Editor’s Note: when chatting with Eric about the title, I learned that this was a saying his father (a police officer) would use to reference the dangerous issue of young drivers being easily distracted.  The real phrase is, “young, dumb and distracted.” We euphemized it a bit for the post title. We all know that distractions and driving don’t mix.  Neither as it turns out do distractions and interviews or jobs. -Art

Eric Rodriguez is the voice of The Millennial View here at Management Excellence. You can follow Eric on Twitter @mvieweric for more on the millennial perspective.

Millennials love communication and technology. It’s one of our greatest strengths and it gives us an invaluable skill to present to employers and teach to others.

Sometimes stories surface on Millennials who become easily distracted with this talent causing them to lose focus on what really matters – their careers.

One example that illustrates this point was when my aunt, the vice-president of a large insurance company, was conducting a final round of interviews for an entry level position two summers ago. The last candidate she interviewed that day was a twenty-something named Derek (name changed for privacy) and he was acing every question in the interview.

My aunt was impressed and was certain that he was the right person for the job, but that feeling changed when Derek brought out his phone in the middle of a question and started to text.

“Excuse me, what are you doing?” my aunt said.

Derek kept his eyes on his phone clicking the buttons with his thumbs, “I’m multitasking,” he said with a smile.

Guess what?

My aunt and the HR Manager didn’t appreciate Derek’s “multitasking” and they hired a candidate who took the interview seriously and kept their hands off their phone.

Derek’s story made me realize that sometimes my generation (myself included) can get a little distracted by the many methods of communication and technology that are available to us. There’s Google Chat, social media, games, apps, texting, and computers at our desks and in our pockets that could keep us “multitasking” for an entire work day.

If our multitasking includes things that aren’t work related, it’s not multitasking; it’s wasting our time and potential.

As Millennials and professionals we need to keep technology and communication use that doesn’t relate to our jobs at a minimum because if we don’t there will be consequences. One of my friends had a colleague who was recently let go from their job because they were running an eBay business on company time.

This individual displayed carless behavior and if they would have waited until they got home to check their account they would still have a job. Millennials should avoid behavior like this and make workplace priorities the primary goal.

There are many Millennials who have great work ethics and take steps to make sure that they are not wasting time at work so they can meet their career goals. Some Millennials make a list of tasks that need to get done, others check their Facebook at lunch, some only respond to texts if it’s an emergency, and one friend slips her smartphone inside a desk drawer so she’s not tempted to use it.

The Millennials who manage their time wisely are going to be the new leaders of tomorrow because their priorities are focused on their careers and not on their social life – while they’re at work that is.

There’s a time and a place for everything, but the workplace is not the place for things that are not related to a career. By engaging in unnecessary activities some Millennials are setting themselves up for professional failure.

Think before you text, check Twitter, or reach for Doodle Jump because this behavior can lead to nothing good in the workplace. Staying focused and managing time well are the steps to a productive and fulfilling career.