Many working professionals who will stare at the survey findings alongside will hope that their bosses are reading it as well. It’s obvious sometimes isn’t it -if you’re overloaded with work, blame the boss.
But before you pass the buck, it would be worthwhile to examine your own lifestyle.
We are now enmeshed in such a wireless world that it has become difficult to switch-off from those around us. Simply put, switching off from work has become almost impossible.
Take Borivli resident Ankita Gaba, for example. She is a compulsive e-mail checker. “I somehow feel restless till I haven’t checked my last unread mail. Even if there’s one-email notification on my iPhone, I have to check it to read what it’s about. Before I go to sleep at night, I want to ensure that there should be zero unread mails.”
Gaba’s hyperactivity over e-mail is understandable. As a young entrepreneur in the digital media domain, she has to be prompt in her replies to make a certain impression about the way she approaches. “I can’t ignore a work-related e-mail which comes in late, even after 9pm,” she says.
But the story of letting work follow you on your Blackberry or your iPhone, or simply getting busy working on a presentation once you’re home, is something that a lot of Mumbaikars identify with.
The DNA’s Quality of Life survey shows that overall, most adults work at home, even after office working hours 2-3 times a week. In Thane, this pattern is visible on a daily basis.
There are two sides to this story - one, the fact that employers are providing employees with options that enable constant connectivity (e.g. a Blackberry phone, wireless internet data card) and two, people are in-general becoming obsessed with devices and the wired world it connects to.
The employer of Mulund resident Mahadevan Krishnan, 28, has done the same and he is expected to be in the know of e-mails sent after office working hours. He recollects an incident when a senior colleague who doesn’t own a Blackberry phone, was reprimanded because it was difficult to reach him over e-mail.
Krishnan says, “There are times when the pressure is such, that one has to execute work even after coming home, because the client needs it. Since we have the devices to do it, we are expected to deliver.”
Achint Madhok (name changed), a resident of Andheri, who worked at a publishing house, recalls being fired by his employer since he wasn’t able to complete an assignment from home. “I was told that I should have done it, considering my company is paying for the internet connection and cellphone bill. I resigned that day, since I didn’t want to remain wedded to my work, after office hours, simply because they had given me the means to do so.”
But for 27-year old Bandra resident Siddhartha Sahni, a wired life is an occupational hazard. The advertising professional belongs to an industry, which like many others fields makes it clear that there isn’t a great social /family life to boast of.
He admits, “I’ve tried organising my day to ensure that I finish my 6:30pm, but it never happens. Mails have to be replied to, presentations have to be made, co-ordination with colleagues reporting to me- all these do take up my time even after I’ve reached home.”
The inability to switch off has given rise to new excuses at work. For example, Hemen Jain (name changed), a resident of Chembur, who plans to take a seven-day leave in October, is going to tell his employer that he’s travelling out of the country and will be unavailable on phone and e-mail. “In reality though, I plan to relax at home and catch up on some reading and movies. If I tell them the truth, my colleagues may still inundate me with e-mail and work-related requests.”
Meanwhile, there are also some like Krishnan, who feel that being unmarried makes them prone to bear the brunt of such requests. “When you’re single, you’re considered available to work on a weekend, or to attend office on a holiday,” he says.
Women agree. Himani Patel, 24, who is currently unmarried and works in an entertainment firm, feels that once she is married, she will inevitably have to devote more time for the family. “Being in the content creation space, I’m required to co-ordinate with the editing team, some of which happens through the weekend. I live with my parents, so they understand, but things change once you’re married, right?”
‘Keep some hours a day sacrosanct’
The reason why many of us seem to be carrying work back from office to home and in the commute — is due to four major factors in my view.
The nature of products and work have changed. Gone are the days where work was doing something and finishing it. These days, it only seems that we are abandoning work one evening and picking it up the next morning. Except for certain roles and industries, the rest of us who work in the private sector know that our competitive success depends on the softer aspects of work - mainly relationships. So an email that arrives at 11 pm in the night or a customer phone call — even when you are stuck at Saki Naka — needs to be answered.
Work has globalised as well. A stock market professional needs to track the European, US and Far East market to understand how the BSE will behave tomorrow. The laptop with the internet connection is therefore rarely shut down except fora couple of hours. The software or BPO business leader manages employees one half of the day and clients in the other half.
Technology has become better so that we are reachable 24/7. The unspoken assumption is that each message is urgent and needs to be responded as soon as possible.
Failure of self-management: Many leaders leverage tools for micro-management, forcing subordinates to keep them “in the loop” for every little decision and steps taken. Being a control freak means never really being in control of your time.
- Gautam Ghosh
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