By Steve Adubato, PhD

Recently, two parents took their eleven-year-old son to the hospital for a stress test on his heart. As the doctor was reading the test results his beeper went off. He immediately asked the nurse/technician in charge to call his office. The doctor then proceeded to have a conversation with his office involving another patient case while reading the EKG results. At several points, while the doctor was talking with his office staff, the nurse running the EKG equipment thought the doctor was talking to her and vice versa. This confusing, not to mention annoying, communication went on for several minutes until the doctor was confronted by one of the parents. Ultimately, the doctor apologized but explained that he was "very busy" and continued that he often felt the need to "multi-task" because his plate was so full.

Doctors aren't alone. All of us multi-task, but rarely do we think about the consequences of our actions or the impact multi-tasking has on the quality of our communication and the quality of our relationships with others. In the previous example, it is clear that the doctor was more prone to engage in miscommunication involving either or both medical cases because of his multi-tasking. His level of concentration was not what it needed to be. He was simply not present and that can be dangerous.

Beyond medicine, consider some ways we multi-task and the impact it has on our every day communication:

• Conversing on the phone while checking e-mail or surfing the Web. How many of us are guilty of this? While you think you are being productive, you run the risk of missing valuable pieces of information. Further, the nuance or subtleties of interpersonal communication often get lost unless you are truly concentrating on this single task. Simple advice; keep your computer screen off while talking on the phone because the temptation to use it is too great.

• Working your palm-pilot or reviewing reading material while participating in a meeting. Meetings can be boring and you may be justified by multi-tasking in this way. But again, important opportunities to contribute to the meeting's goals and communicate your views will be missed while your attention is diverted.

• Going through a mental "to do" list while in a face to face conversation with a professional colleague or family member. Make a decision to be present. Commit to the conversation and raise the bar for your interpersonal communication. Fight the urge to go on "automatic pilot" and fake it. In most cases, the person you are speaking with will see that you are not present and become frustrated, or even worse, mentally shut down.

• Engaging in a work related conference call on a cell phone while driving in heavy traffic. (I've been guilty of this one!) Even if you are using your speakerphone or hands-free device, it is really risky to digitally dial a number on your cell phone when driving. Therefore, if you have to communicate via cell phone, pull off to the side of the road, particularly if the call's content is important. You will find that your communication is much better when you do this.

• Watching TV or listening to the radio (with all those annoying commercials) while going over important work-related material or a student doing homework or reading course material. Concentration is the key to more effective communication, both verbal and written.

How do you feel multi-tasking is impacting on your communication? Write to me.