Crackberry Land - Not the adult version of Candyland afterall

So, I've been meaning to tell you about the evils of BlackBerrys as I've discovered them over the past two weeks. You see, for this new job I have (yay, I'm employed! :o ) it seems that everyone who isn't an intern or a delivery guy gets a company smartphone. Initially I thought this was a great idea; me - being one who can tell you all about the latest in mobile technology, but not being one who can afford it - I was thrilled to receive a new toy to play with. After all, I'm practically addicted to my personal email and all of my favorite websites (YBF, Jossip, Facebook, CNN - no special order). So, having a BlackBerry to use for enterprise purposes (a.k.a. work Outlook messages) and free-to-me mobile Internet service was a golden, novel idea.

But then the messages began rolling in.

And they didn't stop.

7 p.m. 7:15 p.m. 8:17 p.m. 8:45 p.m. 9 p.m. 9:16 p.m. 9:17 p.m. 9:18p.m.
somebody was burning up the key pad!
12:10 a.m. 3:32 a.m.
WTF! 3 questions for that person:

1. why are you awake?


2. if you're awake, why aren't you making proper use of prime 'hook up hours'? and


3. why are you emailing me? get up and make a midnight snack. do anything but work!
   

It should be needless to say, but for those of you wondering, I didn't check the ones received after 9 p.m. until the next morning. I did, however, give into my anal-retentive-always-on-top-of-things nature and check the ones before 9 p.m. I believe I was out on a date at the time too...

Do you see, do you comprehend the evil?!? The purpose of your employer giving you a BlackBerry is not to make it easier for you to do your job; it's to make it easier for the company to have evidence that your boss told you what your job was (albeit at 3 o'clock in the morning) when you don't do it...

The joys of having a BlackBerry on the office isn't all that it's cracked up to be. But, overall, I'm not complaining about it. All it means is that I have to gain more self-control and skill at separating 'work time' from 'personal time'. In May, my b/f and I took a mini-vacay to South Beach, Miami. We were both excited - it was a chance for us to relax together after a long academic year. But, I brought my laptop along and nearly ruined the first two days of the trip by doing MPA project work and participating in conference calls. This time, really needless to say: he hated it, threatened to throw my computer and cell phone into the pristine Atlantic and said that I could never take my work on another vacation with him. So, I don't want to be that woman - the one who can't put aside the 'productivity technology' when it's time to. That's not me. That's not how I operate. So unless it's THE project of the quarter, don't hold your breath for this work-life balanced chica to get back to you before the morning.

*Note: I'm not alone on this one. Check out Notes from a Recovering Crackberry Addict, and see the Mayo Clinic's suggestions for Work-life balance: Ways to restore harmony and reduce stress.