Blackberry, the productivity killer
May 24th, 2008 by Mickey Panayiotakis
sent from you blackberry?
About a year ago, I was sitting next to a business executive type on a plane back to DC. As soon as we touched down, he brought out his blackberry and started feverishly tapping at it. Someone asked him about the blackberry, and he confidently exclaimed that it’s made him 25% more productive, or some such. So I said to myself, Hold your horses, there, skippy!
Now, I don’t know the guy. He may have data to support his claim. But let’s break this down. His grand claim means that in an average 10 hour workday, his blackberry allows him to reclaim 2.5 hours for other tasks. What does he do on his blackberry that gives him that time back, that would be done less efficiently without the blackberry? Email is a lot clunkier to type on a blackberry, so it can’t be it. Most people claim that they can get rid of email quicker since they check it on a blackberry while not at the office, and act on it, freeing up on-computer time. And it’s fair to assume that this guy may have a one-hour commute each way. Hopefully he has someone driving him around too, because I know none of us are so dangerous to reply to email on the blackberry while driving. Then, there’s meetings. You can of course check your email in the middle of a meeting. Speaking of efficiency, if your meeting is so trivial that you use it to check your email on your blackberry, wouldn’t it be more productive to not have the meeting in the first place? Or do you think your lunch buddy really enjoys watching you check your email?
I’ll tackle a few other points in a bit. I, like many of us these days, look at efficiency and productivity as it relates to our full lives: our work, of course, but also our hobbies, our personal time, our family. The blackberry and similar devices has, for better or worse, erased the work/personal lines that used to exist at 0900 and 1700 every day. I check email at home, at the restaurant, while I volunteer…If I’m not efficient in these places, I’m not efficient at work either. Spending 2 hours working at home after dinner does not mean I am 2 hours more efficient.
So let’s move to item 2. I’ve done a little informal survey of people I know who get their email delivered to their mobile device. All of them, me included, always read the email, but usually postpone a response until they get home. (Most emails don’t, or shouldn’t, require a simple answer.) Then when they get at their computer, they have to re-read the email, but also look for it because it’s no longer marked as “new”. So let’s review this process:
On the blackberry:
- Read the email
- think about how to reply
- act on it: usually decide to reply later.
Then at the computer:
- find the email (it’s no longer “New”)
- Read the email
- think about what to say
- act (usually reply, then file the email)
- check email
- read email
- reply that you’re at lunch and will reply later
- remember to check the email again, since now it’s marked as “replied” so it falls into that nebulous email category of things you’ve acted on but are still on your inbox
- read email
- act (reply)
Check email when you have time
If you don’t have time…
If you often find yourself idle for short periods of time, try adding a context to your to-do list for tasks that can be completed within a short time. Perhaps even an “@mobile” context. When’s the last time you called your mother? Maybe read the newspaper for once? Or go through those emails that have sat in your inbox for the past year, and file them. You haven’t done anything with them for a year: face it, you’re not about to start. Perhaps that short email reply you’re about to send would be better handled with that other thing your blackberry can do: call a friend.
Take the time for each reply
Read, Think, Act
Every time you open an email, your tasks are to read it, think about it, and act on it. If you haven’t completed all three items, mark the item Unread so you can tackle it later. If you Acted on it, then file it somewhere else. A clean inbox is a happy inbox. A lot of times, the action will be to add the item to a to-do list.
Cold-turkey
Finally, if you’re addicted to blackberry email, consider getting a second email address for your blackberry only, only for important communications. If someone needs to reach you asap, they can email you on your blackberry. (Heaven forbid we call someone on the phone these days!)
These rules apply for your computer email as well as your blackberry email. For additional inbox-related productivity-fu, check out 43 folders series, Inbox Zero. Anyone have any other thoughts or productivity ideas? Leave a comment!
Oh, and on the meta side, with this post we introduce yet another new category, following on the heels of the “productivity” category: “wall of shame”. I’m sure we’ll have plenty to add to it!
Tags: blackberry, email, mobile, Productivity
October 25th, 2008 at 12:16 am
Overall, I enjoyed your assessment of alleged productivity gains from Blackberry use and connectivity in any form outside of office hours does muddy the line between work and personal time.
But not everyone uses the Blackberry in the same manner. Responses to e-mails do not always go back to the original sender. Offices are not always in one time zone or operate only in one shift. Productivity is not always measured in time saved – it may be ‘manufactured units’ or ‘profitability per unit of time’ or even ‘clients impressed with apparent availability of their vendor (real or perceived)’. In some cases, Blackberry users may just feel better about themselves carrying one around and feel better about their job. Silly psychology aside…
A question answered promptly while away from the office may hold immense savings for the company. My boss attending an ice hockey game was able to promptly respond to an e-mail that made sure a bad decision wasn’t made at the manufacturing plant which operates from 8am to midnight daily. Our sales rep got his message to e-mail or call his customer in Australia because they were not happy with a shipment. These may not be ‘productivity’ gains (more like an effort to attain competitive advantage), but they do fall outside the narrow contraints with which you defined Blackberry use.
We also have developers that produce applications for the Blackberry (indeed the 3 day Blackberry Developer Conference was just this past week in Santa Clara, CA). Some companies have highly integrated applications that use Blackberries as a mobile client. Look at the productivity gains they realize in Chennai, India using Blackberries, SMS, and wireless printers to assist with tax collection: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/10/25/stories/2008102561040500.htm.
Surely, there is a solid need for your Wall of Shame category. But in some cases, the Blackberry, or other mobile device, can indeed return productivity gains.
William
(A bummed RIMM shareholder)
January 21st, 2010 at 7:17 pm
Cold-turkey
*
Finally, if you’re addicted to blackberry email, consider getting a second email address for your blackberry only, only for important communications. If someone needs to reach you asap, they can email you on your blackberry. (Heaven forbid we call someone on the phone these days!)
August 7th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
I think RIM has to catch up to Apple’s app program. I have been a faithful bb user for years, but if Apple cracks the enterprise market – I think RIM will have major problems. Just my two bits…