Cutline Speaks

The Email Voice

posted by Morgan on November 17, 2008

After I arrived at my desk this morning, I picked up a call from a friend. While I was talking with her, I also responded to an IM from a different friend online. Here's how the conversation with my friend on the phone continued at that moment:

Friend: Morgan, are you there?

Me: Um,yes

Friend: What are you doing?

Me: Oh, sorry. Nothing. I mean. I'm IMing with someone

Friend: I can tell. Thanks.

The funny thing about this incident was 30 minutes prior to this conversation, I read about what is called an "e-mail voice" in a New York Times column about multitasking, which described being on the phone with someone and then - all of a sudden - that person becomes disengaged in the conversation and the "e-mail voice" kicks-in. After I got caught doing the "e-mail voice" I revisited the column. From there, I landed on a fascinating four part series on NPR.com, which uses scientific data to prove that humans can't multitask.

When I was growing up we had a rule in our house that we weren't allowed to watch TV or answer the phone during dinner. At the time I thought my mother was doing us disservice to our childhood. Now, I realize that she was trying to teach us a lesson so that we wouldn't ever use the "e-mail voice". If you have a few minutes (and you're not multitasking), take a look at the data from the NPR piece. You might rethink your own "e-mail voice."

Tags for this post: pr