Please turn off the electronic equipment after work and have a good rest.

Recently, according to the New York Times, because enterprises require employees to be on standby 24 hours, therefore, employees use mobile phones and other electronic devices more and more frequent, and even some employees have the symptoms of hearing hallucinations. , on standby originally is to improve work efficiency, but in the past, will lead to poor sleep quality, mental decline, and ultimately reduce enterprise productivity. In order to solve this problem, some companies have begun to take steps to limit the use of electronic equipment by employees after work.

When the new year comes, people will always make some wishes and plans to make some changes, and these programs usually take more exercise and less smoking. Now, some companies are starting to adopt policies designed to wean their employees from the "vices" of electronic devices addiction.

The International Information Technology Services Corporation (Atos Origin) is planning to phase out its employee e-mail by the end of 2013 and switch to other modes of communication. From the start of the new year, employees of the German carmaker Daimler AG will be able to automatically delete e-mails in their inbox during the holidays to avoid finding out that the inbox is flooded with piles of e-mails. The sender will be sent an automatic reply message informing them of the temporary responsibility for handling the e-mail.

Saberina Schlimpf Sabrina Schrimpf, Daimler spokeswoman, referred to the company's recent report, "Balancing!-coordination of work and private life of employees" (Balanced!-reconciling Employees ' Work and privacy Lives, she says, no one wants to be on standby 24 hours a day, and it's important to "shut down" after work, "even if you're on a business trip." ”

For business "Trapeze", which often works across time zones, cutting off work links may be more difficult.

Leslie Perro, A professor of leadership mechanics at Harvard Business School (Leslie A. Perlow), says this can lead to ripple effects. "They fly in the middle of the night and respond to co-workers," he says, while their colleagues stay up late. Perro has "slept with a smartphone-breaking the 7*24-hour habit to change the way you work" (Sleeping with Your Smartphone).

Last summer, a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center on the Internet and the American Life Project (Internet and Anglo) found that while mobile phones were seen as a tool for maintaining efficiency, But its readily available features also have drawbacks. The Pew survey of 2,254 American adults in the United States found that 44% of those surveyed will put the cell phone at the bedside, 67% of respondents have been "mobile phone phantom", will be in the phone is not ringing or vibration of the time to view, but 37% of respondents said they "do not have a cell phone can live", than the 2006 's 29%.

Sam Chapman, CEO of Empower Public Relations, a Chicago PR agency, said he used to have auditory hallucinations, felt the phone vibrate, and often looked at his BlackBerry in the middle of the night, sending and receiving emails. His sleep is poor, and he gets up in the morning feeling depressed, he thinks he is "mobile addiction". "I want to make sure that my employees do not repeat my mistakes," he said. ”

To this end, Chapman developed a so-called "BlackBerry control policy." On weekdays, he and his 20 employees will close their phones from 6 o'clock in the afternoon until 6 in the morning, and by the end of the week they will have all the work-related equipment shut down, with very few exceptions. "You can work well with a good rest," Chapman said. "He will continue to comply with the policy during his travels, and says the policy has increased the productivity of the company."

Professor Perro also believes that by encouraging employees to cut off their work links, they can improve the efficiency of their businesses. "The power of a regular boot weakens the productivity of the business," she says. ”

But it's easier said than done. At the beginning of 2012, Michel Barry (Michelle Barry), Mark Jackbosen (Mark Jacobsen) and another partner had seriously considered the issue, and they co-founded the consulting firm Centric Brand Anthropology in Seattle, To provide customers with brand strategy, design and cultural management consulting services.

"The most important thing for us is to keep a good balance between work and life," said Jackbosen, vice president and creative director of the company. But we find it hard to do this when working with customers in large multinational corporations. "Because of the frequent need to travel abroad, and stand by." As a start-up, it faces a more serious challenge. "Just because you can send and receive emails two o'clock in the evening doesn't mean it's a good thing." "Jackbosen said.

Centric president and CEO Barry said the company encourages employees to prepare for a week before a business trip, to develop a colleague to do the backup, to inform the customer of their own travel plans, and to avoid immediate deadlines for work assignments when they return from a business trip. In addition, the company encourages employees to work with spouses or partners to schedule downtime during longer tasks. When traveling, Barry said, "I promised myself not to reply to emails all night." ”

Experts say there is no accurate data to show how many companies have taken steps to limit the use of electronic equipment by employees outside their work hours. "The companies I know are actively encouraging employees to stay in touch after work or on weekends," said Dennis Calitan Dennis J. Garritan, a private equity firm Palmer Hill Capital Management partner and a guest professor at Harvard Business School. ”

"This is a win-win measure. "Calitan said. When employees return to the office, they are still aware of the progress of their work and will not be overwhelmed by piles of information, and the ability of employees to maintain high productivity can benefit the business.

"Many companies" value people who can pick up their phones at 1 o'clock in the morning, Business Cato, president of accessibility, a consultancy, said. "In most cases, it is up to the employee to decide whether it is necessary to avoid overwork and burnout in accordance with the rules."

In 2012, Krisdorf Bennett Christopher R. Bennett, the World Bank's senior transport expert, had been on business for about 5 months, and he refused to use the BlackBerry many years ago. Bennett says there is a reason for ' crackberries '. I found that many of my colleagues used blackberries because of the pressure, especially when we had to work in different time zones, to keep sending and receiving emails. This is true both at home, at dinner, in the gym, or on weekends. Because I am personally and easily addicted to things, all, I do not want to use blackberries. ”

Stewart Fischer Stuart Fisher, head of the World Bank's personal and life stress consultancy, said that while the bank had not taken steps to limit the use of electronic equipment by employees outside of work, and did not believe that there was a problem, the bank believes that, from a broader perspective, it can promote a healthy balance between work and life. He said it was necessary to leave plenty of time to himself.

But Fisher added that in an international organization, "It's important to keep in touch with employees, and this approach is to ensure that the tasks and projects are successful or responsibility, because our employees will go to work in a remote, difficult and very dangerous environment." ”

Chery Tecor Sherry Turkle, a professor of science and technology Social Research at MIT, says more companies should adopt similar restrictions. "I am optimistic because I think everyone is troubled," she says. "Employees are so busy using electronic equipment that they don't have the means to do the necessary discussion to get the job done."

"I don't use addiction to make metaphors," says Tecor, a psychologist. We are not going to give up electronic equipment, we should not give up. These devices are more like food, a kind of digital food. The question we should ask is ' what is the healthy choice? '