Roland Pujol’s life leapt from fast-paced to warp
speed one moment 16 months ago. The moment occurred when
the New York based reporter purchased the latest in the recent
trend of Personal Digital Assistants: the Treo Smartphone.
This act instantly merged the distinction between his professional
life and his personal life. Now, he is available (and accountable)
at any given moment of the day.
The Treo may be small enough to fit in the palm of one’s
hand, yet its appearances are deceiving. With one tiny keypad,
one is able to access e-mail, surf the Internet, write reports,
take pictures, and, with the right peripherals, play videos
and MP3 audio files.
For Pujol, such mobile versatility broadened not only what
he could do, but when he could do it. At amNY, the largest-circulated
daily newspaper within Manhattan, Pujol assigns reporters
to cover events and happenings around the city, requiring
him to constantly monitor the news and be able to quickly
react to it.
“There is no such thing as down time for me anymore,
and that's fine,” says Pujol. “If I'm waiting
in line at the grocery store, I can use that time productively
by catching up on reading, getting in touch with reporters
if a story idea occurs to me, and doing much of what I can
do with my laptop back at home.”
The Treo, which is made by Palm, is among the growing wave
of technology that boosts the output of workers and increases
the bottom line for corporations. While “smart productivity” is
still quite a loosely defined term, it typically refers to
high-tech advancements that allow businesses to increase
their profits without the addition of more workers.
Treos, BlackBerrys, and other smartphones and PDAs are increasingly
popular because they allow employees to work from anywhere
- at home, on the train, or in a beach chair while vacationing,
are typical examples. Many business owners and CEOs rejoice
at this kind of productivity. Pujol himself admits that owning
a PDA has meant more work has crept into his life when he’s
out of the office. Yet for him, it’s a situation
that he readily accommodates.
“I'm a news junkie, and love my job, so while it's
true that this phone has eaten into my leisure time, that
really doesn't bother me because I'm truly having fun,” says
the 33-year-old urbanite.
While smart productivity has been a mostly positive development
for career-driven people like Pujol, not everyone is convinced
that the constant work that new technology allows is such
a benefit.
The percentage number of Americans who admitted that they
checked work e-mail or voice mail while on vacation rose
from 16% in 2005 to 23% this past year, according to a survey
by Expedia and Harris Interactive. This increase has some
researchers concerned.
Gayle Porter of Rutgers University recently co-authored
a paper that examines the effect of mobile technology on
the lives of workaholic employees. She says that using devices
to work around the clock isn’t healthy, no matter how
trendy it may be.
“People can become addicted to work and also addicted
to technology, so people whose work requires use of technology
are more vulnerable,” Porter said in a recent interview
with the Paramus Post of New Jersey. “Not everyone
who heavily uses technology is addicted, but some people
are not able to draw the line and let it take over too
much of their lives.”
Added Diane Halpern, director of the Berger Institute for
Work, Family and Children, in an interview with the Post: “Technology
works both ways. For some people who are able to put limits
on how much they use it, it can be a helpful tool. Just because
someone checks e-mail on vacation doesn't make them a workaholic.”
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