Technology Abuse Is Bad For Business

Forget showing up late for a meeting or offering up a weak handshake, what really annoys people in the workplace today is the abuse of technology.

In fact, almost half of workers are irritated by business contacts who relentlessly check their phones and emails during meetings.

Other habits which could ruin relationships in the business world include firing off LinkedIn invites to random people, emailing the person at the next desk, using capitals to emphasize a point.

If that isn't enough, it isn't just taking over at work according to WebMD it is the new epidemic :

Researchers from the University of Glasgow found that half of the study participants reported checking their email once an hour, while some individuals check up to 30 to 40 times an hour. An AOL study revealed that 59 percent of PDA users check every single time an email arrives and 83 percent check email every day on vacation.

"I live and die in email," says IT manager Christopher Post in Camp Hill, Pa. "I found a PDA to be a double-edged sword. It can certainly allow you to do a lot more in any given day, but there is certainly a cost associated. I tend to lose out on a lot of other experiences, like when I should be paying attention at the dinner table."

You've got to take back control, says Edward Hallowell, MD, author of CrazyBusy: Overbooked, Overstretched, and About to Snap! "The great thing about modern life is you can do so much," he says, "and the curse of modern life is you can do so much."

It's the new epidemic, Hallowell says. "People joke about being crazy busy. Sometimes they brag about it, like being busy is a status symbol. But they don't realize that it's as harmful for them as obesity or cigarette smoking."