Heather Little-White, Ph.D., Contributor

Wireless technology is here and the convenience is appreciated by the busy executive who can conduct business from virtually any space. However, executives may find that these convenient devices like the popular BlackBerry phone may be ruining their sex lives. Donna and her husband find themselves in 'BlackBerry time' when they should be having undisturbed intimate moments.

With technological advances and increased workload, executives are relying more and more on personal digital assistants (PDAs) with email access, such as the BlackBerry, Palm, Motorola, Q-Phone and soon, Apple's iPhone. However, surveys show that we are not using these devices to have more time for recreation and shorter work hours; instead, new technology is causing executives to work harder, faster and longer.

Addiction

Donna claimed that she and her husband decided to put an end to the limited sex situation after discovering that the BlackBerry phone had become an addiction - "They [the phones] are with us in bed and throughout the night, my husband more than me will be answering calls from our business because of the service we offer - the BlackBerry goes to the bathroom, to the kitchen and I even take it out to the garden," Donna adds.

Today's executives with a fast-paced life and family responsibilities depend on technology to get them through the day. For them, wireless devices are a necessity. They allow flexibility where previously there was none, the ability to travel extensively for work and a means to keep up with the global economy. Still, even those most reliant on wireless devices have concerns about never-ending workweeks and constant interruptions impacting personal relationships.

Promotion

Kristine Robak, a sales director at Suez Energy Resources in Boston, manages $100 million in energy contracts and have resisted adopting a BlackBerry. She already suffers through her husband checking emails during mealtimes, even while speeding down highways. However, a recent promotion means more travel for Kristine, and her company is ready to order her one of the devices. The question she mulls over is that while it might be practical for work and for the flexibility her one-year-old son requires, is it also good for her marriage? (Forbes.com)

The invasion of wireless technology is affecting singles as well as married professionals. Upwardly mobile singles claim that they spend more time on their devices doing business related to the boardroom rather than getting ahead with matters for the bedroom. Modern-day technology, while efficient, stands to create more bachelors and spinsters.

Scheduling times

To prevent work hindering your relationships, Patricia A. Farrell, Ph.D., clinical psychologist and author of How to Be Your Own Therapist: A Step-by-Step Guide to Taking Back Your Life, suggests that time should be allocated for work-related activities and time for building relationships. Work should not come first at the expense of relationships. When couples are not at work, they should not feel guilty because they think that they should be doing work rather than relaxing and enjoying each other's company. In this regard, some will resort to a PDA like BlackBerry or Palm.

Despite its appeal as the ultimate life/work balance tool, the PDA - like its predecessors the cellphone and pager - may in fact be increasing our stress by opening up around-the-clock access to the workplace. Studies have shown that those employees in contact with work outside of normal work hours via technological devices like the cellphone or the PDA are more often highly overworked and stressed than those with little or no contact with the office.

Lack of intimacy

When persons have around-the-clock access to the office the result is stress, fatigue, a lack of intimacy, resentment, increased conflict and even premature career burnout. These factors are enough to crater a less-than-solid marriage or relationship. Robert Reich, the former U.S. secretary of labour, popularised the term 'DINS couples' (double income, no sex) in a discussion on the hazards of work overload. Simply put, people are working too much to have sex.

According to a Kinsey Institute report, today's women are having much less sex than their 1950s counterparts. Hard-working female executives and their PDA schedules find that they have less energy for sex or the time to wine and dine their partners in an intimate setting at home. Couples are now finding that their time out for prolonged intimacy may only come with the occasional weekend out of town or vacation abroad. The double-income couple is too busy and most of all too tired for sex.

Wireless technology is adding to the problem of limited sex between couples. Underlying tensions in the relationship increase when partners are constantly contacting the office. The popular BlackBerry and other technological devices are definitely contributing to an increase in 'double income no sex couples' who are not having sex because there is no time.