Communication is a very important part of nearly everything we do on a daily basis, and with technological advances, everyone has only become more connected. Despite virtually everyone being connected, many always connected via smartphone, somehow, SOMEHOW, people still manage to communicate poorly with each other. For some, it’s a lack of utilizing the resources at hand, while for others it’s more about simply not getting in touch with the other party. Regardless of why the breakdown started, I think everyone would agree that it’s really irritating when a lack of communication or a miscommunication makes things more complicated than they have to be!
I have an iPhone, and I have a problem. That problem is me constantly going on my phone and while I try to not be that person, I can’t bear to not see why my phone just vibrated. If it’s an email, I want to respond as quickly as possible, a text, well I might ignore those sometimes, but I still want to look at my phone. While my issue is checking my phone too much, some people have the opposite problem: never checking their phone at all, or in the realm of the internet, never checking their email.
The convenience of these devices is only a convenience if they are utilized properly! I’m not suggesting that everyone be on their devices constantly checking their email or waiting for a phone call that just might happen, but c’mon folks, check every once in a while. I think a good rule of thumb would be to check your email a minimum of once a day. Wait longer and you might rack up a few too many to consider manageable, and then you’ll never want to read (or delete) them all.
As for phones, yes, they can check for new emails every few minutes, but if you have a problem like I do, you can always increase the amount of time before your phone checks for mail, and that way when your device goes off, it will probably be more worth your time to look at anyway! In the end, as with many other things, it’s all about moderation. Check devices too much and you’ll drive yourself crazy, too little and you’ll drive everyone else crazy. Shoot for the happy medium!
Here’s the beauty of communication, it requires communicating (I know, far fetched). So if you want to plan an event with someone else or setup an appointment or anything requiring you and someone or something else, you need to reach out and talk to the other party or parties involved! There’s no magic in communicating, so no one should expect something to plan itself. Related to this, timing is important. Need six weeks to plan something? You should probably start getting in touch with people that far in advance. If you wait until the last minute, sure, some people might be willing to do a mad dash to get everything ready, but others will refuse and leave you in a tricky situation. Just make it simple and get in touch with people earlier rather than later!
Last quick point, it’s fine and good if you plan ahead, but if you leave one detail out and don’t check if one key person, facility, etc. is available, than you might waste a bunch of time for something that can’t happen. Cover all your bases and make sure everyone and everything is on board in advance!
