Sick…Working from Home
Maybe I should be sleeping. I should definitely not be blogging. But, here I am: Sitting up in bed, a couple of pilows behind me, Kleenex at my side…doing some work, responding to e-mail, approving a comment or two on the blog. Sure, I’m not killing myself on the work front today, but I have been engaged much more than I would have been 10 years ago. Ten years ago, if I were sick, I’d call in and let the boss know that I was under the weather and cancel any appointments via dial-up e-mail and be done with it. Now, with my wireless (yes, Linksys), in-my-bed broadband, I’m able to drift in and out of consciousness and actually get a little work done. Which is good, dare I say, for overall productivity and, taking it one step further, good for the economy. I guess what I’m saying is that because of technology, I am much more productive today while sick, than I would have been 10 years ago while sick. So, when measuring the impact of technology on productivity, we must not discount the sick broadband worker.
However, I’m still sick…thanks to my one-year old still not getting the concept of covering his mouth while coughing all over me. He’ll get there one day, I’m sure.
With mobility and unified communications, of course, we can be more productive wherever we are, whenever we are. I would argue that is a good thing, but I would also argue that writing a blog with a medicine head and Kleenex strewn about my bedside is likely not the brightest thing to do, but, hey, I’m sick…I’m not thinking clearly. Maybe a nap will help.
Posted by John Earnhardt at 03:47PM PST
ptc Apr 9, 2008
Yeah, that’s true. Work has got ubiquitous (thanks to all WFH technologies)!
But the concern is, how effective is it to keep on working all the time; doesn’t the efficiency goes down? How much productive are we really when casually staring at that screen after already spending 8-10 hours or so at work?