【英语生活】工作“入侵”卧室的利与弊

By Sue Shellenbarger

Is clacking away on a laptop while sprawling on bed sheets more comfortable and productive than hunching over a desk?

Researchers who study work habits say a new generation reared on mobile devices is increasingly accustomed to using them while propped against pillows, lying down or in a fetal curl.

Half of 1,000 workers polled this year by Good Technology, a Sunnyvale, Calif., mobile-security software company, said they read or respond to work emails from bed. A study of 329 British workers found nearly 1 in 5 employees spends two to 10 hours a week working from bed, according to the 2009 poll by Credant Technologies, a London-based data-security company.

Some people who work from the sack are intent on staying ahead of email, or responding quickly to customers or co-workers in different time zones, the surveys show. One 37-year-old who responded to a 2012 survey on the topic by Infosecurity Europe, a London industry group, said 'when you work with people all around the world, it is difficult to avoid' working from bed.
Laura Stack, a Denver productivity trainer and speaker, says she has seen a doubling of clients in the past decade who work from their sleep space. Many think it will make them more productive. More often, though, it gives people an excuse to procrastinate during the workday. '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 FB -1.05% and price tickets for my next vacation,' ' says Ms. Stack. She advises people to take steps to be more efficient during the workday, and to keep the bedroom off-limits for everything but sleep and sex.

Others become so immersed in using mobile devices that they feel remiss if they turn them off. For many, working in bed is a step toward being 'overrun by technology,' says Daniel Sieberg, a former technology journalist and author of 'The Digital Diet,' a 2011 book on how he curbed his own device addiction.

'My wife had a nickname for me, 'Glowworm,' because my face was constantly illuminated by some sort of screen in bed,' he says. 'I can say firsthand, it doesn't lend itself to intimacy when you're staring at a screen.' He has since made his bedroom a 'device-free zone,' putting chargers elsewhere in the house and using an alarm clock instead of his smartphone alarm. More than half of people whose partners work from bed find the habit annoying, according to the Credant survey.

Market research by Reverie, a Walpole, Mass., maker of adjustable beds, suggests as many as 80% of young New York City professionals work regularly from bed, says chief executive Martin Rawls-Meehan. His firm is pushing to change the hospital image of adjustable beds to appeal to younger consumers, showing them how elevating the head or foot can ease strain while watching TV or working.

Reverie also offers a built-in power outlet in the base of its beds to plug in lamps, televisions or laptops. Both the outlet and the bed's movement can be operated with a hand-held remote, or with the user's smartphone or tablet via built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

David Spiegel used to avoid working from bed because it was uncomfortable. But since buying an adjustable Reverie model six months ago, the Chicago attorney has begun checking and sending email several nights a week before falling asleep. Elevating the head and foot of the bed prevents back strain, he says. Also, the worknight ritual helps him 'catch up and make sure everything is buttoned up, so I know I'm going into the next day prepared.'

Luxury-bed manufacturer E.S. Kluft & Co. of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., just launched a giant 7-by-7-foot bed, 16% bigger than a standard king bed and a foot wider than a California King. One split model features separate adjustments for each side, partly to allow couples to spread out papers and work from bed, says chief executive Earl Kluft. A recent ad shows a couple eying a laptop side-by-side, portraying the bed as 'a gathering place, a workplace, a comfort zone for a couple,' says Mr. Kluft.

Steelcase, SCS +0.77% a Grand Rapids, Mich., office-furniture maker, has been researching the changing work habits of Millennials and other young workers. It recently launched a line of low-slung lounge-like chairs with headboards and pillows, for leaning back and relaxing while working or talking to colleagues. The company hopes more employers will replace a cubicle or two with such flexible furniture. 'Maybe people will say, 'I'll work there instead of working from my bed tonight,' ' says James Ludwig, vice president of global design.

Ergonomics experts shudder at the trend. Mr. Sieberg says many people who bring laptops or other devices to bed get stiff necks or backs from holding their bodies in strange positions, propping themselves up on their elbows or rolling around trying to get comfortable. Tapping casually on a smartphone or tablet touch screen in bed is less likely to cause ergonomic problems than multitasking intensively on a laptop. But working on any mobile device in bed for more than an hour without lumbar support, with the neck bent forward too sharply, or with the arms and hands suspended at an awkward angle, is likely to cause aches and pains.

Don Chaffin, director emeritus of the University of Michigan's Center for Ergonomics, recommends using a detachable keyboard and setting it on a lap desk or pillow, and supporting elbows and arms so the wrists are straight when extended. Any screen or monitor should sit at or just below eye level, perhaps on a rolling table or extendible arm, so the user doesn't have to flex the neck more than 15 degrees. A lumbar pillow for the back and more pillows propped under the legs can ease muscle strain, Dr. Chaffin says. People should get up and move around every hour or so.

Sleep can suffer too, of course. Russell Rosenberg, chairman of the National Sleep Foundation, says light from screens tends to suppress the sleep hormone melatonin. And a work-in-bed habit can 'break that bond between sleep and the bedroom,' and trigger or worsen insomnia, he says.

Pitfalls aside, some people find they do their best work this way. The Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic, of Strafford, N.H., says he wrote 'a shocking amount' of his 19 books of poetry from the tangle of his sheets. Even when he was given an office overlooking the Capitol during his tenure as U.S. Poet Laureate, he preferred his bed. 'Everything flows much better,' he says.

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Copyright (c) 2012 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

躺在床上敲笔记本电脑比伏在书桌前工作更舒适、效率更高吗？

Reverie一款有两部份组成的Reverie可调节床，配备了内置电源插座（起价5,999美元），一个人工作时，另一半可以酣眠。研究工作习惯的研究人员称，“泡”在移动设备中长大的新一代越来越习惯靠在枕头上、躺着或蜷着身子使用移动设备。

在加利福尼亚州森尼韦尔(Sunnyvale)的手机安全软件公司Good Technology今年开展的一项调查中，接受调查的1,000名员工中有半数称他们在床上阅读或回复工作邮件。根据2009年伦敦数据安全公司Credant Technologies对329名英国员工进行的调查，近五分之一的人每周花二至10小时在床上工作。


Ikea柔软的桌子：宜家家居的笔记本电脑小桌板（15美元），有助于笔记本电脑底下的空气循环，效果好于放在膝盖或床上。调查显示，一些在床上工作的人是为了及时查看或快速回复不同时区的客户或同事的电子邮件。在伦敦行业团体Infosecurity Europe 2012年进行的一项专题调查中，一位37岁的受调查者说：“当你与世界各地的人合作时，很难避免”在床上工作。

丹佛(Denver)的生产力教练兼演说家劳拉•斯塔克(Laura Stack)称，过去10年中，她的客户中在床上工作的人数翻了一番。许多人认为这会让他们效率更高。但在更多情况下，它让人们有借口拖延工作。斯塔克说：“他们会想：‘反正今晚我会在家里的床上干几个小时工作，因此我有足够时间查看Facebook和下次度假的票价。’”她建议人们采取措施提高工作时间的效率，并在卧室中禁止睡眠和性生活以外的一切活动。

Furinno;笔记本电脑升降桌：Furinno的床上折叠桌可根据舒适度来调节（亚马逊售价为62美元）。还有些人太沉迷于使用移动设备，以至于关掉移动设备就会觉得错过了什么。前科技记者、《数字节食》(The Digital Diet，2011年出版，书中介绍了作者如何控制移动设备瘾)的作者丹尼尔•西尔伯格(Daniel Sieberg)说，对许多人来说，在床上工作是朝着“被科技侵占”迈出的一步。

他说：“我妻子以前给我起了个昵称‘萤火虫’，因为我的脸总是被床上的某种屏幕照亮。我可以凭我的亲身感受说，当你盯着屏幕时，不适合做亲密举动。”后来他让卧室成为了“无移动设备区”，将充电器放在家中其他地方，并使用闹钟而不是智能手机闹铃。根据Credant的调查，超过一半的人都认为伴侣在床上工作的习惯很讨厌。

Steelcase办公室的沙发床：办公家俱生产商Steelcase推出了可让人依靠放松的办公家俱。马萨诸塞州沃波尔(Walpole)的可调节床生产商Reverie的首席执行长马丁•罗尔斯-米汉(Martin Rawls-Meehan)说，该公司进行的市场研究表明，80%的纽约年轻专业人士经常在床上工作。他的公司正在努力改变可调节床是病床的印象，以吸引年轻消费者，告诉他们看电视或工作时如何抬高头部或脚部能缓解紧张。

Reverie还在床座上提供了一个内置电源插座，可以连接电灯、电视或笔记本电脑。插座和床的移动都可以通过手持遥控器操作，也可以通过内置无线网络和蓝牙功能用用户的智能手机或平板电脑操作。

芝加哥律师戴维•施皮格尔(David Spiegel)曾经避免在床上工作，因为他觉得这样不舒服。但自从6个月前买了一张Reverie可调节床以后，他开始每周好几晚在睡觉前查看和发送电子邮件。他说，抬高床的头部和脚部可以预防背部紧张。而且，晚间工作习惯可以帮他“赶上工作进度并确保圆满完成每项工作，因此我确信自己能为第二天做好准备。”

Levenger;像古埃及人一样冲浪：这个金字塔枕头能支撑平板电脑，还可以存放零散的笔，让它们不致掉落在床上。在levenger.com上售价39美元。加利福尼亚州库卡蒙格牧场(Rancho Cucamonga)的豪华床具生产商E.S. Kluft & Co.刚刚推出了一款7英尺×7英尺的巨床，比标准大床大16%，比加州大床(California King)宽一英尺。一款分离式的这种巨床可以每侧独立调节，该公司首席执行长厄尔•克卢夫特(Earl Kluft)称，这让夫妻可以摊开纸，在床上工作。最近的一则广告展示了一对夫妻并排看着一台笔记本电脑，将床描绘为克卢夫特所说的“夫妻的相聚之地、工作场所和放松区域”。

密歇根州大急流城(Grand Rapids)的办公家具生产商Steelcase研究了千禧一代和其他年轻员工的工作习惯变化。最近，该公司推出了一款低矮的沙发椅，它带有床头板和枕头，工作时或与同事交谈时可以靠在上面放松。该公司希望，更多企业可以在一两个隔间中摆放上这种灵活的家具。该公司全球设计部副总裁詹姆斯•路德维格(James Ludwig)说：“或许人们会说：‘我要在那里工作，而不是晚上在自家床上工作。’”

人体工程学专家对这一趋势不寒而栗。西尔伯格说，许多把笔记本电脑或其他设备带到床上的人会因为保持奇怪的身体姿势、用手肘支撑身体或为了舒适翻来滚去而导致颈部或后背僵硬。和在笔记本电脑上集中进行多任务工作比起来，在床上随意触摸智能手机或平板电脑的触摸屏不太可能导致人体工程学问题。但是在床上使用移动设备工作超过一小时而没有腰椎支撑，颈部向前弯曲过于剧烈，或者以别扭的角度悬着手臂和手，都可能导致疼痛。

密歇根大学(University of Michigan)人体工程学中心(Center for Ergonomics)名誉理事唐•查芬(Don Chaffin)建议使用可拆卸键盘，把它放在电脑桌或枕头上，并支起手肘，这样手腕就可以放直。任何屏幕或显示屏都应该位于或稍低于视线水平，可以将它们放在折叠桌或延长臂上，这样用户就不必让颈部弯曲超过15度。查芬博士说，在背后放一个腰枕或在腿下塞更多枕头可以缓解肌肉紧张。应该每一小时左右就起来走动走动。

当然，睡眠也可能会受到影响。美国国家睡眠基金会(National Sleep Foundation)主席罗素•罗森堡(Russell Rosenberg)称，屏幕光线往往会抑制睡眠荷尔蒙褪黑激素的分泌。他说，习惯在床上工作的人会“打破睡眠和卧室之间的联系”，并引发或加重失眠。

尽管有缺陷，但有些人发现他们用这种方式工作效率最高。普利策奖得主、新罕布什尔州斯特拉福德(Strafford)的诗人查尔斯•西米克(Charles Simic)说，他的19本诗集中有“很惊人的部分”都是在被窝里写出来的。即使他在获任美国桂冠诗人期间得到了一间俯瞰国会大厦的办公室，他也更喜欢他的床。他说：“在床上一切都顺利得多。”