Is technology keeping us tethered to work?

Before you read: some questions to help you think about the topic and the words you might need.

Do you feel stress from your smart devices like phones or tablets?

How important is your free time?

The growing proliferation of "smart gadgets" that keep us permanently connected is also gradually eroding the barrier between work and free time.

Now we have the "cloud" and online work tools like Google docs.  And this online technology means we have the ability to access work from anywhere and any device, and so this means having your work computer available is no longer an imperative.

This now means that there is more expectation that staff will work from home and sometimes while on holiday.

It is reported that 53 per cent of people were expected to be available outside of normal working hours. But most people, 62 per cent, were okay about the intrusion on their free time.

On average, 57 per cent of workers globally were expected to stay connected and be available outside of office hours and 56 per cent were happy to do so.

When it came to going on holiday 30 per cent of employees were expected to be available – and 38 per cent were okay to do this.

For example one digital marketing employee felt it was the best way of ensuring she had control of any work problems.

A lot of things can happen at any time and so she said she keeps in contact just to make sure everything is okay.

Her employers didn't expect her to always stay connected, even when on holiday, but she said it was better to make sure everything was in order.

One employment market analyst Steve believed technology had put pressure on employees' free time.

Technology makes it easier for employers to offer employees the opportunity to work from other locations outside the office, such as the home. And this provides them with increased flexibility. However, it's important to know that this flexibility, which allows work and free time to mix together is not a replacement for a healthy balance between work and free time.

Too much work and not enough free time could have a bad effect on workers. This can mean overly tired workers, it can mean less productive workers and a decrease in satisfaction.

It is important for the work place to still allow for a balance between work like and free time life.

The modern work is no longer just a 9 to 5 job. The modern worker is available 24/7 - time is irrelevant."

However, it is important that there is some balance when it came to balancing the job with life outside the workplace.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=2, B=1, C=8, D=4, E=7, F=5, G=6, H=3

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1. Most young people are tethered to their parents financially until they get their first job.

2. Since ten years ago there has been a big proliferation of cafes in South Korea.

3. His unkind words have eroded my feelings of friendliness towards him.

4. It is imperative that if you want to be successful you need to work hard.

5. There was an intruder in the building yesterday, so today we are ensuring that security will watch for any strange people.

6. Before you go home today, ensure that all your work is finished.

7. The professor said this reading is interesting but irrelevant because it won’t be tested.

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1. Do you feel tethered to your smartphone? Or do you know someone who is?

2. Why did smart devices proliferate in the beginning?

3. How do you feel about work eroding your free time?

4. Do you feel that it is imperative that work and free time are separate?

5. Does your smartphone intrude on your life, how can you stop it intruding?

6. If you are with someone important, what should you do to ensure that your phone doesn’t intrude on your meeting?

7. Do you feel that everything needs to be in order, or are okay if things are not finished today?

8. How do you feel about free time becoming irrelevant?