To review, for anyone not around before the 1980s, the busy signal was the repeating buzz-like tone that you would get when you tried to call someone, and they were busy talking to someone else.<\/p>\n

With the concepts of call waiting, caller ID, and voice mail yet to be introduced, the dreaded busy signal meant that the person you tried to call was on the other line and not available to talk to you.\u00a0 All you could do was hang up, wait a few minutes, and try back.<\/p>\n

At the time, it was considered an annoyance, but sure enough technology eventually came along to make the busy signal a relic of the past.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s world, the barrier that the busy signal created has been replaced with multiple ways to communicate with a person or business day or night. Not only can you call someone on their cell phone that is always in the hip pocket, but if they don\u2019t pick up you can text, email, or ping them on their social media<\/a> accounts.<\/p>\n

Overall, especially for business, this has been a good thing.\u00a0It enables us to communicate with our customers and colleagues in near real-time and it helps us all to be more responsive.<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, every so often I miss the busy signal.\u00a0Without it, there are times when it\u2019s hard to regulate my own time and I end up multi-tasking\u2014attempting to communicate in one form or another with too many people at once.\u00a0\u00a0When this happens, I not only feel some stress, but I do a poor job of listening.<\/p>\n

So, in my quest to always be improving, I decided to ask a few other busy people what they do.\u00a0When I posed the question, \u201cHow do you let others know you are busy without being rude or coming off as unresponsive?\u201d I received some interesting tips that I am now starting to use myself.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s some highlights from the advice I got on how to manage<\/a> your \u201cbusy signal\u201d:<\/p>\n