There is no doubt that
everybody with social media and new smart devices have gained a completely new
world with a numerous possibilities for getting information and communication
with who ever they want to get in contact with on any time in any geography.
When you suddenly reach a level where you live and work 24/7 on your smart
device getting tons of information and communication, from the Social Media
private as well as business, will that give you as an individual a better work
life balance,
and will you be more
productive in your work?
Research has been published
arguing that people who “take time off” from the social media and leave their smart
devices disconnected at night feel more satisfied with their job, compared to
people who stays on 24/7. A natural thing which happens when you are on 24/7 is
that you believe that you should be able to answer all incoming “questions”
private as well as business wise immediately. This creates a stress factor
giving the individual the impression that he/she can not fulfill his/her duties
private and business wise without always being connected. This feeling can lead
to a decrease in working moral. Your costumers do not understand that you can
not fulfill their demands and privately you will continue to not being able to
absorb the information which you reach every day from your friends and the one
you follow on the social media - a stress- full situation can occur. The new Social World and the smart devices have managed to blur the boundaries between work and private life to make their work life balance out of balance.
Harvard Business School professor Leslie Perlow´s research in the phenomena of
“how to break the 24/7 habit and change the way you work[1]”. Her conclusion is that enterprises need to help their
employees to unplug. She gets to the point that employees have to work smarter
not blindly faster. I am sure that Leslie Perlow are right in the way that we
need to get time off from our work to be more productive, but the problem is
that our working and private life are melting together due to the fact that we
work and communicate privately with the same smart device 24/7. We have reached
a situation where we as private and on work are living in the “fast lane” and
since everyone is doing it, it’s considered acceptable we need to change the
way we work and the way we act on the social media privately. As a trial talk
to your family and agree to shutdown all your smart devices tonight – you may
feel the benefits in the morning both on your work but also on the private
front!
[1] Sleeping
with your Smartphone : How to break the 24/7 habit and change the way you work,
publication date May 29, 2012
