BlackBerry: Blessing or Curse?

Last week, I was one of the millions of BlackBerry users that spent a few hours cursing their BlackBerry because it wasn’t receiving emails. Once I found out that it was RIM’s fault, I was one of millions cursing RIM for the service outage (yet again).

And that got me thinking.

For all of us that rely on this device to keep us connected, is our BlackBerry a blessing or a curse?


Let’s count our Blessings…

• Our Blackberry lets us know what’s going on. In today’s age, immediate information is a key for success. With the correct information in our hands sooner, we are able to make better decisions quicker.
• We are in the office when we’re out of the office. We don’t have to be tied down to a desk to get ‘work’ done. We can be at lunch, waiting for an appointment, be getting dressed in the morning or walking around our company, and be constantly aware of what is going on. We can even be at the beach half way around the world, and still be ‘working’.
• Our calendar (when synced with our desktop) allows us to always know what our schedule is, who we are meeting, where and when.
• I particularly enjoy the Instant messaging application between BlackBerry’s. It has taken the concept of IM and turned it truly anywhere.

Now for the Curses…

• We always know what’s going on. Wouldn’t it be nice to take a break sometime?
• We are always in the office. Wouldn’t it be nice to spend time with other people (especially the people we love) and give them our full attention, showing them that they are important? Wouldn’t it be nice to take a real vacation?
• We always have the day planned. An unplanned day once in a while wouldn’t be so terrible. It would give us time to think.
• Personally, IM’ing while in the bathroom isn’t much better than taking a phone call while in there.
  

What’s the solution?

The BlackBerry is a great tool, although it’s not nicknamed the CrackBerry for nothing. It can be very addictive. As a user, you have the power to make it helpful, and not have it take over your life.

Some employers have instituted rules regarding BlackBerry usage off hours to take into account Work Life Balance issues. See here for a recent article in the news.

While I agree with the idea that BlackBerry usage should not intrude on personal time, creating rules for employees may be a bit much.

A few years ago I went to a remote cottage with my children, and one of the great ideas behind this vacation was that there was no cell phone coverage. This way I wouldn’t be able to check messages and it would force me to relax. As I was exploring the area near the cottage, I was on top of a rocky ledge overlooking the lake, and my BlackBerry started buzzing. I spent the next few days standing at the top of that ledge with my BlackBerry held high, looking like I was the Statue of Liberty.

Since then I’m a bit better with my BlackBerry. I’m turning the vibrate option off more often, and turning it off completely more often too. Being at my child’s birthday party or having dinner with my wife does not need me checking my emails every 2 minutes.

In the end, you are in charge of how you spend your time. A BlackBerry can give you more control of your time, and can be a useful tool to allow you to achieve better Work Life Balance. But if you find that the device is changing the balance to more Work and less Life, it’s time to turn it off more often.