So, I have a really hard time concentrating on several things at once. I tend to tune out and ignore distractions while I'm working on something I know is important or really enjoy naturally, and the world around me has started to treat me like this is a problem. When people find out I don't keep up with Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest etc they act like I am behind the times. But the problems really start to mount up because similar "social network" situations are becoming more prevalent at work.

For example, let's say there is a project at work I am working on that I am really passionate about. I become really focused on this project and, because of it, miss emails, instant messages, and general chat messages, or even people saying my name from a few cubicles away, and people become irritated with me. Normally this just results in people finding responses to their problems on their own, which is great, but occasionally it makes somebody higher up feel I need to stay on top of my communication a bit more. There are just too many lanes of communication and one ends up at the wayside. Do I even try and keep up with it all, or just continue on as usual?