Work Life Balance and the Not So Smart Phone

I rolled into the office on time one Monday, parking my bicycle next to my cube. A colleague walked in behind me, laboring with her portable office. "You didn't reply to the e-mail I sent you" she stated matter-of-factly as she hefted the luggage into her cube. "When did you send it?" I asked. She exhaled noisily, and said "Ehhh.. Saturday night!". I put on my perplexed face, and asked "I just got in, how could I have answered your e-mail already?".

And thus the morning's dramatic dialog began. You don't check your e-mail on the weekend? No. What if something important happens? You can call my cell. How do you keep up with your work? I work while I'm in the office, and enjoy my family when I'm home. There's no cost to you to get a smart phone, and you won't have to carry the laptop! Yes there is, the cost is in the quality of my life. I wish I could do that! You can, you just don't. I could never do that! I have important work. I have an important life. We have to get you a Blackberry!No we don't, I won't use it.

This same person who sent me an e-mail on a weekend and anxiously awaited my reply had related that her husband also would work while at home. Many evenings they'd sit on the sofa watching television, and be instant messaging each other as they worked and watched their nightly shows. While their elbows were touching. That to me was incomprehensible. For a short period, I began to feel guilt, and thought that maybe I should succumb to the pressure and get connected like everyone else. Sometimes in meetings, I'd be singled-out as the lone hold out who refuses to get ... read the rest of this post by clicking here.