Workaholics?
August 21st 2007 20:29
Link: www.blackberry.com/
What is a Blackberry and what can it do? It’s another form of mobile phone, but with it you can access your email, text messages, your organizer, your mates and your web browser. The BlackBerry® “push” technology
automatically sends email to the BlackBerry smartphone so that the owner doesn’t have to miss a thing. And some of these smartphones include a camera, a media player, GPS, and the BlackBerry® Maps functionality.
It all sounds great, but what is it doing to our lifestyles? Is it really freeing us up or making us work harder, later and in those times when we should be doing recreational things - like spending time with our family.
A new Sensis report which surveyed 1800 small and medium-sized businesses and another 1500 private consumers found that 4 out of 10 people responded to business emails out of work hours most of the time. But most of them weren’t sure whether this was because they were workaholics, or whether they were making use of the technology to catch up in odd moments - or whether they were addicted to the machine. 3 in 10 people said they found getting emails out of work hours intrusive, and calls related to business were even more so.
Yet many people refuse to turn these devices off, even at the weekend. I’ve seen it happening in reality. One relative of mine works for himself, so in a sense all hours are available as work hours. And that’s just the trouble. His little machine goes off far too often in his wife and family’s view.
Is it workaholism, or addiction? More to the point, is it necessary? Won’t the emails wait? Do people have to call each other out of work time?
In his blog in the Melbourne Age online, Leon Gettler argues that these machines aren’t actually connecting us, they’re taking over our lives. They’re rather like neighbours who are forever sitting in our kitchen, drinking our beer.
He asks his readers the following questions: How addictive do you find the technology? Do you check your emails and text messages during dinner? Do you work with people who do that? Or has it helped you create a better balance?
I’d be interested to hear from my readers as to what they feel, too.
It all sounds great, but what is it doing to our lifestyles? Is it really freeing us up or making us work harder, later and in those times when we should be doing recreational things - like spending time with our family.
A new Sensis report which surveyed 1800 small and medium-sized businesses and another 1500 private consumers found that 4 out of 10 people responded to business emails out of work hours most of the time. But most of them weren’t sure whether this was because they were workaholics, or whether they were making use of the technology to catch up in odd moments - or whether they were addicted to the machine. 3 in 10 people said they found getting emails out of work hours intrusive, and calls related to business were even more so.
Yet many people refuse to turn these devices off, even at the weekend. I’ve seen it happening in reality. One relative of mine works for himself, so in a sense all hours are available as work hours. And that’s just the trouble. His little machine goes off far too often in his wife and family’s view.
Is it workaholism, or addiction? More to the point, is it necessary? Won’t the emails wait? Do people have to call each other out of work time?
In his blog in the Melbourne Age online, Leon Gettler argues that these machines aren’t actually connecting us, they’re taking over our lives. They’re rather like neighbours who are forever sitting in our kitchen, drinking our beer.
He asks his readers the following questions: How addictive do you find the technology? Do you check your emails and text messages during dinner? Do you work with people who do that? Or has it helped you create a better balance?
I’d be interested to hear from my readers as to what they feel, too.
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Comment by David
The communication age has taught us (empowered us?) to avoid communicating with real humans in real time in a real manner. Basically the communication age has brought an end to communication in terms of what human communication is per-se and was created or designed to achieve.
It appears to suit most people. Reality frightens them too much.
Comment by Mike Crowl
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