One random Sunday a few weeks ago, I found myself lost in the brightness and colour of my phone waiting for the next hit of dopamine as a notification popped onto my screen and it occurred to me how much more time I spent on my screen compared to actual human interaction.
Rather than greeting the girl at the store who was trying to assist, I vaguely mumbled something that was incoherent. As I sat down and looked up from the haze, I realised I hadn’t even given her the courtesy of a good morning or any form of eye contact. As I looked around at others who were in the same phone-dazed state, it was apparent this had become the norm, which is simply just not ok.
So at what stage did we lose that human connection?
I listen daily to Property Management teams working at the coalface as I help them to work through their challenges. Increasingly, I am hearing, and even experiencing, stories of irrationality, demand and general impatience. As we become more driven by the technology around us, our patience and resilience suffers as we struggle to switch off from the demands. One way our training team help PM’s to tackle this is through education around expectations – setting and re-setting along the way.
I recently came across the following quote:
“Even humans perform better if you switch them off and on again.”
So I challenge you to unplug and switch off, if only for a little while, and try and reconnect with those around you. There can be far greater beauty right in front of you than on your Instagram feed.
