JANUARY 24, 2007

       I’ve always had the mindset that I want to be accessible to friends, family and colleagues 24 hours a day.  Many of us say that but do we mean literally at any minute of the day?

       Lots of people go into work and when it’s time to punch out the thoughts of our job stay at the office.  Of course now with wireless Internet, BlackBerry devices and cellphones that isn’t quite the case for many people.  Like it or not we are reachable 24/7.  So while it seemed like a good idea at the time to say, “Give me a call whenever”, people are taking that literally and calling at 3 in the morning.

       I’m guilty of this too.  I have a colleague in Europe and I sent a text message to a cellphone at 9 p.m. local time, not realizing I’m probably waking him up halfway around the world.  But some of us are so afraid to miss a call or not reply to an e-mail fast enough that we almost developed a complex.

       All of the new gadgets and gizmos are supposed to aid us in freeing up more time and be more productive that we can get work done faster.  But is that really what’s happening?  Instead, are we not adding many more hours to our workday since we now correspond with co-workers day and night whether we are at work or not?

       I’m writing this column on an airplane right now.  It’s late evening – the time I said I wouldn’t be doing work.  But am I sitting back and enjoying the view out my window?  Of course not, I’m hammering away at the keyboard because I’m so paranoid I won’t get this done on time and when I do get back home I’ll have lots of phone calls and e-mails to return.

       Often we hear people say, “Give me five more minutes” or “I just need a bit more time”.  If we actually did have the extra time and we could do whatever we want with it, what do you think most of us would choose?  My response is that I’d do nothing.

       So despite the numerous ways for us to stay connected to our personal and business lives when we’re out and about, maybe it’s convenient but not always beneficial considering most of us would choose to be left alone if given a few more minutes in the day.