Technology Breaks May Be Required

Posted on May 23, 2016 by Brent Vasicek, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Duty Calls: Brain vs. Bladder

There I was, 12:02, sitting in the bank after lunch. I was waiting patiently to open an additional bank account at an institution that I have banked with for years. I figured a budget of 30 minutes would suffice. Really, how long could it take to give someone money?

The financial assistant, I’ll call her Amy, motioned me over to her non-descript, sterile cubicle. It was 12:15. Some rapport building banter was initiated, and I stated my needs. “I need to open an additional account.”

“Awesome,” she replied, for the third time in just a few minutes of conversation. I was reminded of Jill Shargaa who has a funny routine on the overuse of this word.

The phone rang. Amy took the call and stated to the customer, Mike, that she would call him back in 10 minutes. I smiled to myself, Awesome! I will be out of here right on time. Little did I know that Mike and I would both be disappointed.

Amy left the cubicle to get some paper. I thought it was odd as I was sitting in office space with plenty of office supplies. My bladder sent a message to my brain that it was on schedule for the post-lunch iced tea purge. My brain acknowledged the signal. Amy returned at 12:30, and I asked her if I could use the restroom before we continued. Her face grimaced. I answered my own question, “Let me guess … for employees only?” She nodded, and we got back to business. I thought to myself, I trust them with my money, but they don’t trust me in the bathroom?

Ding Dong. “I’m sorry, that chime means I need to help the teller in the front for a moment. I will be right back.” Amy disappeared. She returned at 1PM and apologized for the delay. At this point I was realizing Amy either had poor time estimation abilities or she needed to smoke something in the backroom every fifteen minutes.

We get back to opening a simple checking account, again. In the middle of her explaining why I needed to have three accounts the phone rang, again. She answered. Awesome, eye roll.

Bladder messaged Brain: Dude, we are about 30 minutes out from purge time. Brain acknowledged. Bladder and Brain have this system down after all these years. It really is a nice working relationship that soon would be put to the test.

Amy finished with the customer on the phone by saying, I will call you back shortly. We continued to open the account, again. Awesome

Ding Dong. Amy jumped up, “I’m so sorry.”

I thought, At least we know Pavlov’s dog experiment is still valid.

Brain messaged Bladder, Sorry, bro, how you holdin’ up? Bladder replied, It’s going to be tight. Start making a plan B.

1:45 Amy returned. I asked how much longer this would take and even suggested I use a fast food restroom a block away. She ensured me that it would only take another minute. My Bladder screamed, She’s lying!

Amy talked about the account and her voice soon became the indistinct teacher in the Charlie Brown cartoons. All I could hear was Bladder shouting his warnings. Brain used every last ounce of his power to keep Bladder calm and to reinforce the bladder muscles. Pressure was building. Bladder screams one last time, I am not guaranteeing the safety of this chair cushion! Brain, selling his last neuron to the devil said, 10 minutes. Make it 10 minutes.

Technology Calls: Brain vs. Phone

For those of you unfamiliar with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, basically, you can only have higher order thinking if your immediate physiological needs are being met. Mine were not being met. Instead I sat there, cross-legged and sweaty-palmed, just praying I didn’t hear another Ding Dong. I tuned Amy out.

This is how some of your friends’ / employees’ brains feel when they don’t have access to their phone. I am a firm believer in living in the moment and deeply connecting with the live person. I ask my students, staff, or friends to put away the phones while we are together. This works for a bit, but much like my bladder slowly needing more attention, the desire to check the phone builds as well. Phones today are much like cigarettes of the past. You get your fix and become calm. However, overtime, you feel a small urge, then a deep nagging, then a feeling so strong you just cannot resist.

Application in Today’s World

Connection is why we are here. Request that people live in the moment with you, but also give your crew a break. We are living in a technology era. Allow a technology break every hour or two and be reliable when offering it. Without that break, you may find yourself like Amy — where nothing is registering with the person you are talking to; ultimately, defeating the purpose of having a connected conversation.

Release the Tension

After 140 minutes, I was free to go. I hobbled to my car. Bladder signaled S.O.S. I’m going to blow! Brain approved the last bit of adrenalin to be released. I crammed the key in the ignition and started to tear out of the parking lot. Brain was giving a pep talk that could’ve won the Detroit Lions the Superbowl.

You guys can do this. 2 minutes. Brain was secretly praying to some civil engineering God that all the lights would be green on the way home.

First light… RED! Brain: Crap. Bladder says, 57 seconds, bro. Brain knew this was a long traffic signal. He was out of tricks. Brain told Eyes to look for something, anything! Eyes spotted a liquid container. Arms awkwardly fumbled it to the window and emptied its contents. Relief soon followed.

Life Lesson
Don’t put your friends and employees in that situation. Create time to for them to check their phones.

Food For Thought
If we were to update the pyramid to “Maslow’s Hierarchy – Millennial Edition,” where would you put technology?