Waking to check mail? You're not alone
One in three can't make it through the night
One in three mobile workers wake regularly during the night to check their email, while 40 per cent will interrupt a meeting to answer a call.
They used to say that if you couldn't sleep the night without breaking for a cigarette then you were properly addicted, and by that token over 30 per cent of mobile workers surveyed by iPass are truly addicted to their connectivity. Nearly half admitted being unable to sleep without a smartphone within reach.
Just under a third reported that their constant use of technologies upset their domestic partner; but we have to acknowledge that a proportion will be single, and others will have lost the social skills necessary to notice that a physically present person was upset.
The obsession with connectivity started when people started mistaking the first response for the best response - creating a race in which executives who got their response in first were considered superior to those who had thought over the question for a while.
Anyone who has found themselves standing in front of a Power Point slide addressing a room full of people lost in the world of the BlackBerry will know how annoying it is, but apparently that doesn't stop the behaviour. While 80 per cent of those surveyed said they found using a smartphone during a meeting unacceptable, more than 40 per cent admitted they did it.
The vast majority of respondents to the iPass survey (pdf, lots more details and some advice for IT departments) are aged 35-55, which is a shame as the next generation seem slightly less obsessed with always being available. To Generation X a ringing telephone must be answered, but today's youth seem much less concerned with being at the beck and call of everyone who knows one's number or online identity.
We can only hope so, 'cos waking up every few hours to check email might not be as dangerous as waking up for a fag, but it's still going to kill you eventually. ®
COMMENTS
easy solution
Set your phone not to notify you of incoming texts and e-mails between 10pm and 7am. Sorted.
Answering a call during a meeting is not proof we are too connected - like having a wank in a meeting it's just sheer fucking bad manners and proof, if it were needed, that people have no idea how to behave in public or business environments these days.
Sadder than I thought
I knew a few people were this tragic but had no idea so many would be this rude, inconsiderate and downright addicted to their work.
15 years into my career only a few people have ever got my Mobile number (they try literally every week) and once I leave the office I've made it clear I stop caring. If someone calls when I'm driving I don't answer because it's not just an offence (at last) but incredibly stupid.
Conversely someone here just spent 20 mins on Tuesday "at the side of the road with his clutch and break pedals pressed" on the phone about work (someone just wanted another telephone number off him which then turned into waffle).
It was 7:30am and he was 5 mins drive FROM work.
I don't respect workaholics or those willing to sacrifice all of their personal life for meaningless calls and emails: I at most pity them because they have lost all perspective.
Instant Gratification
This all comes down to the philosophy of our "instant gratification society". Issues cannot take time to repair anymore...they need to be repaired within -10 seconds of when they occur.
It's BECAUSE of management that we have this extremely ridiculous idea that there is no such thing as downtime. Everybody is supposed to be working all the time, and even outside of your normal hours, your work environment travels with you, and your employer claims to own your ass.
People need to THINK more before acting/reacting. Taking that short bit of time will help clear your mind to properly tackle any issue.
It's actually a LACK of philosophy that contributes to this "first response" mentality that isn't really needed in professions outside emergency services. But, if you don't respond quickly enough, we'll find one in some sweat shop overseas....oh wait, they're already doing that.....right, because corporations are people too!
LOOK new icons!!!!!
A woman I dated...
Would stop during love-making to reply to text messages.
Amazingly enough, she couldn't understand why it was a problem and subsequently why I was dumping her.
What?
There's a difference between "conscientious about his job" and "has no sense of what must be dealt with right now and what can wait until Monday".
But, hey, I guess I now know the handle of at least one IT manager who posts on the Reg. Must remember that next time I'm looking for a laugh.
