Check your blackberry in bed?

Could the constant attacks on our attention span perhaps also damage our ability to maintain long-term, monogamous relationships? It's not really news that the same devices that claim to increase our productivity can have a similarly detrimental impact. Like anything else in the world, moderation is generally advised. Some additional musings by an older Time article, "Help! I've Lost My Focus" led me to wonder if our decreased attention spans might affect more than just our productivity.

"What sort of toll is all this disruption and mental channel switching taking on our ability to think clearly, work effectively and function as healthy human beings?

I bet "continuous partial attention" (one of Harvard Business Reviews "Breakthrough Ideas" of 2007) has already altered the way we view friendships, relationships, and our social life. I find myself trying to speak with more than one person almost constantly, wondering about another subject and changing topics. Just as I rarely am able to read 100 pages in one sitting anymore, I am also less likely to be able to maintain a conversation about one topic for more than 5 minutes.

As in most things, it is always nice to know that someone else is worse off than you. One patient asked her psychiatrist whether it was "abnormal that her husband brings the Blackberry to bed and lays it next to them while they make love."

Is it only a matter of time until multitasking infringes on our long sacred notion of the bedroom as refuge from the unwieldy demands of our professional lives?

"What do you mean 'why am I checking my e-mail? I told you this isn't my favorite position and I have a report due tomorrow."