Most of us have a smartphone in our pocket, and most of us have been known to use it for work from time to time. The theory is that owning a smartphone makes us more connected and more productive, but studies have shown that always-on, always-connected mentality drains us and eventually makes us less productive. So we ask you: Does your smartphone help you be more productive and get more things done, or are you happy to set the “leash” to silent when you leave the office every day?
The days when employers issued smartphones to their critical employees are ending — not because they don’t need to get a hold of you at 3am because someone plugged a USB drive into a server and then tried to reboot it (Sysadmins everywhere know this particular pain), but because most of us already have a smartphone in our pocket and our employers have the number. We access our work email on our phones, catch up on messages during our commutes and check in on work before bed — some of us feel like we have to just to be good employees.
That behaviour may make your boss happy for a while, but it’s far from sustainable. Staying that connected can be pretty rough on you, and the Harvard Business Review notes that in the long-term you’re actually less productive because of it. We’ve suggested ways to compensate, from giving up push notifications on your phone so you don’t respond to every ping like a trained animal to reminding you to stop working at night and go the f**k home, but what about you? Is your smartphone a joy to use every day, or is it just another means your boss can get a hold of you during dinner with the family or before your alarm goes off? Do you feel like your smartphone is a productivity asset or a professional burden you have to bear? Let us know in the comments.
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