Responses to June’s Question Does Your BlackBerry Chain You to Work? A study released in February by the research group Digital Life America shows that people disagree over whether it’s good to be constantly connected to work through wireless “smartphones” such as the BlackBerry. Although many smartphone users report they feel more productive, others find major drawbacks, including working longer hours and having less personal time. Is always being connected to your job a blessing or a burden?

Give Us a Break

Always being connected to your job is a burden. Allowing your work to infringe on your personal time is not healthy. It can affect both your personal life and productivity. The BlackBerry should be used to make our lives easier, not to be a burden.

Darel D’Souza
Houston

Business With Pleasure

Using wireless technology makes it possible to converge our professional and personal lives. Being more connected to fun, enriching, and educational content can allow us to find a balance in our lives.

Ozzie Diaz
Cupertino, Calif.

Keeping Your Cool

I didn’t feel that my BlackBerry chained me to my workplace until recently, when I realized how much time I’d spent using it to check my e-mail. I use it only to send emergency messages now, and I feel like I have a lot more freedom. I don’t think I realized it was weighing me down because the coolness associated with having a BlackBerry blinded me to its obvious drawbacks.

Dusan Brestovansky
Ottawa

Do Not Disturb

When you’re not working, you can shut the device off. If you are not well rested, you are not productive. Why work twice as long but half as effectively? I can be very productive in only 32 hours at the office. When I’m there, I’m there fully. When I leave, I have other things to do, like taking care of my two children.

If it is truly an emergency, my boss has my home phone number. I find that when he has to stop and think before dialing my number, he realizes it can wait until normal business hours.

Ruth Ann B. Valentine
Bedford, Mass.

A Stressful Situation

I believe it is a burden. Being connected to your job all the time increases your stress and decreases your focus. There is no doubt that, psychologically, you need your personal time to restore yourself, your body, and your brain. You may need to be connected to your work sometimes, but not all the time.

Saad Al Dosari
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Life Is for Living

Being connected to the office 24/7 makes for stale thinking. Extra work hours result in lower efficiency, and employees lose the free time that makes life worth living.

David Ackerman
Princeton, N.J.

Cutting Ties

These products are nothing but electronic tethers. They impose on your personal life and intrude on time spent with family. We all need time to unwind to achieve a balance between work and home life.

Bob La Rocca
Lindenhurst, N.Y.

Send your letters and Marketplace responses, which may be edited, to The Institute, IEEE Operations Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 USA; fax: +1 732 235 1626; e-mail: institute@ieee.org.

Send your letters, which may be edited for brevity, to The Institute, 
IEEE Operations Center, 445 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08855-1331 USA; fax: +1 732 235 1626; e-mail: institute@ieee.org.