Technology- is it giving us time to think?

Ed Reilly, President of the American Management Association thinks not according to the New York Times. He belives that technology has improved communication (and delivered enormous benefits overall), but that Blackberries, home computers and mobile telephony have fractured our attention spans. We are in danger of becoming communication 'traffic cops' - answering emails and taking calls when perhaps we should be dealing with the important and not the urgent . Organizing our time-especially our thinking time at work- to focus on business prioirites and how to achieve them.

I love technology, but wholeheartedly agree. At a personal level it's easy to become a slave to it and reach for the mouse or handset everytime you hear a 'ping' or a 'ring'. And equally to be dazzled by what technology itself can do, rather than focus on what you want it to do to improve your business performance.

But you do need time to think-either by dedicating time for it, or by gazing out of the train window rather than getting the laptop out, or checking email on your mobile.

Think, then act. That's why we're called Head First.