Meditations on a Blackberry

Patricia Kitchen | Change@work

August 6, 2006

Just three weeks ago, I was about to leave for a 12-day mind-body meditation retreat near Ithaca. This is a place where you do yoga, contemplate a lotus pool, swim in a spring-fed pond (that I prayed was snake-free) and take long walks on country roads, sighting deer and bunnies.

In preparation, I was assembling the usual loose-fitting clothing, flashlight and bathing suit, but there was one item without which I knew this trip would be a disaster. That would be the BlackBerry I had bought just days earlier.

Yes, I know that sounds somewhat obsessive; some might even say warped. And in all honesty, I am just a teensy bit less earnest than most people who sign up for such meditative getaways. Certainly, I can do a few days of serenity -- but two weeks? No, I knew I would be needing some stimulation. So here's why my new BlackBerry proved to be just the right thing:

No. 1: For the first time I actually had the leisure and motivation to learn all the ins and outs of a gadget. I didn't just scratch the surface as I usually do. I read the instructions, the "help" lists, figured out how to set up the address book and, believe it or not, even called tech support -- a particular dread -- on a couple of issues. Of course, I managed to do all this because I had time -- while sitting under a giant weeping willow that bent over a pond.

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No. 2: Right before I left, I had turned in a story -- so, instead of trying to reach my editor by phone to answer questions she and the copy desk might have, I just asked her to send me the edited version on an e-mail. And I e-mailed back the answers.

No. 3: While I was away, I received some 700 e-mails. And since I monitored them daily, by the time I got home I had no reason to plow through an in box as long as "The Lord of the Rings."

Now, I admit I am fortunate -- I was pretty much in control of how much I wanted to stay in touch with the office. But others are not so lucky -- something that was brought home one evening at dinner when some of my buddies spoke of their resentment at being so reachable, so connected. One woman said she had even turned in her BlackBerry a few months back, suggesting that people in her office just pick up the phone and call her when she's away on a business trip.

One of those 700 e-mails was from the recruiting firm Korn/Ferry International, saying that among 2,313 executives answering a query on its Web site, more than four out of five said they're almost always connected to work through some mobile device; and one in three said that's overkill.

But Vivian Young, who, like me, several times sought out some out-of-earshot spots to do a little work by cell phone and e-mail, says the ability to stay connected is what allowed her to make a commitment to attend the retreat.

Once you reach a certain level in the workplace, "there are very few jobs where you can say, 'I'm off, don't bother me,'" says Young, a partner in a Manhattan-based marketing strategy firm. "When there's a problem, there's a problem," and technology allows us to keep in touch even as we get away, something she characterized as "the happiest of compromises."

In my own case, the nature of this vacation -- laid-back, in the middle of nowhere -- may have contributed to my willingness to check in. Later this year I'll be heading to Italy -- Tuscany and Cinque Terre -- where I expect no such moments. Will I be packing my BlackBerry for that trip? I'm thinking not.

Please send e-mail to pkitchen @newsday.com.