Experts: Keep Canada Day gadget-free
TORONTO — The world will still keep turning if you ignore a buzzing unread text or email.
That’s the message coming from the experts as we head into the Canada Day long weekend.
For Barbara Miller, however, that is easier said than done.
The Toronto lawyer will be in Montreal celebrating this weekend, but she says she can’t ignore her work while there.
“It’s kind of like an appendage,” she says of her BlackBerry.
“I can’t live without it. But I promised myself I won’t look at it every 10 seconds,” she says, clutching the blinking device even as she speaks.
It’s a challenge many people who work in an office environment face as they struggle to balance the demands of family, friends and career.
But compulsive use of a smart phone during time reserved for rest and relaxation is actually a recipe for burnout, according to Dr. Gordon Flett.
While the York University professor and Canada Research Chair can’t give any hard and fast rules for controlling smart phone use this Canada Day, he say it’s important that people try to take time for themselves.
“People really have to look at their values in terms of, do they really want to be someone like this?”
He says it’s important to be strict about when to disengage.
If more than two people you care about hint, or insist that you need to stop checking your email at dinner, it’s probably a sign that something needs to change, Flett suggests.
If you’re always thinking about the content of your inbox, if the phone feels like a magnet, you have a problem and it’s time to stop, he says.
Linda Allan, a Toronto etiquette expert, says there are times when responding to work emails is inappropriate, like when you’re having celebratory beers around the campfire.
“If we’ve had a little too much to drink because it is the weekend and family’s there and we’re enjoying ourselves, that’s not the time to respond. There’ll be typos and information missed.”
Gadgets...A-R-R-GH!!
Submitted by zacchaeus on June 30, 2012 - 9:41am.
It turns my stomach, the amount of people addicted--yes, addicted--and tethered by these stupid machines.
Here's a check list for proper text/cell phone usage:
Is it necessary for business? If so, carry it during work hours. After work hours, shut it off. Go to bed early, and wake up early in the morning to review your messages, and only then respond and prepare for your day.
Is it not for business? If not, give out your cell contact info to only to your best friends and immediate family. If any of them abuse the priviledge and text you incessantly, block their messages, and delete them from the list.
Cell phone tethering is a type of cyber slavery. We all need our space and solitude at times, and if you're always tethered via electronic devices, praytell, when do you have time for yourself to think and plan your life?
I tell my daughter that she is only allowed to check for and answer texts every two hours for a maximum of ten minutes. That way she is not constantly staring at the contraption, ignoring those who are vying for her attention in her immediate surroundings. Because of this, she chooses very carefully who she will spend her time responding to, leaving her free to be polite and courteous to those around her. This creates a sane routine that can carry her through her adulthood in a healthy and balanced condition, choosing to be the master of her possessions rather than being a slave to them.
Years ago, etiquette was not a function of the law, but it seems with cell phones/blackberries that is the only limiting factor on them. Parents, be aware of this and understand that you may be the one and only limiting factor on these potentially insidious devices.
What really annoys me is some
Submitted by mact on June 30, 2012 - 6:23pm.
What really annoys me is some blabbermouth idiot hollering and screaming on a cell phone in the middle of a restaurant or some other public place drowning out other people trying to interact person to person. To say the least, driving whilst texting or gabbing on a cell phone is downright criminal.