Max Sharpe

Professor Brannan

19 November 2017

Essay Two

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

Technology is a great thing that everyday businesses use to communicate with

customers, but what these companies dont necessarily understand is the

consequences of too much screen time. Understanding the relationship between

ones work ethic and the everyday distractions of technology can help companies

make changes in their business structure based on the research shown on this

topic. Although this might come off as obvious, this is a serious topic that can affect

the day to day morale in a business. This doesnt just relate to companies; work

ethic of any form can be negatively affected by technology. I can relate to this as a

college student with devices in arms reach at all times. Distractions affect my daily

agenda every day and it can be challenging to balance all my assignments because

of it, so I became very inclined to learn about what research has been done on the

topic.

According to the American Psychiatric Association, more than fifty percent of 13

to 20-year-olds go online several times a day and nearly a quarter are online "almost

constantly." A recent Washington Post article profiled many young adults who have
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been affected by technology overdose by dropping out of school or ending important

relationships. Anita Everett, the president of the APA states that the number of

people in the US that spend 20 hours a week or more on the internet has nearly

doubled in the past ten years. Technology is evolving, and as the world is becoming

aware of this, we see new developments, inventions and ideas that can serve as

distractions, impacting our work ethic on a daily basis. Justin Worland, a writer for

TIME Health says, Even if you go all day without touching your cell phone once, just

having it visible nearby may distract you from complex tasks, according to new

research in the journal of Social Psychology. He goes on to say that the sight of a

cell phone reminds people of the broader social community they can access

through texting and the internet. These facts are frightening, and although the

solution is still uncertain to researchers, some believe that the problem is the desire

to connect with people online by following each others daily lives. Worland later

conducted a study with fifty students who were asked to do motor tasks two different

times; one with the study leaders phone visible and the other with their own phone

visible. The performance of these complex tasks declined in both conditions, proving

his earlier statement that even a device in sight will decrease basic motor skills.

Knowing that mobile communication is necessary in our age and plays a

significant role in our society is what makes it hard to draw a line between an

addiction to your phone or just the right amount that its acceptable as light social

engagement. University of South Maine professor and Study author Bill Thornton

warns young teens of excessive screen time and advises everyone to take hour
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breaks from all devices regularly to let the brain stimulate the senses used from the

screen. With the presence of the phone, youre wondering what those people are

doing Even if its just mental, your focus is not on the task at hand, whether it be

trying to write an article, get this spreadsheet set up, or just socializing; your mind is

elsewhere. (Thornton, 2) With this being true, Thornton later contradicts himself by

saying humans can complete easy tasks with the presence of a cell phone, relating

it to texting and driving saying if youre slowly driving on a straight road with no traffic

you could probably text and drive with minimal danger. Here the author uses this

example to illustrate that technically one could complete simple tasks while

distracted by technology, but would be less productive and more prone to accidents

because of it.

As a curious college student, I wanted to evaluate how many students from my

school might fit the description above, so I asked a small group of fifteen peers two

questions; If they do homework with their cell phones visible and if they sleep next to

their phones at night. I found that 13 of 15 students from both categories said they

sleep with their phone next to them and do homework with it as well. Along with

these results, I noticed that you either do both, or you dont do either. Both students

that didnt study next to their phone also didnt sleep with their phone, making me

believe that you are either hooked to the device and need to be around it always, or

its just a simple form of communication and not a distraction. The results perfectly

aligned with Thorntons claim of how technology takes over our thought processes

even when its just visible.

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Drawing the line between the two should be simple, but there are more variables

that play into the equation. We can connect through the internet and use it to catch

up with friends to see what other people are up to, and that can be an important

piece to our society. But, is it changing the way to interact? Do we communicate less

in person and more via social media? According to ABC news reporter Camille

Chatterjee, nearly 44% of Americans sleep with their phone in bed with them every

night. Weve now become so dependent on this piece of technology that the first

thing done once woken up is checking the phone. Not only is it dangerous to sleep

next to your phone, it can impact your vision if the first thing you do is look at your

phone. How does this relate to work ethic? In general, were just inching closer to

being controlled by technology, and as its becoming easier and easier to reach, it

enables us to be lazier and less productive.

In a business, the largest waste of money is time theft, and these businesses are

starting to worry. Companies have noticed a recent incline in distractions and

decline in productivity, meaning there is a flaw in their business model and can

prove to be dangerous towards them. According to John Hildebrand of the Business

Times, business owners must adapt or fail, and if they adapt, how would that impact

the morale of the employees. Many companies (including P&G) have started

implementing phone policies at work, and some are even requiring that all phones

must be shut off during work hours. These policies have proven to be effective if
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done correctly by compromising with employees and being certain that the policies

work for them.

University of New England Professor Michael Bittman talks about how mobile

phones have overtaken landlines in usage and the International Telecommunication

Union reported 4.6 billion mobile accounts worldwide at the end of 2015, about 3.3

billion more than fixed lines, and the negative impact of the cell phone on worklife

balance has raised considerable concern. Yet the authors of the article conclude

that these fears are exaggerated. Employees will often use phone to allow for

increased flexibility and the softening of schedules, meaning that plans can be

rearranged on the move to accommodate pressing engagements in peoples

personal or work lives.

Since the late 1990s, cellular devices have gone from being a luxury to a

necessity in the business world. Cell phones have lately become a necessity for

productivity and strong work ethic in a business environment. With people and

companies becoming increasingly connected, cell phones allow you to perform job

duties whenever and wherever you are. By being easily accessible, you can grow in

your business. Using a cell phone in a business allows for increased flexibility when

working, which has numerous advantages. The more flexible you are, the greater

the chances you can show clients your business is the one to go with. Cell phones

also have the capability of performing many of the same tasks that your computer
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can. You can access the Internet, write emails and send documents from wherever

you may be, which, in turn, allows you to be on top of time-sensitive issues. Good

communication can also be essential to successful business practices. Cell phones

enable you to be in contact with clients across the globe in different time zones and

allow you to schedule a reasonable time in the day for both parties.

Another problem employers are facing is diminishing face-to-face meeting with

co-workers and potential customers. Even within the same office, workers are often

more inclined to chat electronically rather than physically walk to a cubicle or

congregate at the water-cooler. Understanding that its easier to send an email to

someone sitting near you rather than walking over, the interaction is still needed for

better clarify the tone and main point of the conversation. These personal

interactions bring the morale of the company up, and without it we lose the feeling of

the team environment. A company strives on the moral of the employees and

understanding how to keep that morale is what makes or breaks the productivity of

the team.

I believe that these factors play into how technology affects work ethic, and the

reality is that if a device is in sight while you are trying to work, you have already

lost. We have been dependent on technology since Steve Jobs created the first

iPhone, and its only getting worse. Upcoming inventions like the self-driving car

have become have been highly praised, but personally I wouldnt risk my life on a

machine. I use my phone a few times a day to communicate with family/friends and I
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try to make my social media usage as low as possible, but I will still get distracted by

my phone while doing homework (even though it was put away). Ive started turning

my phone off while Im studying to decrease the distractions and try to listen to

symphony music to ease my mind.

For a college student, phones are a lifeline for everything, and we use it in many

ways. Many use the alarm on the phone for early classes and email for

communicating with professors and other colleagues. I also use my phone to stay

organized as I have an online planner and my schedule that I use to keep up with

daily assignments, tests, etc. The problem with this is that while Im on my phone

doing work its very easy to get distracted by incoming texts, calls and alerts which

can delay my work by hours. Work ethic is crucial to college students who are

always on the go and have to juggle multiple things at once, meaning time

management can prove to be important.

In conclusion, we notice a grey area between being productive on a device and

being distracted. This area makes it hard for people to stay focused and productive

throughout a busy day. Technology can affect the way we interact with other people

in a positive or negative way implying that there is no specific way to prevent it if you

are mobile. A positive work ethic starts with limited distraction time which can be

prevented by not allowing technology to take over your life.

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Works Cited

Worland, Justin. How Your Cell Phone Distracts You Even When You're Not Using It.

Time. 4 Dec. 2014, http://time.com/3616383/cell-phone-distraction/

Hamlett, Christina. The Adverse Effects of Technology in the Workplace. Chron. Sept.

2015, http://smallbusiness.chron.com/adverse-effects-technology-workplace-

22649.html.

Chatterjee, Camille. 3 Reasons Not to Sleep With Your Phone in the Bed. ABC News.

5 Aug. 2014, http://abcnews.go.com/Health/reasons-sleep-phone-

bed/story?id=24839804

Bittman, Michael. Have Mobile Phones Changed the Way We Work?. Strategy &

Business. Dec. 2009, https://www.strategy-

business.com/article/re00105?gko=e9fe6

Hildebrand, John. Cell phones costly distractions in the workplace. The Business

Times. 3 May. 2011, http://thebusinesstimes.com/cell-phones-costly-distractions-

in-the-workplace/