Shutting it all off

I came to the blog today and was surprised to see that Coleen had already posted a entry. I read through part of it and immediately started thinking about how I deal with people on a daily basis.(Sorry Coleen got lost in my own thoughts there) I can say since the late 90's my whole way of dealing with people any more has changed completely. First off I no longer speak on a phone much any more at all. Even my clients will send me texts before a phone call. A phone call any more from anyone seems like a strange thing to have happen any more. I have friends that will not pick up a phone call then turn around and text me. i know odd but is it the norm these days?

I thought hard about my usage of the different ways to communicate with people and had to break things down for myself. How do I use email, instant messaging or my blog? I think for me each serves a separate purpose and I use them very differently. Email used to be one of my main avenues of communication, but any more its is used mostly to give bigger blocks of info. Specifications for orders, sending artwork or where more details are needed. IM is for quick comments or even nice long real time conversations. Blogs are a whole different world. I have one a personal blog that I just go to when I need to write about things in my head. I am not imparting any news to the world or trying to let people be inspired. Its just for me and is my personal journal.

Do I see things changing in the near future with how I communicate? Very easily I do, some changes are already taking place. With talk to text being more prevalent in new smart phones I see my way of being connected and how I use things changing. Its easier for me to talk my replies then typing them as I can walk about while still working or just moving about the office. I'm not tied to having to use just my fingers, my head can now not be sitting in my lap and I can look forward. Soon (with in a few months from one product announcement I read) we will be able to view messages on a special pair of glasses and then reply to them all while walking about the world.

Will this create even more over load? I think so, the stream of information and the need for being "in touch" can be over whelming. We need to be able to turn things off and let them go for awhile. I'm lucky in that for an hour or two every day I can get away from it all and ignore it all. I come back refreshed and ready to tackle things with a better insight and renewed vision. As much as I am a gadget junkie this break is so well worth it.