Are You Feeling Guilty Because of Technology?

As if they uncovered some great fact, a recent survey that was published in The Journal of Health and Social Behavior suggests that women "...feel 40% more distress than men when family life is frequently interrupted..." by cell phones, Blackberries and laptops. Yes, those very things that give us flexibility and make it possible to manage all of the priorities we have in our lives.

To which I say...No Kidding!

Here's the thing or things.

Managing multiple priorities has been something that busy women professionals and executives have figured out how to do with or without the electronics age helping us along. Each new tool seems like a gift...until it becomes an intrusion.

So, yes, five or ten years ago, cell phones were a gift. You could take that last office call in the car as you drove frantically to beat the closing of the daycare doors. You could answer your boss' or staff's questions while you were on your way to the volunteer board meeting.

Then suddenly, you could also answer emails, review spreadsheets and proposals and get caught in the microwave society behavior that wants it all. Now. Right now.

That's when all of these devices started to become more attractive for business and less attractive for a balanced home life. How can you give your attention to one priority in your life when the other is buzzing in the background? How different is it really than having your toddler at work pulling on your hemline all day?

It's the boundaries that get murkier and fuzzier. The lines continue to blur - but are they blurring anyway except to create more work at home? Are you losing the lines you've tried so hard to draw?