FocusBerry

I hate it when I am talking to someone and they keep on looking down at their Blackberry, iPhone, Treo or whatever gizmo device they are using to be 24/7 connected.

Unless he/she is an on-call doctor, which most business people are not, one does not really need to be disrespectful and look down at their device every three minutes.

I learned this the hard way. I was never one of those people (I hope!) that looked down at my phone every two minutes when I was one on one with someone. But I would check it in larger meetings when I thought nobody was looking or cared.

Wrong.

We had a sales retreat a couple of months ago and while I thought I was 100% present, some of staff members mentioned to me that they felt my focus was elsewhere. I asked where – and I got the answer I dreaded. My phone!

I felt terrible and stopped checking it in meetings immediately.

Jim Rohn, a great business philosopher says, “Wherever you are, be there.” That means if you are in a conversation with one person, 10 people, or more, just say no to your online connection and focus on the conversation at hand.

The people who are talking to you will appreciate it and you’ll be a better person because of it.