In This Edition:
1.
May Flowers
2.
The One Best Way?
3.
The Ubiquitous Cell Phone
4.
A Light Moment
May Flowers
May is busting out all over, as everything down here comes into
bloom about month before the north, which is fine with me. The 26 winters
in Connecticut were fine at the time, but I wouldn't want to repeat the
feat! It's a little warmer here, and a little slower, but not by much...
The One Best Way?
Throughout society you hear a familiar lament: there doesn't seem
to be enough time to do the things you need to do within a given day. Yet,
if you're like most people, despite all that competes for your time and
attention, you have to concede that there are many times throughout the day
when you unnecessarily waste time.
Some time management gurus suggest that you record how you spend
each hour of the day for one week or one month. Then, like doing a budget,
you see the number of hours that you've wasted, and like money wasted, will
wish you had those hours back. Go ahead and make a time diary if you wish,
but I don't think it's necessary. Human nature being what it is, you're
going to continue to hang on to some tasks, even those you know in your
heart of hearts ought to be delegated to others or dropped all together.
While managing your time is a worthwhile pursuit, the myths
surrounding the effective management of your time can all but quash your
efforts. Time management as we know it, essentially started with the work
of Frederick Taylor and Frank Gilbreth.
One hundred years ago, they astounded the industrial world by
establishing time and motion procedures which enabled employers to get
higher productivity from their workers. In doing so, Taylor and Gilbreth
established the basis of modern day time management techniques, which were
widely adopted by executives.
In recent years, the backlash against Taylor in particular, has
been mighty. Some authors contend that his ceaseless quest for "the one
best way" changed the very texture of twentieth-century life. Others
contend
that Taylor taught us not to stop and smell the roses and that his
compulsions eerily foreshadowed the time-pressure that everyone feels
today.
The Ubiquitous Cell Phone
A recent issue of Men's Health Magazine provided the following data
on their reader's experiences with cell phones and telephones in general:
- 67% of respondents report having driven with one hand on the wheel
and one hand on a cell phone.
- 25% report that the cell phone has made their life more stressful,
the prime reason being "it makes me too accessible."
- 60% of men take their cell phone with them on vacation.
- 82% of men have sworn at their cell phone.
I guess the results speak volumes about what happens when a
seemingly productivity-enhancing technology is employed without specific
ground rules. Men's Health Readers: you control your cell phone, not vice
versa. Now you've been told!
A Light Moment
English language mysteries found on the Web: If teachers taught,
why didn't preachers praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a
humanitarian eat? In what language do people recite at a play and play at a
recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? How can a slim chance and a
fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
