If you aren't using instant messaging, it's time to start. n IM, as it is universally known, is a very different beast than other forms of electronic communications. IM is immediate, like a phone call, but it's also text, like e-mail. Also like e-mail, IM is amenable to multitasking. Unlike a telephone call, though, IM lets you politely interleave messages with other work, typing a few lines to a friend and then writing another paragraph on that annual report. You can even carry out multiple IM conversations at the same time, each in its own window. IM is a mixed blessing, but it's a tool that you're better off harnessing than ignoring.

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