Many moons ago people used to talk about Work/Life Balance. You know the sort of thing: don’t work so hard that you can’t have “a life” as well. I little idea about what they actually meant in practice, but I imagine it involved having some kind of separation between work and living your life outside of work. Well I may have had something approaching that a few years ago, but that’s all changed now, because what I have now is what I like to call “Work/Life Hum”.
Now this may not be a new concept to many of you, but it made sense to me to actually call it something. I needed a phrase to describe “what just happened” as it were. Because what just happened was this.
Half way though last year I bought an iPhone. Once configured, I started doing the usual stuff: checking email, looking at the Web, etc. However, gradually it became apparent that there was no getting away from this thing.
The first problem was Twitter.
I’ve been on Twitter since November 2006. I now have over 5,600 followers, and I’m following 850. That means Twitter is both a joy and, at times, an amazing time sink (but generally a joy).
As you can see from my iPhone home screen (right) I also have tools there I regularly need. TouchType is a great app for making notes because you can turn the iPhone horizontally and type on a really good keyboard. The basics are also there, like Contacts, Maps, App Store, Calendar, SMS, Phone, Clock for alarms and Camera for impromptu pictures. Facebook I use more on the iPhone than on the Web. I also got the Night Camera app, which takes OK pictures in the low light of a bar – a common location in my journalistic trade. I also use Audio Recorder to record interviews. Xpense Tracker was a rather expensive app I bought to try and get my expenses in order – it will even take a picture of the receipt. Why are settings on the home screen? I often switch WiFi on or off to stop the iPhone connecting to a paid-for node.
The main other draws towards the Black Hole that is the iPhone are Email, Google Reader (for RSS feeds on Safari) and Yammer. The latter is used to communicate with my TechCrunch colleagues internally.
The final piece in the jigsaw is unlimited data from O2. Lord, how I love it so. It means I can do almost anything, almost anywhere.
As a result of this, I realised that the “background hum” of work eminating from my always-connected iPhone was a better way of describing how I now work – and live. It means I can send an important email while I’m fetching some milk and bread from the corner shop – or read RSS feeds while waiting for a train. And I can send a Twitter while walking between my chair and the bar in the pub, or while waiting for my kids to get tired of the climbing frame in the park.
There is no more “balance” any more – as if there ever was – because what I am working on and interested in swaps from second to second as I use my iPhone. The Internet is now an all pervasive background “hum” which never goes away unless I am out of battery or out of wireless signal, which is very rare.
Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmm……………..
[Personal blog post] I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ
[Personal blog post] I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ
[Personal blog post] I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ
RT @mbites: I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ (Too true and I’ve not got and iPhone… yet)
RT @mbites: I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ (Too true and I’ve not got and iPhone… yet)
RT @mbites: I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ (Too true and I’ve not got and iPhone… yet)
I love insights in users workflows. Great post from @mbites about his iPhone setup. http://bit.ly/ckmZ
I love insights in users workflows. Great post from @mbites about his iPhone setup. http://bit.ly/ckmZ
I love insights in users workflows. Great post from @mbites about his iPhone setup. http://bit.ly/ckmZ
My take on Work/Life balance & Happiness
http://renatenyborg.wordpress.com/2009/01/06/forget-the-worklife-balance-balance-your-happy-triggers-instead/#comment-4
Though my response was more *Mmmmmm!* than Hummmmmm
if you jail break your iPhone theres a handy app that toggles wifi on/off.
Rebate – I think yours is better!
I feel the same way. The hum is ver consuming at times. Reading a book at the minute on future trends and the author claims that sleep is increasingly considered a luxury and we’ll soon see ’sleep cabins’ in and around cities where people can drop in and take power naps.
In the UK in the 1980s the average person got 8.1hrs sleep per day. Present day we’re at 6.9hrs. According to this book anyway.
we work in different areas in the same sphere, but I hear you. However, it is not something I think is healthy. This lifestyle has a lifespan surely?
I don’t want to stress about turning off in the near future. For the moment it’s my interest, a job and a duty really – but I work mostly for a non-profit
You paint a good and efficient sounding picture, but it’s kinda crappy – the always on life, no?
Having said that…. Xpensetracker… passed me by. I’m off to check it out
There you go: http://www.slideshare.net/guest729cfa/mikes-happy-triggers-presentation/
I guess I should have added that my wife regularly says: “Turn that thing off!”
Balance is mostly a personal notion. And W/L balance is the same. Some folks can happily work 20 hrs a day and feel work/life balanced. I’m not one of them. Some folk are 8 hours and that’s that types. It’s weird, but they like that way.
I hate that if I dissapear offline for a day or so that it’s noticed. I like switching off the phone and the machine. Do I feel distant? Sure. But I do feel better for it. Usually. But more than a day feels wrong.
I think in terms of an audience. Does my web audeience miss me? Maybe just a tiny bit. But these flesh and blood viewers/chums/friends appreciate us too and perhaps rather more?
As someone said to me circa New Year’s Eve: The internet is all very well, but when the shit hits the fan and we’re making a living off the land, will it feed you?
Nah. It won’t. And it’s a fair point. Us internetists are just our battery time away from revolution. ;o)
Mike,
Very well put. An always connected device actually allows me to improve my non-work life more. Even on vacation I’d keep in touch with work related items. People ask me why? Well on holiday there are normally pockets of downtime, commute, airports, chilling, so why not just go into stealth mode, cleaning inboxes and the like. It means much less of a head-ache upon my return.
24 hours in a day of which I guess we should be sleeping 8 or so (or so say the doctors) So that leaves 16 hours. I’m in my day job for say 10 of those, so that’s leaving 6 hours to get everything else done … for this I need to multi-task more.
Take this morning, catching up on video podcasts via apple TV while doing 30 minutes on the step machine … Then catching up with audio podcasts on the commute to work …
I also want to read more this year, so I’m turning to audible.com to see if I can read more via audio-books ..
I want to learn a new language (Spanish) so again turning to audio guides to listen to when I’m out running etc ..
Google reader items on the iPhone .. great stuff, again a few minutes every so often saves a lot of time in the long run ..
Sky+ (or something like BBC iplayer) is another great thing for the multi-tasking efforts.. no more adverts, watching my own personal channel, as is slingplayer (catching up with pre-recordings while on the road) Now I wait for the sling-mobile player to be available on the iPhone.
Oh and one of the main reasons why I’m trying to multi-task more, is my Big List for 2009 (http://www.nigelcooke.com/?p=734) If I don’t then I’m going to be seriously out of pocket !
cheers,
Nige
@mbites has a great blog post: I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ
@mbites has a great blog post: I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ
@mbites has a great blog post: I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ
@julianfifield My "Work/Life Hum" is tricky to handle sometimes, yes! http://bit.ly/ckmZ
@julianfifield My "Work/Life Hum" is tricky to handle sometimes, yes! http://bit.ly/ckmZ
@julianfifield My "Work/Life Hum" is tricky to handle sometimes, yes! http://bit.ly/ckmZ
The Hum can work, but occasionally, I find a break necessary.
danah boyd recently started what she calls an email sabbatical. Apparently it has angered some people (She normally is on two wireless devices at all times: iPhone and Sidekick)
Here’s her blog post about it:
http://www.zephoria.org/thoughts/archives/2008/12/11/email_sabbatica.html
Here’s the hilarious email response I got when I tried to send her an email:
http://www.thomascrampton.com/friends/danah-boyd-takes-an-email-sabbatical/
working on my work/life hum event:http://bit.ly/ckmZ
working on my work/life hum event:http://bit.ly/ckmZ
working on my work/life hum event:http://bit.ly/ckmZ
RT @mbites: [Personal blog post] I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ (same for me basically!)
RT @mbites: [Personal blog post] I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ (same for me basically!)
RT @mbites: [Personal blog post] I don’t have Work/Life Balance. I have Work/Life Hum. http://bit.ly/ckmZ (same for me basically!)
I think I’ve got work/life ho-hum!