Is Technology Really Helping You to Get Ahead?

Technology has allowed us to do so much more in life and at a quicker pace. Technology saves lives and time - it can be enjoyable and make life more interesting. Technology can also be a detriment to your career and personal life. How often do you notice someone sending an email on their computer during a meeting or answering an email while you are talking with them on the phone? Generation Y is very tech-savvy but does this come at cost?

I was recently visiting a relative over the holidays that I have not seen in many years. During our conversation they were texting or checking emails on their smartphone. Although this might have seemed innocent enough to them, I was definitely offended. What was their action saying to me? To me, I felt that our conversation or my visit was not important enough to give their full attention to. My daughter prefers to text her friends if she has something sensitive or embarrassing for her to say rather than call them. By using technology over "personal communication" she and her friends are missing out on a personal connection that cannot happen through texting. Our words are not as genuine when we can hide behind a device.

When you're in a meeting sending off an email you are actually telling everyone else in the room that their time is not worth your attention. If you're the boss, then your employees feel undervalued and worthless. If you're not, then you are telling the boss that what they have to say is not very important.

Technology is rapidly advancing but we can't allow it to disconnect us from people. As human beings we long for human connection- this is part of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. When you allow your children to text during dinner, when you allow your ringing cell phones to take precedence when you are in an intimate face-to-face conversation with someone, when you send off an email while a colleague is trying to have an important conversation with you, then you are rapidly disconnecting from what you have worked so hard to get from others- their respect, love, and trust. This could cost you a job, an opportunity, a friend, or a relationship with someone important to you.