20220730 : one at a time

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This is something as a pattern I have noticed with most of us. It might be right or wrong I don't know for sure, but I shall share it anyway. 

I have always been a lengthy writer. I have not got very used to the messaging shortcuts and acronyms much. I tend to write sentences fully.

Messages have become a big part of my life now. I mostly exist in the WhatsApp world.

Earlier (years ago), I used to live in the world of emails. Even in emails, I tend to be liberal with the content. Mostly detailed/ descriptive about what I am conveying or asking or instructing. 

When I moved into the messages world, I tended to do the same thing. It worked well with what I am conveying, however with the other two categories, I was not very successful and was seeing something interesting.

Let us say i wanted to know about 3 things. 

I would describe the 3 things in 3 paragraphs in detail and assume it was clear.

However, I would receive a response about the first one only.

Next I started to number them so it was clear there are 3 things. (I considered bullet points initially, but not supported on WhatsApp). However, in that case too the same was happening. Sometimes with luck, I would get a response about 2 of them.

This is a general observation and there are exceptions of course.

I also observed, the more verbose I was in what I am seeking, the less likelihood of getting a suitable response. So I started to think and actively cut down on words and be brief and precise with what I am seeking.

This is not any particular group or people. It was across the board.

However, I also started seeing that my success was proportional with age. The younger they are lesser chances of success and more precision was needed.

It was then I realised what was happening. Something we know about very well but I hadn't realised this part.

We have all fallen prey to a dose of ADHD. We can't focus on things which take time to process. Nor can we retain many things in the mind at a time. Only the first thing gets attention/ focus and everything else gets lost.

I am guessing scrolling through posts on social media, continuous watching shorts/ videos/ multitasking regularly between apps and devices have reduced the ability of our minds to stay attentive for more than a few seconds. 

The younger we are, more the influence and impact.

As i said, I might not be a 100% right, but I know I am not 100% wrong either.

What do I do now? Be a storyteller when I want to tell stories.

Everything else one at a time - as precise as I can manage to be... 


Comments

  1. Vinod KD30/7/22 18:17

    You've got the dichotomy right. The messages are to get things done, and the long form to explain things.

    We use slack at work, and I have zero patience for people (esp those that I dont know) who start with "Hi" and expect me to continue the conversation until they tell me what they really want from me. I have nohello.com linked in my profile for that.

    But when I'm in the not getting things done and instead trying to understand a concept, I much prefer long form essays that are explanatory, and hate emojis, online chat short forms, etc. I do like full sentences, and I appreciate when the writer uses a baroque turn of phrase just for the joy of using language to its fullest.

    To that end: may I suggest these two vastly different takes on the matter:
    The Gervais Principle: https://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/10/07/the-gervais-principle-or-the-office-according-to-the-office/

    Three little pigs like you've never heard before: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_UegL1R3X8

    ReplyDelete
  2. Madhukar30/7/22 21:06

    I think you are 100% right. All of us have atleast ADD 😊 degrees may be different for different people but fundamental definition I think is valid for all.

    People who have realised it or all kinds of propaganda guys who are selling something. Marketing/advertising, political, religious or spiritual organizations..

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sreekanth5/8/22 18:10

    Thank you for the recommendations KD. The preferences - I have many similar. I see it as age not being able to catch up with the youngsters 😀

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sreekanth5/8/22 18:14

    True Madhukar, the challenge to marketers is to figure out how to catch someone's attention in such diminishing attention spans

    ReplyDelete

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