You know that guy in the meeting who’s always toggling back to social mediaOpens a new window sites on his laptop when the discussion takes too long, or he isn’t directly involved? Apparently there’s a cure for that.
A recent New York Times reviewOpens a new window  featured a new book published by author Nir Eyal about how to break screen addiction. Eyal, who in 2014 wrote a book called HookedOpens a new window about how to get people addicted to online products in the first place, seems to be a surprising source precisely for cutting the habit he once advocated.
His hypothesis might also seem a little glib given his previous work: Eyal’s analysis is that social media is an individual problem, that addiction is a real disorder that shouldn’t be applied to internet overuse and that shaking the habit is a matter of personal responsibility.
It also begs the question: Is it true? Aside from some useful tips for asserting personal responsibility in social media use, like creating an “accountability partner†who can see your screen during meetings (that means no more checking Facebook when proceedings slow down), Eyal’s book is about giving favor to the individual over the collective.
But what if the company as a whole was committed to reducing screen addiction?
Our reliance on technology in the workplace has brought undoubted benefits but it also has fragmented our thoughtsOpens a new window and compromised our ability to concentrate. There are good reasons for companies to encourage taking a few steps to cut back on screen time without reducing productivity.
One laptop at a time, please
There’s often no reason why everyone at a meeting has to have a laptop in view. If people are working on a collective document or a schedule, it usually suffices to have one person entering the information into an online management system.
If the ‘designated laptop person’ rotates with each meeting while the rest attend simply with a pad and pen, you can boost the chances that people will really listen to each other and engage rather than jumping to websites for a quick distraction.
The screen is not the center of the world
Often when organizing office space, the center of the desk is reserved for a computer or a laptop. By switching the organization slightly to make something else the center of the desk and keeping the laptop to the side sends a strong message about expectations for the workplace.
True, it may be that employees have their computer in front of them most of the time, but by organizing desks initially so they aren’t computer-centric, you’re letting it be known that a person not in front of her or his computer can still be engaged in productive work.
Make the tools available
When equipping employees with office computers, install one of the productivity apps that allows them to block certain sites for periods of time or designate how much time each day they can spend on specific sites. Don’t predetermine that amount of time or which sites employees can visit — that’s an overreach that indicates a lack of trust.
But do install the programs and have a training session on how to use them so that employees can decide for themselves if they want to block a certain website for a certain amount of time.
Often when given the opportunity to decide for themselves, people don’t necessarily say they want to spend time on social media. Like any addiction, it’s a habit, and there are tools out there to help break it.
Helping them do that may well be helping your organisation’s productivity — and your staff’s well-being.