Brady Doman’s wife used to brace herself when he pulled into the
driveway after work. He would walk in expressionless and barely acknowledge the
kids. An hour later, Brady was focused on work again, his head bent over papers
from the office. “I never stopped, never took a break,” said Brady of the time
he oversaw 15,000 employees at a large regional bank in Ohio.
When Brady’s heart attack hit, he was on an airplane flight just
passing over Albuquerque. He would have died if he hadn’t been over a major city
at the time. And he would still be a walking zombie if he hadn’t begun to
rethink his work and his life. He and his wife moved to Sedona, Arizona, with
Brady taking his work with him. His day starts at 6 a.m., which is 9 a.m. at the
home office in Ohio. He can put in two or three hours before breakfast. His
evening commute now involves shutting down the computer and closing the office
door.
Brady’s home office is set up with a typical array of electronic
equipment: a telephone, fax machine, and computer with Internet access. He uses
these tools not just to work with greater speed and ease, but to create the
lifestyle that he craves. He’s part of a growing number of workers we call
“techflexers”—workers who use technology to build flexibility into their work
and non-work lives, leading to a more satisfying balance between the two.
Using technology to get work done in unusual places and at odd
times is a pervasive and booming trend. Being able to work anytime, anywhere may
sound alarming to balance seekers. Doesn’t the lure of constant connection to
our jobs seduce us even further from a balanced life?
It can. And for many ardent “technophiles,” it does. But a
growing number of workers now place their work time and space where, and only
where, they want it. In a 1999 survey by Fast Company magazine, 83% of
respondents said that using the Internet and other technology was part of their
strategy for work-life balance.
The most obvious form of techflexing is telecommuting, although
techflexers don’t just do the same job, during the same hours, from home. They
may work entirely from home, or they may spend just one or two afternoons a week
working from home. Others techflex in ways that enhance their non-work lives,
using pagers, cell phones, instant messaging, or even Web cams to stay connected
with family and friends while at work. Technology can also be used to simplify
personal lives—from shopping online to using the Internet to stay in touch with
loved ones.
Full-time techflexing is obviously not for everyone. Certain
jobs, such as law enforcement or surgery, simply can’t be done from home. If
your job is one of them, you should find other options or consider changing
careers. And even if your job could be done from your kitchen table without
anyone at work noticing, you still have to make the case that a more flexible
arrangement won’t hurt your performance. “Convincing my company to let me work
three time zones away wasn’t easy,” says Brady, “but I had enough experience and
credibility that offering me some flexibility was better than losing me
altogether.”
If you choose to telecommute, you also need to be honest about
your ability to build relationships and stay interpersonally connected with your
manager, peers, and customers, whom you may rarely see face to face. In some
companies, this may lead to fewer promotion opportunities or decreased earning
power. Rebecca Simpson, a purchasing agent for a global electronics company,
works from her Dallas home. Her boss and fellow team members work at the
company’s corporate headquarters in Europe. “I have enormous phone bills and
traveled a lot early on so that I could get to know my manager, my customers,
and the various vendors.” Although Rebecca is outgoing enough to build
relationships by phone, she can also be satisfied without chatting at the
proverbial water cooler. The most successful techflexers we identified are
self-starters with a high desire or tolerance for solitude.
Techflexing also requires firm boundaries. If you think you can
strap on a headset and hold client teleconferences while you do the laundry or
weed the garden, think again. And when you work from home, it takes discipline
to refuse to take work-related calls while you walk the dog or play with the
kids.
Techflexing obviously requires a reasonable level of
technological proficiency. A lot of time is wasted if you’re over-reliant on
some faraway help desk for constant support. But even if you aren’t always the
first one on the block to have every new electronic gizmo, you probably know
enough to use technology as a tool. If you are Web savvy and can operate voice
mail independently, you have the basics down. And even if you don’t want to
telecommute full time, you can buy a little more balance by using your commuting
time and a hands-free cell phone to catch up with family and friends, creating a
Web site to stay in touch with loved ones, shopping online for gifts, groceries,
and other items, and using Internet services to manage your banking, pay bills,
and make travel arrangements.
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