Maybe you sleep with your mobile device right next to your bed? I’m continually impressed when I find out that many people I know keep their iPhone, Blackberry or Droid on their nightstand when they go to bed at night. I’ve come to expect that teenagers will take their phone to bed with them and at times text the night away. But adults? Has it come to that?
I’m a tech-loving guy and sometime (but not every time) early adopter of new and emerging technologies. But I have not (and I hope to be strong) yet found the desire to plug in my Blackberry and keep it in the bedroom. I figure anyone who really is important in my life and needs to find me at an hour where I am hopefully cutting zzz’s, will have the good sense to call me at home. And yes we still have an old fashioned landline even if supplied by our cable provider.
This is not to deny that before I go to bed I take a quick look at my BB and after I’ve made the coffee in the morning, collected the papers (yes I know so old school again!) and let the cat out or in, I check my BB to see what might have flowed in overnight (usually only 15-30 emails in 8 hours).
When I am on the road and staying in a hotel room obviously I have my phone plugged in such that I could answer it at any time since it is within earshot. And that’s ok as there would not be another easy way for someone to reach me. In fact we’ve become so reliant on mobile connection that my wife does not always know specifically in which hotel I might be staying on any given night. If for some reason I did not answer my phone I am confident she could find me if she really needed to. And she’s fully capable of going places without her smartphone – and that amazes me too. That’s a place I just cannot go.
Given that our agency has gone global and we have connections from China to Europe to New York and California at any given moment some amount of people we are connected to will be working. It’s a 24/7 world after all and I like so many people work at odd hours, nights, weekends, whatever it takes to keep up and get the job done.
But I’m going to try my hardest to hold out here and not bring my BB in the bedroom at home. It might be a last stand but I want to believe that I can live without the tether at least for 8 hours.
How about you? Is it with you all the time? In the bedroom? And if not do you look at your phone first thing every morning even on weekends?
The Way I See It - Mark Kolier 
Hi Mark,
This is the perfect blog as I am just thinking about manufacturing something that’s related to smartphones and bedtime!!! Kind of funny as I was reading since I think many people can relate to that.
In my case, I do have it with me but in silent mode. I don’t answer calls after 9 pm; but yes, I do look at my phone first thing in the morning for around 10 min. You know, quick look at the junk you get through the night in your inbox and then the titles at the news.
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I think you have lots of company there in the way you approach it – but I wish you had more. I’m with you thought for what that’s worth. I look forward to learning more about your device. Thanks for the comment.
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My friend, if you are serious about building a global business, clear space on that bed stand. Would you really rather have someone call you at 3:00 AM with something that may or may not be able to wait (do you really want someone else making that decision?)? From my long experience of receiving such calls – often in another language – having a BB by the bed is a blessing and allows me to decide what can wait until the morning coffee or is truly an emergency.
Fully expect them (BB/smartphone/whatever) to be hardwired into our head before too long.
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