Fast Times

We should have plenty of leisure time, right? After all we have instant coffee, microwave cooking, drive through restaurants. We have Wikipedia instead of a trip to the library. We have online shopping instead of a trip to the mall. Speed dating, cell phones and Tivo. We have all of these time-saving devices and yet our lives seem busier than ever with no time to get everything done.

In this era of 8-Minute Abs and online banking, how can this be?

I point you to two good reads on the topic. Vince Poscente's book The Age of Speed. And yesterday USA Today had this article on our speeded up lives.

I would read them but I'm just too busy.

That's gold, Jerry.

Productivity advice from an unlikely source: Jerry Seinfeld.

From Lifehacker

Incremental improvement

Once in a while we get the budget, authority and time to make something big happen - a new project or a website redesign.

But most of the time that's not the case. Our sights are lower - our tasks are smaller. We find something wrong, we fix it. We add new content to fill a gap. We improve the search results by adding meta-data.

A website is never finished. It's both a blessing and a curse. It will always need updating and always have room for improvement. Products can undergo incremental improvement too. Stamps that you don't need to lick. Notes that have sticky stuff on the back. Ketchup in a squeeze bottle. Cars with anti-lock brakes.

I enjoyed one summer I spent working construction building townhouses. I always liked the satisfaction of walking off the work site at the end of the day and being able to look at a wall or a roof that you had helped build that day. Progress was clearly visible. That's not always the case when your job involves pushing paper (or pixels). But by making the little things a little better, we can get that same sense of daily accomplishment in the digital age.

Don't be a tool

I believe it was Jerry Seinfeld in one of his stand-up routines. He made the point that we are so connected today - with ubiquitous email and cell phones - that the shower is really the only place where we can't be reached.

"Yeah he's six feet away, naked and wet. We can't reach him. You're going to have to call back."

Some people feel completely tethered to their email or phone, letting the workday have no end - The "Crackberry" Phenomenon.

Some companies are having "meeting-free" days or "email-free" days in an effort to boost productivity. I'm not sure that's the answer. After all, if email and meetings aren't making you more productive, why have them? Instead, here are some tips for managing email and making sure your meetings are productive.

Henry David Thoreau wrote over 150 years ago "Men have become the tool of their tools." Email, meetings, and the telephone are your tools. You own the tools. Don't let them own you.