Cell phone use has been a topic of discussion for a while now, especially with the introduction of the smartphone in the mid-1990s. Institutions have been trying to come up with ways to keep focus and productivity intact with the rise in cell phone use and addiction. Cell phones can be quite distracting. In 2018, adults in the United States spent an average of 3 hours and 35 minutes on their mobile devices every day. The same source also states that by 2019, mobile devices will surpass televisions as the digital device with the most daily minutes in use in the U.S. The question many employers are asking themselves now is whether cell phones are improving work productivity or damaging it.
The pros: Increased ability for communication across various platforms, business-specific apps, increased access to email, and small conveniences such as time-tracking and on-the-spot google-searches are all possible pros to smartphones in the workplace. According to Apperian in a 2016 report, 53% of executives have found that apps on cell phones increase employee productivity and improve business processes. In the same report, Apperian also shares that 45% of companies with more than 10,000 employed professionals supply apps to 50% or more of their workforce. In addition to this, 58% of companies are using apps in order to make mobile access possible to critical enterprise systems. The conclusion here is that smartphones provide access to valuable resources that increase and advance productivity and communication within and throughout the workplace.
The cons: Some cons of smartphones include an increase of personal matters infringing on work hours, use of cell phones to access company-blocked websites, and research suggesting that the mere presence of a smartphone in the same room as their owner decreases the owner’s ability to concentrate. Your phone doesn’t even need to be within your line of site, just knowing that it is in your bag, in your desk drawer, or in your back pocket can decrease your cognitive ability to focus and maintain steady productivity at work. In this study, published in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research and summarized in this Harvard Business Review article, our cell phones acts kind of like someone calling our name from across the room- only it’s all the time. The Harvard Business Review explains it this way:
“Our research suggests that, in a way, the mere presence of our smartphones is like the sound of our names — they are constantly calling to us, exerting a gravitational pull on our attention. If you have ever felt a “phantom buzz” you inherently know this. Attempts to block or resist this pull takes a toll by impairing our cognitive abilities. In a poignant twist, then, this means that when we are successful at resisting the urge to attend to our smartphones, we may actually be undermining our own cognitive performance.”
Harvard Business Review
The fact of the matter is our smartphones act as both a valuable resource and a worrying hindrance of our ability to fully and singularly focus on our tasks at hand- be it at work or elsewhere. Some might call them a necessary evil, however this all depends on your relationship with your phone. At the end of the day, we rely on our phones on the surface as well as cognitively. Whether we can actually function in a world without our smartphones is no question- we definitely can- but our mobile devices provide significant benefits and conveniences as well and should not be overlooked. In the context of our work, employers are adapting to the ubiquitous nature of cell phone use and coming up with ways to regulate this use in ways that enhances the benefits and minimizes the consequences. This article has a few good tips for people who want to minimize their cell phone distractions at work and in general. The Balanced Careers has also recently published a blog on cell phone etiquette to consider in the workplace, should you feel like you need to make some changes. No matter where you stand in the cell phone debate, there are pros and cons worthy of serious consideration. The next time you are at work and find yourself glancing at your phone, thinking about scrolling Twitter or Reddit or checking your text messages, think about why that is and whether it is something you want or need to change. The first step to changing any of your habits is awareness!
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