KJ's Collection of Curiosities

I used to have a great memory – I could replay what you said, when you said it and what you were wearing when you said it (when I was single, my boyfriends used to hate this). But as I’ve gotten older, my memory has seemed to fade and I’m now lucky if I remember my husband’s birthday (just kidding… of course I remember that).

I do believe that technology has contributed to a change in my processing powers and I’m not sure if they’ve gotten better or worse. While I can now multi-task between writing a proposal, reading a Tweet, following up on an email, sitting on the phone and perusing the newspaper all at the same time, I also confess my comprehension is sometimes as shallow as the battery life on my iPhone. But now there’s a chart which illustrates what’s happening! I’ve become a victim of digital distractions!

While this is all tongue-in-cheek, there certainly is more demand on our attention span these days. Especially in the business of PR, I find myself constantly tapped in to what’s being said about our clients or the categories they live in. I’m scouring for stories via mainstream media and blogs, I’m checking the Tweets of professionals and punters on their sentiment of the moment, and I’m bouncing between emails, Facebook updates, wiki entries, etc. to be sure I’m up to speed. And that doesn’t even involve what I need to do when I’m “offline.”

Life is full of distractions – digital and organic. But then again, many of those distractions are precisely what gives life its spice and flavor.