Technology is everywhere--in our offices, on the phones. Sometimes it can be a hindrance, as much as it can be helpful. The continuous technological advancement in our society is the number one generator of information and communication that constantly bombards us, day in and day out.

Visualize this scenario. Grok, your typical Cro-Magnon, is exploring the far side of the hill. He finds some caves, and upon entering, discovers that there are some untouched walls. He gathers up some sticks, stones, mud, red clay, anything he can find, and starts to create a colorful mural on one of the walls. Hmm, let's see what we can paint today? How about a hunting scene, or maybe the dance? Or, maybe some of the sacred animals? This is going to be one of the better murals! There's nobody around, oodles of time, and lots of space on the cave wall.

Just then, a pterodactyl flies by and drops off a message. It's from Mamuk, his common-law wife. Hmm, wonder what she wants? Let's see, could he get some of those elderberries on the far side of the hill, some more kindling, and oh, try to get home early today.

Everybody, in every age, has had their interruptions and disturbances. In this age, they're coming a pico-second at a time. The automatic, electronic gadgets of the 1990's have presented each of us with heretofore unexperienced paths to stress. Faxes, e- mail, voice-mail, junk faxes and beepers ensure that anyone can be reached at anytime. With fewer places to hide, even any John or Jane Doe may feel as if they're living in an electronic fish bowl--anyone can intrude on his territory at any time. Fortunately, the same technology that exposes you to all types of stressful disruptions can also be used to create some sanctuary for you.

Thank Goodness for Little Chips

There are more potential disruptions in your day than at any time previously. It is not merely your perception. We are the most distracted generation in history. By 2001, knowledge was already been doubling every eleven months, and there was an estimated 17 high tech products developed every second with an associated 200 new high tech services. Professor Lowell Catlett, at New Mexico State University, says, "In essence, a new world is created every year."

No Need for Sledgehammers--As technology infiltrates every aspect of your life, it's easy to understand why some people view the onslaught with disdain. Will anything be left of the world we knew? Will there be any semblance of the privacy we once enjoyed? The Luddites among us, and they're growing in number, want to smash PCS, stamp beepers into the ground, and rip out the lines that connect to the Internet.

Luddites, in the contemporary sense, are people who look upon the intrusion of technology in every day life with disdain. They would prefer to have society return to an era in which technology was not so intrusive.

Neo-Luddites are those who believe that the best chance of social survival is via the abandonment of twentieth century technology and a return to a more harmonious relationship with nature. Neo-Luddites loath television and regard it as a drug that lulls one into a passive, lethargic state of mind while engendering unfocused anxiety in the body. Unquestionably, technology has simplified and complicated your life and mine. What's it called when you make a telephone call to someplace, encounter an automated reception system, have to keep pushing buttons, and still aren't able to reach the right party? Yet, the desired calling option doesn't seem to be reachable, and you can't even get to an operator? Answer: phone mail jail.

The voice mail phone systems you encounter daily are but one of the many perverse examples of technology run amuck. Professor Edward Tenner, of Princeton, observes that the airline industry recorded as many as 600,000 fare changes within a 24-hour period. He calls this phenomenon "re-complicating" --while technology was developed that would enhance the process of both making fare changes and new reservations in the airline industry, instead, the process becomes more confusing and more involved. This is the same reason why the clock in your VCR is blinking at 12:00 right now.

Pound the Darn Pound Sign

A survey by Nortel, a telecommunications company, reveals that 38% of those polled said that they seek with another party when they can't get through by phone to the first party. Two-thirds of those polled said that their work is hampered because they can't contact people when needed. To many people, the more you're able to send messages and information around the globe with the push of a button, or are prevented from reaching others because of technology's inherent capability for fouling-up the communication it was designed to engender, the less anything redeeming gets done.

Professor Theodore Roszak, a professor of history at Cal State University and the author of The Cult of Information, observes that "data merchants have shamefully promoted the importance of bits of information as they scurry us along the road to a high-tech society." Roszak observes that paradoxically, "master ideas", the moral, philosophical, and religious teachings that are the underpinnings of our humanity, are not based on information at all. For example, the phrase, "All men are created equal," is widely accepted by millions, if not billions, of people around the globe. Yet, no amount of bits of information could add up to such a proposition.

That which is universally held to be true, invariably is NOT the by-product of systems configuration or any form of data processing.

The Professionally Elusive You

You can count on it--no one works as effectively when continually subjected to interruptions via fax, beepers, phone, or office visitors. Stated alternatively, regardless of what mind-boggling technology is developed, a few simple principles, the likes of which will be explored here, will enable you to stay connected, stay productive, and keep your stress at a manageable level.

Listed below are a wide variety of information/communication technologies, many of which you probably have in your life already, along with some ground rules for using them in a manner that will keep you balanced.

The Telephone in General

This ultra handy device continues to be the foremost communication vehicle between people who are not in close proximity. Depending on the degree of flexibility you have in your current position, try implementing all of the following:

* Carve out at least one or two hours a day in which it is known that you are not accepting calls. If you have a traditional answering machine, you could simply leave a message that says "I'll be available today from one to three" or "I'll be away from the phone from nine to eleven" or any similar message.

* If you have a voice mail system or a receptionist, similarly protect some portion of your day. I've found that people come to understand and appreciate others who have protected a portion of their day in this manner.

If I call Mr. Jones, and the second or third time I call him I find out that Mr. Jones continually likes to have the period from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. in the morning telephone free, what do I do? Naturally, when I call Mr. Jones, I call after 10 a.m. I don't think any less of him because he carves out this time for himself, and I don't see it as an impediment to getting in touch with him. Indeed, I'd rather know that he was more available after ten, and hardly available before ten as opposed to randomly trying to reach him throughout the day and not understanding why he is totally unreachable sometimes and semi-reachable others.

* Turn the phone volume down to its lowest practical setting. If you're in a noisy machine shop, and it's your responsibility to get to the phone as fast as possible, maybe you need to have the volume turned up all the way. My guess is that you work in an office, and have some measure of control over your environment, and hence, don't need to have anything but the most subtle of rings, beeps, alarms, or chimes summoning you to the phone. Also, inexpensive devices are available today which will provide a flashing light in place of sound when a phone call comes your way.

* If you have two lines, use the one on your business card, stationery, or literature as the in-bound line--the one on which everyone can attempt to reach you while you use line two for out-bound calls. Why? This frees you from potentially missing calls because you're on the line while others are trying to reach you. It enables you to monitor calls, if you wish, and to keep working.

Most importantly, it enables you to offer a measured response to the calls you receive. What do I mean by a measured response? Connie Podesta of Plano, Texas says that, "often it's best for you not to receive calls when they come in, especially if you're in any kind of marketing position." Sure, it's more costly to dial someone back if they're at a long distance. Such inconvenience is more than offset by your ability to gather up information related to the first party's request, plan what you're going to say, control your environment, i.e., eliminate background or distracting noises, summon up your energy, get your attitude on right, and then call the other party.

* Never sleep with the telephone by your head. I know people who believe that there is supposed to be a telephone in their bedroom. I don't know why, perhaps they've seen the scene so many times in the movies, or their parents maintained a phone in their bedroom, that they believe that this is standard fare. You owe it to yourself to get a sound sleep every night, and having a phone a foot to three feet from your head, all but ensures that you won't.

The basic argument that people offer for keeping a phone so close by is that there might be an emergency. They have an aging mother, teenage son, etc. It's an individual decision, but you have to weigh the ability to have 10 or 15 years of good sleep versus being able to field the one phone call that might come in during all that time, where you might be able to take immediate worthwhile action.

* When on the road, disconnect the phone in your hotel room.

Jeff Davidson is "The Work-Life Balance Expert®," is a preeminent time management authority, has written 56 mainstream books, and is an electrifying professional speaker, nearly 800 presentations since 1985 to clients such as Kaiser Permanente, IBM, American Express, Lufthansa, Swissotel, America Online, Re/Max, USAA, Worthington Steel, and the World Bank. Jeff is Executive Director of the Breathing Space? Institute; a popular speaker; and the author of numerous books, including:

• Simpler Living (Skyhorse Publishing)
• The 60 Second Innovator (Adams Media)
• Breathing Space (MasterMedia)
• Complete Idiot's Guide to Managing Your Time (Alpha/Penguin)

Jeff has been widely quoted in the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, New York Times, and USA Today. Cited by Sharing Ideas Magazine as a "Consummate Speaker," Jeff believes that career professionals today in all industries have a responsibility to achieve their own sense of work-life balance, and he supports that quest through his websites www.BreathingSpace.com and www.Work-LifeBalance.net and through 24 iPhone Apps at www.itunes.com/BreathingSpaceInstitute.