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STEVE STRAUSS
Small businesses

Blurred lines: Smartphones and home, work balance

Steve Strauss
for USA TODAY

Q: Steve – I wrote you late yesterday afternoon and haven't heard back yet. I would appreciate it if you would let me know one way or the other. Thanks – Brian

A: I lost my iPhone this week.

It was a weird experience, both good and bad. And this being Small Business Week, it got me to thinking about just how different business is these days.

There used to be a fine line between work and home life. Then it got blurry. Now it's very blurry.

Now, the fact that I lost my phone is not why I hadn't responded to Brian's e-mail. In fact, I got his follow up e-mail (above) the next morning at 10 a.m. and responded shortly thereafter. But truly, there was no rush in what we were talking about; his second e-mail had only come in a few "work" hours after the time he first wrote me (3 p.m. on Tuesday) and when I responded (11 a.m. on Wednesday).

Back in the old days, before instantaneous communication, he would have never expected an answer so quickly. But I get it. In his mind it wasn't four hours, it was almost a whole day. And given how we all work all the time now, I suppose he figured he was just being proactive.

There used to be a fine line between work and home life. Then it got blurry. Now it's very blurry. I am as guilty as anyone else of this for sure -- writing columns in the evening or doing e-mails at midnight or whatever.

Losing my phone was a bit of a wake up call.

For starters, I was unable to check my e-mail anytime, all the time.

At first, it sort of freaked me out as so much of my work is dependent on e-mail. But then, that un-tethered feeling I had, which at first was so disconcerting, became sort of emancipating.

Whenever I read articles about time management and productivity, inevitably one of the things that the experts say is that you need to tame e-mail and that the best way to do that is to delegate it to certain blocks of the day. Timothy Ferris, author of The 4 Hour Workweek, figured out how to delegate the vast majority of his e-mail to a virtual assistant. I have never been able to get to that place, but truly, not being able to check e-mail so often was liberating.

The other thing that happened, work-wise, as a result of not having a phone on me for a week, was that no one who knew my phone was missing expected instant responses, either by phone, text, or e-mail.

Again, at first, it made me very uncomfortable. And then, again, it became a blessing. One of the differences in this new era of business is that people do in fact have many ways to instantly communicate with one another, and that makes getting things done both easier and tougher. Easier because things can get handled quickly. Tougher because there are times when you don't want to be interrupted.

What happened for the five days with no cell phone was that I was able to do handle projects in large chunks of time uninterrupted and then get in touch with folks later. That too was an improvement.

But it wasn't all good. At one point I was going to a meeting at an office I had not been to before. I thought I knew where it was, but I was off by a few blocks. No phone, no GPS. Then I wanted to call the place and tell them I was going to be a little late. Apologies were accepted.

When I received my replacement phone yesterday, I was (mostly) happy to have it. But I did learn an important lesson this week. The only one allowing that blurry line between work and home life was . . . me.

And so it is. Business continues to evolve. Is it different today than when national Small Business Week began, way back in 1963? You bet, and (mostly, but not totally!) for the better.

Today's tip: For Small Business Week, the National Organization of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) and Web.com (with whom I do some work) commissioned a survey on the state of women owned business. This, their third annual survey, had some fascinating results.

Why do women start their own businesses? To better handle work and home life, right? Wrong.

According to the survey, the work-home life balance actually came in next to last as a reason for becoming an entrepreneur. The main reason? Because they had a vision and a passion for a business idea they wanted to see though. The rest of the results are similarly interesting.

Steve Strauss, @Steve Strauss on Twitter, is a lawyer specializing in small business and entrepreneurship and has been writing for USATODAY.com for 20 years. E-mail: sstrauss@mrallbiz.com. Website: TheSelfEmployed.

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