Fight ‘brain drain’ - productivity isn’t always work

David Willaims, at least, calls it “flight induced brain drain,” and when he says it he means something slightly different than the definition listed in Wikipedia.

The New York Times briefly chronicled his mental meanderings the other day, where he wonders what has happened to the brains of normally intelligent, frequently lonely people:

Recently, while I was waiting to board a flight to Los Angeles, I noticed a young professional man stealing glances at a young professional woman every time he could peel his eyes away from his BlackBerry.

As luck would have it, the woman, also an avid BlackBerry user, was seated next to me on the plane. So I stepped in, hoping to save the day, by offering my seat to this fellow. He accepted my offer, but then was too scared to mumble a “hello” during the entire three-hour flight.

It was unbelievable. I gave up my seat, gave him a shot and he didn’t make the most of it. What was he thinking? He could have at least said, “Nice BlackBerry.”

I guess the lesson here is: productivity on a flight doesn’t always mean hitting the keys. Spare your brain some grueling work-work, and spend some time talking to the people around you, or at least paying attention to what’s going on.

Maybe you’ll end up a little bit sharper at the end of the flight.