Living on Internet Time

Living on Internet Time

Problem: It seems like our work lives are accelerating faster and faster. The latest buzzword for it is "living on Internet time." Internet time is a speeded up version of life "P-I" (Pre-Internet).

On Internet Time:

• Businesses often get funded in a matter of months
• Company websites get on the Internet in a matter of weeks

• E-mails must be answered immediately - if not sooner.

• Customer service has to be live on-line

• And everything is due now

Internet companies proudly trumpet the fact that their employees work 16 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week (24/7). But as Steward Brand so wisely said, "If you want to keep speeding up, you also need to learn how to slow down." So how can we slow ourselves down to cope more effectively and improve our business and personal life?

Solution: To be honest, my suggestions are nothing new. They are the same tried and true time management techniques that we've been taught for over 30 years now. But they're more necessary now than ever.

• Set your priorities
Decide what really matters to you and make a list of your key business and personal goals. In addition to your business goals, choose to make your health, your socio-family life and your peace of mind real priorities.

• Schedule what really matters to you
Once you've chosen them, you have to actually put all your priorities on your schedule. Make sure to write in special time with your family or regular time at the gym and make it inviolable. Do not reschedule these things.

• Be realistic
Only so many things can get done in a day whether we live on Internet Time or not. A time honored tool to help you with this is Alan Lakein's classic exercise of prioritizing your daily activities with A's, B's and C's according to their importance and then focusing on the most important ones. It can be found in his book How To Get Control of Your Time and Your Life, which was a best-seller before Internet Time or even personal computers existed.

Example: I was hired by a mid-level executive in the financial services industry who was overwhelmed by the demands of her work schedule and family life. She had too many e-mails to respond to and too many deadlines.

I made it clear to her that she had to be the one to set her priorities: No one else could do it for her. Then we systematically worked through her priorities and the "ABC" process of scheduling them.

Results: Her new priorities and schedule made her feel much clearer and more energized. She cut back her schedule from 15-16 hour days to a more "normal" 10-12 hour day.

Summary: The Japanese call 24/7 "karoshi" which translates as working yourself to death. We all need some "non-Internet Time" to regenerate ourselves. The methods I've outlined can help you regain your life balance.

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Michael H. Smith, Ph.D.
5801 Leona St., Ste A
Oakland, CA 94605

Tel: 510-530-7900
Fax: 510-530-7922
Email: MHSmith@MichaelHSmithPhD.Com