On will power and constant contact
This week I got into a friendly argument with my supervising faculty attorney at the legal clinic. His stance: having a cell phone makes you a tool of The Man (being, in his words, Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, I said Eric Schmidt was more like it in my case). His point was that having a phone, always at your side, especially with work email enabled, means you’re a slave to someone. You’re always reachable and therefore always expected to jump to answer, talk, connect, respond. Despite the fact that students, clients, and other faculty need to reach my supervisor often when he’s not in the office, he disclaimed owning a cell phone.
I didn’t take issue with the idea that having a device that lets you check in (and thereby check out) any and everywhere blurs the line between work and non-work. It is really hard not to take just one more minute to respond to the boss, whether to get her off your back or to prove you’re “working” at 2:00 am. What’s missing to me from this argument, though, is the admission that being connected can really make you more efficient. Knowing that I can respond to a quick question or submit an assignment from anywhere is what gives me the luxury to head out on a sunny afternoon with my daughter, or enjoy the longer walk with my dog.
The problem is not the technology, the problem is will power. We’ve always had to decide how much work to leave at work, how many relationships to cordon off for nine to five or weekends only. It’s true that there is some selling out involved in buying a pricey cell phone contract and committing to a proprietary piece of hardware. But once the device is in hand, it’s not inherently evil. It just takes some self discipline to know when not to twitch at every blinking notification light or tiny vibration. At least that’s what I tell myself. And, since my supervisor fessed up to owning a cell phone so I could contact him about important developments in a case, I would guess he would agree.