I'm lucky that nobody I know is too bad about it. That said, if it got outta hand, think I'd just say, "Are you waiting for a really important email? Cause you're killing me with that thing."

Truth be told, I've started just leaving my mobile at home or in the car. Most things can wait.

rscotta

I think that continually checking your phone/sms/im constantly is ... douchy. About the same as walking around with a Bluetooth headset stinking out of your ear. I mean, come on, you really expect mr to believe that you're THAT important? Douchebag.

--Sent from my iPhone

khiddy

Darn, all this time I thought I was multi-tasking!

geoffmanning

I don't give electronic gizmos priority over people, but I always read a book while I watch TV. I guess that qualifies as CPA.

infmom

Continuous Partial Attention? Fine, call it that.

It's still rude as hell and tacky beyond belief.

Deprong Mori

I'm totally guilty of CPA. Right now, I'm at work, obviously not working that hard. I probably spend a good 2 hours a day on my Google Reader instead of working. If I'm not staring at an RSS feed, then I'm checking email, Googling product names, etc.

thebuffster

oops, bad link, sorry.
[www.SparkNW.com]

wonderosity

I try not to do this, as I don't like it when others do it around me. Yet "resisting the ring" (beware frodo) is tricky. Were doing another workshop on this topic this month- checkout [www.SparkNW.com] Sadly, I'm finding most people are still in first stage though... Denial.

wonderosity

I'm fighting back a little by refusing service to anyone who is on the phone where I work since it's a rather popular place, Ill or I'll just pull out my phone while I;m in the middle of talking to them and start talking on it. This usually gets them mad enough to either go see someone else or open their eyes to see what they are really doing while talking on their phones. I just get fed up with people thinking that they are more important than me so sometimes you just have to put them in their place.

daybringer

Operating systems folks have a term for systems that context-switch applications too fast and don't given time for any application to do any useful work. It's called thrashing.

bingostarr

@wonderosity: That one's bad too. I think you meant this.

Anyway, I find that I end up doing CPA a lot around certain people, but not as described. A group of my friends often talk two or more at a time. It's not too hard for me to listen to both of them simultaneously (partial attention is useful!), but then I have to decide who to respond to first...

Demosthenes

How about Continuous Recycling Attention Spans>> CRAS?
New psychological disorder with appropriate anacronym. Add that to your ADD and burn it to your ADHD-DVD. No wait, that's HD-DVD or should it be Blu-ray? Isn't that when you're blue from lack of rays, i.e. sunshine? No wait, that's SADD [Students Against Destructive Decisions]. No, no. . .SAD [Seasonal Affective Disorder]! Now I've gone and made you MADD. Sorry for the rant!

rolltimer

@Blackbeard: There's a different doing it in private (your case) and in a social situation. What you're doing is perfectly alright but I feel like knocking the phone of the person's hands who can't stop fiddling and scanning it constantly with it while dining.

Mythokia

good gwief. right now i'm fixing a laptop infested with a worm, reading my gmail, scanning LH, and downloading pr0n, err, device drivers. call me a multi-tasking cpa thrasher but i get things done my way.

some people just do it that way and yet be productive. IMHO.

BlackBeard

If I understand correctly, at a party, if I'm scanning the room while talking to someone, that's CPA and possibly rude. On the other hand, if I say, "I'm going to the bar, can I get you something?", that's Multi-Tasking and nice.

At work, if I'm talking to someone and shift my eyes over to my computer, that's CPA; however, if I'm bouncing back and forth between two slow computers, that's Multi-Tasking and productive.

rob32

Crap, third time's a charm?...(iPhone typing w CPA)
[www.sparkNW.com]

wonderosity

Wow, and all this time I thought just using my gadgets in response to the boring vibe I was experiencing from my coworkers and colleagues...

dgsevier

After finally providing everyone laptops and blackberries, because of their connection convenience, my company now dissuades users from bringing them to meetings because they are distracting. I guess it depends on the user: addict=CPA, gamer=toy, worker=tool.

templar

I agree with JGlessner on this one. It isn't what we're doing that makes it rude (or CPA), it's why we're doing it. As Linda Stone says, "Continuous partial attention and multi-tasking are two different attention strategies, motivated by different impulses."

So the key difference isn't whether we are talking to people or dealing only with computers--it is the motivation behind our actions. I could be switching between two computers and blackberry because I am obsessed about not missing anything, or I could be trying to optimize productivity--thus opening up more time for other things.

I'll admit the difference is subtle and maybe a bit sketchy, but I would summarize it thus:

Are you checking all your devices in order to accomplish a specific task? You're multitasking.

Are you checking them for the sake of checking them, just on the chance that something might come up? You're wasting time.

Dan

Ok I'm calling BS on this. I am a Sysadmin (also the IT Manager coincidentally) for the one of the largest electrical contractors in California (think we-build-almost-every-major-project-in-our-town-and-in-most-of-the-state big).

I am paid specifically to pay attention to that "crackberry" pretty much all the time. I have all of my monitoring software set to email me when something bad happens, and when the owner of the company calls my (company paid for) cell phone, he doesn't care what I'm doing, he expects me to answer it.

Is it rude to others around me? Slightly. No more so than other things that half the world does (talking loudly, being obnoxious, using excessive foul language, etc.), so get over it. And yeah I have that bluetooth thing sticking out of my ear because I AM that important (and yeah, with the number of calls I get from users, and sales guys making sure I got X order, or asking if I need anything else, I just plain get tired of taking it off and putting it back on).

Now that being said, there are times that I am NOT answering my phone (usually indicated by the lack of said bluetooth device sticking out of my ear), and (rarely) even times when I won't check my email.

Sometimes I need 'me time', but due to the nature of the job I do I know that is when I can get it, not every second I'm not physically at work.

My situation is kind of unique though in that I may actually be working when I walk into that coffee shop at 2pm to get something to drink, because I was in the office until 2am the night before trying to get a server working (or any of a number of other things).

Now don't get me wrong, unless you can claim similar circumstances (being on call all the time, and working like 16 hour days), then half of the behavior described above is just douchebaggery.

Especially if your 15. Work and your personal life are not the same thing. I am being paid to do what I am doing, and by accepting that responsibility I am providing a damn good living for my family (which is the only reason I put up with it).

jglessner

My name is David. And I am a CPA-holic.

*CUE AUDIENCE*: Hello, David.

The worst thing is that at my job I am literally on the phone all day with a wireless headset (attached to a land-line) and my other coworkers always have to start every conversation with me by saying "Are you on the phone?"

Also, with the advent of the mute button, I can mute the caller and listen to them and the in-person convo at the same time. I agree with the above posters, you're more of a douchebag when you're just being inconsiderate, not when you do what you do out of necessity.

Those of you who just look at people without knowing the circumstances and judge because they're wearing a bluetooth headset, are guilty of a little douchebaggery yourselves. Speak up when someone's doing it to you, but leave the rest of us alone.

David Myers

It's not multi-tasking or "continuous partial attention". I've called it "semi-tasking" for a long time, and for good reason - short, sweet, and people understand it right away.

- poor multi-tasker but semi-tasker *par excellence*

vesuvian

Multi-tasking is for computers. Do one thing and pay full attention to it. As the zen-masters say "when eating just eat, when reading just read"

henry_the_dentist

The pyschoanalysis here is pretty laughable. People check their blackberries constantly because they are thinking "what can I gain"? Besides the fact that this has nothing to do with the desire not to miss something, it's not even remotely true.

People who constantly check their phones are motivated by things like compulsion, boredom, and in many cases an exaggerated sense of professional responsibilities. I don't think being incredibly opportunistic has a thing to do with it. Unless these are people who constantly check for really cheap airfare to Pheonix or something.

BellyFullaWine

One has to wonder if a backlash will occur between moment-to-moment device reliant individuals and those with self discipline and patience. I vote for the latter to be incorporated into our cultural mode of civility.

Many folks know to call a cell phone twice if it is urgent. Many folks already know to feel apologetic over _having_ "to take this call". The valuation of personal time over technological time, and all it's impatience, is close.

calebcharles

I think there's a difference between people using their gadgets constructively and those who possess them to show off. I despise the latter, especially when they don't know how to use the device and simply fiddle around.

cheesebubble

CPA is becoming a survival trait geared toward "hunter" modes of problem solving as opposed to "gatherer" modes that are more specific and focused. I blogged it about a year ago at:

[www.tinkerx.com]

Yeah, it can be annoying if somebody interrupts a conversation for a call or email. But that's an extreme form, and, frankly... just an example of rudeness. You can say the same thing about being too focused on a particular task, too: imagine someone who, when talking to you, didn't even look up when another person entered the conversation area, or who kept talking to you long after you've clearly become bored to death.

CPA can be a good strategy, depending on what you're up to.

TinkerX