BlackBerry devices and other smartphones may have had a huge impact on executive and employee productivity, but they also have <A HREF="http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1035_22-6197561.html?tag=nl.rSINGLE">a negative impact on work-life balance</A> by making it more difficult to switch off from the office, according to a recent survey.

The study, conducted by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, found that an average BlackBerry user converts one hour of downtime to productive time each day and increases overall team efficiency by 38 percent.

Each member of Silicon.com's 12-person CIO Jury IT user panel agreed that BlackBerry devices and smartphones have improved their productivity but warned that it can have a negative impact on work-life balance without judicious use of the off switch.