A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT – Part B
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
I expect very few people who would not state they could fill their entire day with productive activities with no time left for anything else – with no time for extra anything …
I don’t mean time for valuable gaze-out-the-window brainstorming or daydreaming components of every creative day, whether problem-solving, inventing or Edison’s version of napping-as-a-tool for problem-solving when no APP or SAAS solution is available.
Rather, I’m talking about work in its simpler form – the typical full-on work day of a normal load – the kind most workplaces and professional careers look on paper, on an org chart, or critical-path diagram in an organizational structure. And that’s ubiquitous; whether a one-person start-up at a kitchen table or Fortune 500 company, there is some form, structure, and logical expectation of what you can get done in a day (in a career or a lifetime).
What extras?
How about some of these – extras in every day– calls, emails, meetings, interruptions, errands, meal breaks, and bathroom breaks; you get the drill.
Whether we ask for it or it is thrust upon us against our will – there is a never-ending supply of work, plans to execute, and next steps to take – that bottomless in-basket and to-be-done lists, checklists, and that’s before the now ubiquitous email inbox. (it used to be we had one; now we have two or more, plus texts to our phone and direct messages on Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn and many others)
It’s exhausting just listing what we do in a day, let alone dealing with the extras we somehow cram into the cracks between our tasks.
My viewpoint is an indictment of employers, industries, consumers, or any group – recognizing our collective expectations – what we all expect from all of us, our craving for immediacy and gratification run amok. We expect instant service, instant attention, and instant results, and we don’t want fries with that.
I despise every BOT dialogue exchange I am forced by organizations (especially ones I’m paying monthly for a service but won’t give out a phone number or direct email address to a human); I want honest unscripted communication with a real person who knows what they are talking about and who can get something done or communicate the nuances of a need or a problem to the more right person in their organization. The marketplace realizes most of us cannot or will not pay a higher cost to have that, so the corporate world is enamoured with ChatBotGPT right now, because the BOT-talk will feel more natural as they improve it; still, it can’t be human … thankfully.
We want so much, we want it 24/7, yet so much is wanted of us too.
There is not enough bandwidth in our lives to handle all that we wish to do, let alone deliver all that is asked for or demanded of us. We can’t quit, retire, merge, or re-org ourselves out of this construct …
Yet, we must.
A.I. will one day do many of our tasks, but the volume won’t decline unless we force ourselves to do less, focus better, and make better choices that waste less time and energy.
There is more, of course. To be continued tomorrow …
Reader feedback:
Gotta pay yourself first Mark. Great thoughts. Best wishes….., TL, Calgary, AB