Opinion

Picking blackberrys

IT | John Tate | 26 Apr 2010

Nothing in life is more compelling than the next email, finds John Tate – not even feeding the cat. 

So I have finally succumbed. I have got a Blackberry. For the few readers who do not know what a Blackberry is, here is a brief description.

It is an electronic device, in my case coloured black, a little smaller than a pack of playing cards, which allows you to receive and send emails whenever you are in range of a phone signal. It also stores your contacts and calendar which it will synchronise with your desktop system and can act as a mobile phone in its own right.

It has the capacity to be very useful, particularly when you are on the move, as you can maintain email communication wherever you are. However there is a catch – as it
tempts you to work at all times of day and night.

I am one week into receiving my Blackberry Curve and am appreciating the dangers that lurk within. My pre/post Blackberry daily schedule looks something like the table below.

The new routine is not all good. It has affected me, my colleagues at work, my wife and my cat.

I get over 200 emails a day and if you assume the bulk of them come in over the c. 16 hours I am awake that is on average one email each five minutes. If I check an email as soon as I get it, this pretty well messes up my ability to do one thing alone for any length of time.

So I am doing some learning – here are some observations:

1. Your life will continue if you do not check emails for an hour. I have started to switch my Blackberry off when I am in the office and after I get home at night. (Alright, not 100 per cent but at least for some of the time).
2. People do actually realise that you are checking/replying to emails when you are in a meeting and often do not like this – so unless there is something really urgent going on, do not do this.
3. Accountants need to remind themselves that other human beings quite like to actually meet each other and chat and we need to try hard to remember this is our daily lives. Email does not replace this.
4. I am not good at multi-tasking.
5. Replying to emails as soon as you get them is not always a good idea. Take time to mull over issues and think about them before you press the send button.

Over the next month I am going to try and get the Blackberry/life balance right. Help is at hand – if needed via the web. There are many support forums and, if needed, addiction support groups to help. If I use the technology correctly it will be a good thing I think – and my cat is starting lose weight which is definitely a positive.

John Tate is an IT analyst in the charity sector and founder of Citra 

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