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I had a wonderful time interviewing Kathy Buckworth last week on The Mommy-Muse Is In. Her newly released book, The BlackBerry Diaries: Adventures in Modern Motherhood , is a delight even for those of us who haven’t had the pleasure of our very own BlackBerry….yet. Kathy enlightened me out of my belief that BlackBerry smart phones are useful only for work-away-from-home moms. Three years ago, even Kathy wasn’t convinced she actually needed a BlackBerry, but now she can hardly imagine life without it. Here’s why:
“I have found it to be an absolutely fabulous tool for connecting with other moms, as well as the ‘outside world,’ as I like to call it, and being able to stay on top of what is going on with my work, being able to virtually take my work outside of my home, which as a mom of four kids I often have to do. I’m often driving – I’m not using this when I’m driving – but I’m often driving to places where once I get there I do have the freedom to get some work done, if I’m sitting watching a dance lesson or a karate lesson.
For me, as opposed to the way that perhaps the 9 to 5 corporate sees it as a leash or an electronic leash, I find it as a freeing thing, being able to unleash me from the house and being able to take my work out with me. I think the way I look at the technology and how I use it is quite different than someone who spends their time in an office or corporate setting all day. I don’t have that sort of structure, and I’m trying to get some of that back, to be able to take my work outside.
I have a lot of friends who aren’t working from home and are in full mommy mode. For them, I think it’s very valuable, particularly when they have newborns at home and are quite isolated. It’s not only when you have newborns, but I know a lot of friends who have kids who are still napping. While nap time is a fabulous thing, it really keeps you centered in the home and not being able to get out much.
I know you can go to your computer, but if you’re out somewhere and your child is napping in the stroller in the park or you’re at a friend’s house, the BlackBerry is a great way to stay in touch and to connect with other members of your family, or to get news feeds.
It’s fabulous not only in being connected to the mom-sphere but also in getting news feeds about what the traffic is going to be like on the way home. ‘Oh, I needed to stop and grab something on the way home, I’ll just Google and find out where the closest indoor playground is on the way home.’ For stuff like that, the technology can really help us. It doesn’t have to be something that buries us or becomes an extra thing for us to have to do. The greatest thing about all types of technology is you can turn it off. If you don’t want it in your face all the time, you don’t have to have it there.
A lot of moms who are taking care of their children fulltime are so busy. They’re busy with their kids’ activities, they’re volunteering at the school, they’re running the house, they’re at the grocery store. It’s great to be able to be in those situations and get other things done while you’re there, not have a cell phone ringing all the time, or having to make a lot of stops. You can actually do things through text messaging or through emailing, on your own time.
It’s about bringing control back. One of the biggest changes for new moms is the lack of schedules but the shortage of free time. You’re busy but you ‘never get anything done.’ This allows me to control the time that I spend doing work, no matter where I am. If I know I need to get something done by the end of the day but I’m going to be sitting at a kid’s lesson or in line at the doctor’s office for an hour, I can still commit to getting something done at that time.”
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