"Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense." -- Gertrude Stein, early 20th century American writer. "Men have become the tools of their tools." -- Henry David Thoreau, 19th century American poet and philosopher. No doubt about it: modern technology has made us ultra-productive—and many people invariably pack more work into whatever time they save. But all too often we soon hit a point of diminishing returns, where our techno-saviors end up driving us to distraction and stealing our personal time. Electronic tools worsen this tendency because they kindle an urge for instant gratification. Think about it your thought process when you receive an email. You want to look at it right away, because if you don’t, you’ll continually wonder who's emailing … [Read more...]