Communication Reflection

On Saturday, October 1, I chose to pay attention to how I communicate with others.  I analyzed what I said to my friends and the people I came in contact with, how I said, what form of communication I used, and if anything was "said" non-verbally.  I primarily used texting, face-to-face, and phone calls as my forms of communication. 

Not surprisingly the majority of my communication on Saturday was conducted through text messaging.  The range of this method of communication is staggering.  It allowed me to do everything from plan my Saturday, have a conversation with my friend about his new girl-friend, to have my mom send me pictures of my baby brother.  The biggest advantage to text messaging is its ease.  I am able to send and receive text messages while doing almost anything.  I was texting my friend as I was eating lunch and doing homework.  I planned my Saturday night activities as I was showering and getting dressed.  Texting is not without its downsides.  The biggest problem is that it is impossible to convey tone and meaning through text alone.  This is an especially large problem for me.  I happen to be very sarcastic person and a large portion of my jokes are based on sarcasm.  This can cause some miscommunication and some awkward moments, especially when texting someone new.  I have known my friend for almost ten years, so he is able to understand my true meaning.  I did not have any problems with this on Saturday, but I have in the past.   

Phone calls allow you to convey tone, and are generally a more professional means of communication.  They also allow for a greater level of detail in a shorter amount of time.  When I had to communicate with Sergeant First Class Vildosola to go over training for the upcoming week I called him.  Texting would not have allowed us to convey the level of detail we needed, and is also not professional. 

To get away from communicating with people I did an hour of homework without my phone or laptop.  It was much easier to get work done without having my phone buzz every few minutes, or check Facebook after every problem.  After the hour I kept my phone and laptop away from myself for a few more minutes in order to finish my work in the relative peace.  I will most likely do this again, especially when I have a large amount of work to get done.