When leaving your home for work in the morning, what are your essentials? Things that you have to have? Keys, wallet, maybe a laptop, and your phone, of course. As much as we may not like to admit it, we are continually attached to our phones. They have become a necessity for most of our daily lives.

Today’s technology allows us to communicate instantly across multiple platforms, devices, countries, and time zones. The world is at our fingertips, quite literally. The digital age, however, has a dark side. What happens to productivity when we are always connected? Can we focus in the face of so many distractions?

Being productive is something that everyone strives for. Humans are now more productive than ever. Productivity and efficiency are highly esteemed and sought-after traits. We have faster computers, more emails per hour, better output, throughput, and better turn arounds. But sometimes those moment to moment distractions of alerts, emails, and calls pull us away from the most important task: human connection.

Human connections are becoming less common in our digital age, even though we are always connected through the internet. I would like to present the idea that, by organizing and balancing our activities appropriately, we be more productive and efficient, and we can also become more present and attentive to others.