THEY don’t call it a Crack-Berry for nothing.
BlackBerry addiction – the compulsive, ceaseless need to check one’s handheld wireless e-mail/phone device – is at a fever pitch, and its hold over users is eerily similar to that of the notorious street drug.
For Jayne Charneski, a vice president at EMI Music, all the symptoms are there, starting with that hallmark of the hardcore addict – the morning fix.
“I use it from the second I get up,” she says.
“You do the initial check. Next, on the train going to the office.”
During the workday, she says, it’s often hard to think of anything else.
The lure of constant email access is simply too great.
“You’re never really present in the moment,” she admits.
“Because you could be talking to so many people at once.”
The sleek little BlackBerry is so addictive that, much like a drug, it only takes a few tastes to get hooked.
“The first one I had for only a week before I lost it, and I had this tremendous sense of loss,” says Charneski, who
bought a replacement as soon as possible.
But this BlackBerry-addled music exec is hardly an extreme case.
These sorts of behaviors can be observed almost everywhere you go (in the city, that is – more rural parts of the country seem to turn a deaf ear to the BlackBerry’s siren song.)
Look around your office, and chances are you’ll catch at least one person doing the “BlackBerry prayer” – that motion where the head is tilted down, looking at the device, while the user e-mails discreetly.
The ease and accessibility of the portable device – which makes it a boon for business types on the go – has morphed into a technological treadmill it’s becoming increasingly hard to jump off.
“You feel like a short-order cook who keeps ringing the bell,” says media strategist John Del Cecato, who keeps his BlackBerry on hand at all hours.
“The food has to get out while it’s hot.” Hot or not, things are getting out of hand, some say – and it might be time for a mass intervention.
“One of the great myths of the modern workplace is that to always be ‘on’ is to be at your maximum productivity,” says Carl Honore, author of the global best seller “In Praise of Slowness: Challenging the Cult of Speed,” which is newly out in paperback.
In fact, he says, the opposite is true.
Having your BlackBerry at your side 24/7 means you never have time to really think straight.
“We need to be unplugged! We need moments when we’re off the grid, in order to unwind and shift out of high gear,” says the author, who emphasizes that he’s not at all anti-technology – just anti-excess.
“The BlackBerry has ratcheted up the pressure of being on all the time. The cellphone took it up a notch, but the BlackBerry seems to have moved it up three or four notches.”
If you never power off, he warns, you’ll not only wear yourself out or come down with a chronic case of BlackBerry Thumb – you also run the risk of sending a message you’ll regret later.
“The BlackBerry is a medium for this incredibly fast communication. Our reflexes have become faster [as a result]. But faster is not always better,” he cautions.
“It’s so mobile, it tempts us to communicate more quickly than makes sense. So if you don’t have a BlackBerry, you’re less likely to fire off a hasty, pissed-off e-mail.”
Of course, there are those workaholic types who swear they’re beyond needing downtime and are immune to e-mail misfires.
For them, Honore has some other important news: BlackBerry dependence may actually be making you less competent at your job.
“The human brain needs to go into a different mode in order to tap into inventive thought,” he says.
“That’s why those ‘Eureka!’ moments are when we’re lying in the bath, or strolling through Central Park.
“The BlackBerry breaks into that and keeps us humming; we aren’t able to access the original, creative thinking that’s so essential in today’s global economy.”
But this is easier said than done when your clients are literally all over the globe, counters Michael O’Flynn, Director of Emerging Market Sales at Deutsche Bank.
“I work for a European company, so I work European hours,” he says.
“If the light’s flashing on my BlackBerry, I’ll roll out of bed and pick it up. I can’t help it.”
A self-confessed addict, O’Flynn says his BlackBerry is now seamlessly integrated into his life – even when it comes to moments like picking up his newborn daughter in the middle of the night.
“When she’s crying, I’ll throw her over my shoulder and be swaying back and forth – and with my other, I’ll be ripping a few messages and talking to my clients,” he says.
The worst part about the BlackBerry epidemic, says Honore, is that people are perfectly aware of what they’re getting themselves into.
They just can’t help themselves.
“I resisted at first, because I’ve seen what these things do to people,” says Charneski. “But I thought it would make me more productive, so I decided I’d give it a try.” Now, she says, she can’t stop and doesn’t want to.
“The BlackBerry is so sleek, chic and sexy – it’s so fun to have around,” says Honore.
“But it does have this dark side.”
However, there are a few indicators that the tide may be turning, and an anti-BlackBerry movement could be on the rise. “I’ve noticed that increasingly, before meetings, they’ll say ‘No BlackBerries,'” says Charneski, who admits that she can’t wait to get out of those meetings and switch back on.
O’Flynn concurs, despite his love of the device.
“I hate when I’m in meetings with people sitting there going whack, whack, whack on the BlackBerry,” he says. Outside the office, frustrated spouses are starting to demand that their husbands and wives put down the BlackBerry on weekends and holidays.
“My wife pretty much tried to throw it off the boat when we were on our honeymoon,” says O’Flynn, who says he’s now trying to stay away from the device for whole hours at a time on weekends.
PDA-weary workers are even seeking out help from therapists to get over their addiction, says Honore.
“They don’t have time for the big questions anymore: Am I happy? Am I making a contribution? The BlackBerry goes against being a real person, rather than an automaton racing through life.
“It’s so important to just rediscover the ‘off’ button and get back in touch with your inner tortoise,” he concludes.
“We’re all so governed by our inner hares.”
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“The BlackBerry is so sleek, chic and sexy – it’s so fun to have around. . . but it does have this dark side.”
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THINK you’re ready to quit – or at least scale back? “In Praise of Slowness” author Carl Honore offers some tips for weaning yourself off the CrackBerry:
* Know why you’re doing it
Sure, the BlackBerry makes life easier – in moderation. But if you’re using it all day and all night, it’s using you – not the other way around. “We would get so much more out of this technology,” says Honore, “if we approached it in a more measured way.”
* Don’t try to go cold turkey
“Find some times in the week when you know you can switch it off – even just for an hour,” says Honore. “Or maybe start on a Sunday morning, when you can be pretty sure you won’t miss anything.” But be prepared: It’s not gonna be pretty. “You’re gonna be thinking, ‘Jesus, I’m missing out!’ But you need to stick with it and ride out those withdrawal symptoms. Nobody needs to be connected 24/7. Nobody.”
* Think before you send
You’re not just fueling your own addiction when you BlackBerry like crazy – you’re making sure that whoever gets your e-mail is equally enslaved. “Think if you really need to send that e-mail,” says Honore. “We tend to think from a self-centered starting point. Think about what it’s doing to the person at the other end.”
* Let your co-workers know you’re in rehab
“Talk to people about the fact that you’re going to be switching off, and let them know when that time is,”
Honore says. Then, once you dare to turn the Blackberry off, your key players will know what the deal is.
– Sara Stewart