What is the cost of our inability to be present in the moment?

Any parent will tell you that kids are the first to notice things, and, according to today's Wall Street Journal, the same is true with the downside of our multitasking world--specifically, how the always-available email tool of choice, the Blackberry, continually distracts us from the here and now.

I think Blackberry addiction (the article outlines some warning signs and also offers tools to treat the addiction) is a bad thing, period. And I say that as someone who has had a Blackberry for several years and who has fallen victim to this syndrome more than once.

The benefits of the Blackberry are legion. But its convenience comes at a price. When you're checking your email, or responding to an email, or thinking about checking an email, you're working. And when you're working, you're not eating dinner with the family, or playing with your kids. And there's a cost to this--not only a personal cost. At work, email-itis can make your meetings less effective, your managing less effective, your team less effective.

There's a balance to be struck, and we need to work on it. I need to work on it.

Gotta run. An email just came in.

psychology, organizational behavior, business