It is surprising that in an industry that relies on human contact & touch point, most of my colleagues rely 90% on email and get really upset when I refer it to playing billiards. Email is the safest way of pushing things off your plate, not taking responsibility, accountability, because the moment you click ‘Send’ your job is over.

Of course there is always the Tech team, India’s connectivity problems etc that can be blamed for non receipt of information, further compounded by GPRS, EDGE, dropping signals etc.

But once out of office, on weekends, chatting with friends and all connectivity works perfectly.

It is an addiction, study shows a third of office workers were stressed by the volume of message & that’s only email.

Trust me, Being ‘always on’ does affect productivity & create stress.

With your notebook, multiple phones, that constantly beep, it is very difficult to switch off. And when you switch off the office work, there is Face Book, Twitter that needs your attention or else you are not with the times.

It is funny to see 3-4 friends sitting over coffee or drinks & 2 of them are texting, whilst the others are speaking on the phone; then why meet? You could might as well do that on the phone.

I am constantly asked “How do you manage official work, email, Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Partying & even writing a Blog”.

And I say “EVERYTHING IS FINE IN MODERATION”

Some of the rules that I follow to disengage & recharge myself, at the same time have me time:

1) I check & respond to your emails just 3-4 times a day, this includes laptop & smartphone.
2) As for FB; Linkedin, Twitter I just go cold turkey.
3) I leave my phone behind when I go on the gym floor.
4) I use Tech to the maximum - program email, blog, phone to garner maximum productivity.

Because, I believe - Be the one to control devices & not the other way around.