Put your phone away!

There is a good chance that you are reading this sentence on a mobile device. If others are around, put your phone away.

I write only for myself, and, as a result, focus on topics and stories that have deep personal appeal. This article is different — its intended to be provocative and to be persuasive. My aim is to make you, the reader, aware of my frustration with people that relentlessly text, scan, update, review, download, check-in, and otherwise consume information via their phones while in my presence.

There are many reasons why constantly looking at your phone while at a bar, on a date, amidst a social gathering, or in a restaurant is rude. We all know this. Yet too many people still engage in these behaviors. Here are four reasons (which hopefully you find convincing), to change.

1. You are a poor multitasker

Forbes contributor Travis Bradberry, citing research conducted at Stanford University, found that multitasking is less productive than doing a single thing at a time. The study also found that people who are regularly bombarded with several streams of electronic information cannot pay attention, recall information, or switch from one job to another as well as those who complete one task at a time. Multitasking, in other words, is the art of messing up many things at once.

2. Make people feel important, make better decisions

I once had a short meeting with arguably the most important employee at one of the most important technology companies in the world. This individual, recently dubbed among the most powerful executives in any industry, entered the small conference room and switched his phone to airplane mode. This left a tangible impression: our meeting would be the sole focus, and the not the countless domestic politicians, world leaders, or rival CEOs that would inevitably reach out during our discussion. By providing a relentless focus on those in the room, this leader made me feel important. And by silencing his phone, this person could better hone in, thereby increasing the odds of making an important decision correctly.

3. Almost nothing is time sensitive (so it can wait)

There are three broad types of information people access on a mobile phone: important and time sensitive, not important and time sensitive, and everything else. The next time you reach for your phone, think about this and ask: how important and time sensitive is the information I am consuming? If its neither important nor urgent, put your phone away. Having the ability and foresight to bucket different kinds of data into component parts is a skill. Practice it. Very few things are time sensitive, so it can likely wait.

4. Live in the present

During an interview when the Dalai Lama was asked what surprises him the most, his response was profound: “Man surprised me most about humanity. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.” Being physically present but mentally absent (i.e staring mindlessly at your phone in a group of people) prevents you from living in the present. This is a regrettable outcome.

I work for a company whose success is tied to mobile adoption and usage. I am not a luddite and understand the value of accessing people, information, and ideas anytime and anywhere. But I also believe in social decency. Mobile phones have a place to play in many social interactions, but not all. And certainly not all the time.