FC NOW: The Fast Company Weblog
February 23, 2006
Balancing Time
"People who have learned to answer email on Sunday evenings also need to learn how to go to the movies on Monday afternoons. By redesigning the architecture of time, we can make room for work, leisure, and idleness."
--Ricardo Semler, president, Semco
From Fast Company's recently released book, The Rules of Business: 55 Essential Ideas to Help Smart People (and Organizations) Perform At Their Best
Posted by Kevin Ohannessian at February 23, 2006 10:29 AM | Category: book discussions |
4 Comments
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"By redesigning the architecture of time..."
Is it the architecture of time that needs redesigning or the architecture of our choices? If we take control of our time by first taking control of ourselves and make different choices, time becomes a building block on which we can design better businesses and better lives.
I thought this quote ws so good I felt like I had no choic but to post it on my own blog.
--RC of strangeculture.blogspot.com
What have we changed, time or space? I remember a pager, about the size of today's cell phone. The office was no longer shut out of our cars, the restaurant, or our homes. Space or rather boundaries changed. Skipping the cell phone and especially those equipped with GPS...we are answering email on Sunday. It is space that has changed dramatically. We are our office and going or doing, does not separate us from the urgent task at hand...we must do more and faster. The movies were once a place where we went for a momentary vacation from the affairs of the day and although I know it was mentioned as an example of recreation, it also proves to be an example of how far we have gone. Imagine sitting in that movie, popcorn in hand, hotdog on lap, and soda in the convenient cup holder. Your pocket gives way to vibration and within seconds, there is a blue glow in your hands. Its Monday, you are at the movies and you are receiving and answering your email via cell phone. We don't need an architect, we just need boundaries. Maybe Beverley has a point.
Vernon
Hopken@aol.com
(will not answer on Sunday)
The variable in any equation that deals with time is the person. I agree with the ideology of redesigning the architectur of time as well as Beverly's post. When it gets right down to it, it will always be us who are the ones that determine how time is spent. Many of us have heard this before, however few of us practice this.