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I recommend that employees opt out of getting a “work phone” from their employers if at all possible. Bosses and fellow employees still hesitate to call a personal phone # when they know that it is not a work #. Anyone who foregoes a work phone (likely always a smartphone these days) also eliminates the temptation to use such a “COU” (Company-Owned Unit) in non-work hours to check company email, Microsoft Teams channels, etc.
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There is no question that technology is changing our lives–it’s changing the way we relate to our moment-to-moment experience. Our gadgets are frequently creating barriers between ourselves and awareness of the present moment. We have less awareness of our physical, emotional, and cognitive realities when we are wrapped up in a technological presentation of an alternate reality. The spiritual implications of these changes? We are at risk of putting technology between ourselves and awareness of our presence. Mindfulness is really helpful here - net-bossorg/mindfulness-by-julia-hanner
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I would advocate insisting on a “work phone” if you have the discipline to switch it off and leave it off out of hours.
- but you need to be brutally honest with yourself here. Most people would like to think they have that discipline but don’t. If you have any doubt whatsoever that you’d be tempted to check company e-mail etc. during non-work hours, then the way forward is definitely to forgo a work phone.
I have had employers in the past, who had no problem in disturbing me on my personal cellphone when I am on holiday, evenings, and weekends. I was once disturbed on my house landline when I had been in bed and asleep for several hours. Another employer used to have an annoying colleague who put more effort into looking like they were working, than it would have taken to just do some work. They used to ring me every day to check when I’d be coming in, so they’d be seen doing something. Maybe this sort of inappropriate invasion of private-lives is more common in the UK than the US, but I now insist that if a cellphone is required, they provide it - and it gets switched-off and left in a drawer/briefcase the moment I finish working. I even now go so far as to use a separate pay-as-you-go number for applications, to prevent my private number being abused.
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This is such an invasion of your time. When I first came to Poland, I was working for an American company & because of the time difference, I would get calls from collogues at 23:00 at night, when it was 4pm in Chicago. It was really exhausting. They also wanted to have meetings at odd evening hours & they didn’t really follow the Polish holiday calendar, so when there were public days off, they would still expect me to answer email & take calls.
It was draining.
This is an interesting article on the topic of managers contacting employees after hours in Europe.
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^ I love this approach!
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^ This is quite clever!
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@kirkmahoneyphd & @forest_cat, I think I mentioned this previously, but awhile back, I use to work with a person that did EXACTLY that. She was an account rep & the company provided her with a smartphone. Every evening, when the clock struck 5pm or 5:30, she would put the phone on silent & slip it in her drawer, Her VM message was also very clear- If you’re contacting me after business hours, I will return your call next business day. She said it very nicely, but n a matter-of-fact way.
I really admired her commitment to work-life balance.
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