[lit-ideas] e-mail as Mary Jane

So when is it going to be illegal to read e-mails?  (Never mind a law  
against missing a night's sleep......I'd LIKE that one...if the "night"  
consisted 
of at last 8 hours.)
 
Julie Krueger
slowly watching the world go rapidly nuts
 
_Click here:  CNN.com - E-mails 'hurt IQ more than pot' - Apr 22, 2005_ 
(http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/04/22/text.iq/index.html)  
 
 
LONDON, England -- Workers distracted by phone  calls, e-mails and text 
messages suffer a greater loss of IQ than a person  smoking marijuana, a 
British 
study shows. 
The constant interruptions reduce productivity and leave people feeling tired 
 and lethargic, according to a survey carried out by TNS Research and  
commissioned by Hewlett Packard. 
The survey of 1,100 Britons showed: 
Almost two out three people check their electronic messages out of office  
hours and when on holiday  
Half of all workers respond to an e-mail within 60 minutes of receiving one  
One in five will break off from a business or social engagement to respond  
to a message.  
Nine out of 10 people thought colleagues who answered messages during  
face-to-face meetings were rude, while three out of 10 believed it was not only 
 
acceptable, but a sign of diligence and efficiency.  
But the mental impact of trying to balance a steady inflow of messages with  
getting on with normal work took its toll, the UK's Press Association  
reported. 
In 80 clinical trials, Dr. Glenn Wilson, a psychiatrist at King's College  
London University, monitored the IQ of workers throughout the day. 
He found the IQ of those who tried to juggle messages and work fell by 10  
points -- the equivalent to missing a whole night's sleep and more than double  
the 4-point fall seen after smoking marijuana. 
"This is a very real and widespread phenomenon," Wilson said. "We have found  
that this obsession with looking at messages, if unchecked, will damage a  
worker's performance by reducing their mental sharpness. 
"Companies should encourage a more balanced and appropriate way of  working." 
Wilson said the IQ drop was even more significant in the men who took part in 
 the tests. 
"The research suggests that we are in danger of being caught up in a 24-hour  
'always on' society," said David Smith of Hewlett Packard. 
"This is more worrying when you consider the potential impairment on  
performance and concentration for workers, and the consequent impact on  
businesses."

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