# Present And Accounted For: The Cellphone Free Zone

- Link: https://chatterblast.com/blog/present-and-accounted-for-the-cellphone-free-zone/
- Published: 2015-01-27T16:00:52-05:00
- Author: Matthew Ray

I”ve been thinking a lot lately about being **_present _**— not only in the form
of _physical_ attendance, but in making sure that we bring our full _mental_ capacities
along with us when we’re sharing thoughts, ideas or feelings.

Being present should be easy, but have you tried it recently? It actually requires
the sharpening of listening skills, a focus of attention and an _elimination of 
certain distractions_. This is a wide-spread problem. [The Pope is even talking about it](http://www.cnet.com/news/pope-stop-swearing-get-off-your-gadgets-and-talk-to-each-other/).

For most of us, in this day and age, the majority of these distractions pop up in
the form of news feeds or little red notification bubbles on our **iPhones **and**
MacBooks**. At ChatterBlast especially, it’s our passion, expertise, means of making
a living and even our _addiction_ to keep up with the conversation in the social
sphere. _It’s just what we do_.

And while we’re all fortunate enough to be _blessed_ with these beyond exceptional
skills, knowledge and obsession in all things social media, we can sometimes be 
_cursed_ with the lack of ability to turn it off.

We can”t get enough of it. _We’re trained to be **tuned in** at all times_.

I can be the first here to admit it — like all of us, I am guilty of becoming addicted
to the update — _needing_ to jump on my phone or laptop every five minutes to ensure
I’m not missing out. **_FOMO_**, right? How many times have you had me in a meeting
or brainstorm and I haven”t looked up from my keyboard? Or caught me picking up 
my phone every five minutes to ensure I”ve seen the latest story on **Snapchat**
or hot take on **Twitter**? We all do it — but frankly it’s _rude_, and more importantly,
_it isn”t allowing us to do our best work_.

So, while we remain present _physically _at these meetings, our devices have hindered
our ability to be present _mentall_y. Because of this, we’re doing our team, clients
and partners a huge disservice. Accordingly, like my decision to stop using deodorant
[best online casino](http://www.nbso.ca/) with aluminum, I am going to make a _big_
and hopefully _healthier _change…

After much discussion with **Evan**, we”ve decided that our only course of action
to address the issue at hand will be a _strong_ but _silent_ one! To help with this
situation and enhance our _presence_ on all fronts, we are going to be **BAN **the
following items from the large conference room: _cellphones, laptops, Kindles, iPads,
and other electronic devices_. This will apply to any meetings, conferences, chit-
chats, speeches, gatherings, summits, one-on-ones or dialogues.

It will be like old-fashioned meetings where you MUST look at the rest of the team
and interact with them. _Anyone remember those?!_

Vaguely.

We are creating out own little _conference room time machine_ that we can enter 
to bring those back — and while we _love_ to give our clients up-to-the-minute service,
we can certainly hold the flood back for an hour or so. We also believe that this
will allow for **_increased clarity_**_, **quicker meetings**, **greater interaction**
and **more powerful results**_.

We have even ordered an attractive sign for outside the conference room to remind
us and our peers about this innovative development (_stay tuned for pictures_).

We are **_greatly _**looking forward to our new, yet _old_, experiences in interacting,
engaging and remaining overall **_present_** with our colleagues and clients.