“My wife had a nickname for me, ‘Glowworm,’ because my face was constantly illuminated by some sort of screen in bed,” says Daniel Sieberg, a former technology journalist and author of “The Digital Diet,” a 2011 book on how he curbed his own device addiction. For some people, mobile devices have become such an important part of their lives, they have trouble turning them off, even at bedtime. Sieberg believes working in bed is a step toward being”overrun by technology.”
Denver productivity trainer and speaker, Laura Stack says lots of people believe working in bed allows them to be more productive, while in reality it may be an excuse to procrastinate during the day. Stack says, “They think, I’ll just put in a few hours at home in bed tonight anyway, so I have plenty of time to check Facebook and price tickets for my next vacation.”
There are risks though to taking the office to bed. Sleep can suffer. Russell Rosenberg, chairman of the National Sleep Foundation says the light from screens can suppress melatonin, the sleep hormone. The downside may be triggering or aggravating insomnia which can “break that bond between sleep and the bedroom”. Ergonomics experts say they are seeing more problems with stiff necks and backs due to the awkward positions people put themselves in while trying to multitask from bed. It would be interesting to see studies done on the incidence of migraines due to spending time engaged with mobile devices while in bed. Some people maintain however, that they do their best work there. The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic says he wrote “a shocking amount” of his 19 books of poetry while under the covers. In fact, he said he preferred working from his bed, rather than his office overlooking the Capitol during his time as U.S. Poet Laureate. “Everything flows much better,” he says. WSJ.com 11/15/12