OA Quiz: Are You Addicted to Your Blackberry?Do you feel lost without your "Crackberry" at your side? Do your friends and family members routinely comment on your affinity for your palm-sized gadget? Take this quiz to determine whether or not you're addicted to your BlackBerry®.
Do you sleep with your BlackBerry® only inches away from your pillow? Do your friends and family members tease you about your oh-so-obvious obsession with your palm-sized gadget? If so, you may be suffering from BlackBerry addiction. After all, they don't call it a "Crackberry" for nothing!
Read each statement and select an answer that best describes what you would do in the situation. Although you may not find one that describes you perfectly, choose the one that works best.
A. Couldn't care less. You usually leave your BlackBerry at the office, anyway.
B. Briefly consider delaying dinner and heading back to get it. However, you reason, you can just swing by the office to pick it up after dinner.
C. Let your significant other know that you're going to be late for dinner and head back to the office. After all, you need to take care of an "urgent" matter at work.
A. Feel extremely embarrassed and turn it off ASAP.
B. Blush and inconspicuously attempt to read the contents of the message.
C. Walk out of the recital and respond to the e-mail promptly.
A. Perfectly reasonable. In fact, it actually sounds pretty pleasant.
B. A little unnerving. After all, you would miss hundreds of important e-mails, right?
C. Inconceivable. You can't even wrap your mind around such a ludicrous idea!
A. Groan and angrily shut it off. Then, you inwardly berate yourself for leaving it on in the first place.
B. Roll over and skim the message. Unless it's urgent, there's no way you're responding to it before 7 a.m.
C. Jump out of bed and immediately respond to the message. So what if it wasn't even that important?
A. Gladly comply. Truth be told: The only reason you were checking your BlackBerry in the first place was because you already read the stacks of magazines you brought to occupy your time.
B. Begin to protest, but decide that it's probably not worth it. You'll just check your messages as soon as the plane lands.
C. Argue with the flight attendant and demand to speak to her manager. Nobody gets between you and your BlackBerry!
If mostly A's appeared on your list: Addicted? No way! In fact, you fall on the other side of the spectrum - you couldn't care less about your BlackBerry, or any other gadget for that matter. (Confession: I fall into this category.) However, perhaps it's time to consider how this device may actually boost your work productivity. For more information on this craze, check out this fun and informative article.
If mostly B's appeared on your list: Although you're not an official addict, you're certainly exhibiting some addictive tendencies. One way to ensure that your affinity for your BlackBerry doesn't become obsessive is to be mindful of how much time you're spending on it. Also, ask your friends and family members to hold you accountable and alert you when you're going into "Crackberry mode." Chances are that you'll be well on your way to technological freedom.
If mostly C's appeared on your list: Face it: You're a BlackBerry addict! To break the addiction, it's important to take small baby steps. Your first act of business? Turn it off! Although this may sound drastic, it's important that you realize that you can survive without your favorite gadget. However, if your company requires you to keep your BlackBerry turned on, inform your boss and work colleagues that you will not be responding to messages at all hours. After all, to enjoy work/life balance, you occasionally have to draw the line.