Doing More and Doing Better.

by Patricia Kimball

It is hard to believe sometimes that there was life before email. How did we communicate? How did we share our ideas? How did we schedule meetings, announce events, or talk to our friends across the country without spending a fortune on phone calls?

I have been thinking a lot about email and the value of technology and social media and the speed at which we can communicate and exchange ideas across miles and time zones and among large numbers of people. I have been thinking about how this tool – email specifically – has changed our communication patterns, style and most certainly, our work lives.

I am old enough to remember the years I spent working without email. Without computers, actually. And to really date myself, without answering machines or voice mail. I remember receiving phone messages in my actual office mailbox on little pink pieces of paper. I remember handwriting case notes and scheduling meetings by calling people one-by-one. These things took hours. We did not know “another way” was just on the horizon, so we did not resent the time it took to perform these tasks, it was just part of the job. This is not to say we did not complain about it….oh, we did complain.

The “email way” arrived and years later, as evidence of it as a universally accepted communication mode, your email address is a standard requirement on any application you fill out.

I stop here and start a new train of thought – which I promise will circle around to connect back to email.

How many people do you know that are not “really busy”? Ask anyone how they are doing and I guarantee, more times than not, he/she will refer to how busy he/she is. And it is true. We are all busy. We all have many things to do in our lives and too little time to accomplish them. We all feel the pressure of time and the pressure to accomplish things, lots of things.

So, back to email. If we save so much time through email and other forms of technology, where has the saved time gone? What have we done with the hours we have saved by not having to call 15 people one-by-one to schedule a meeting? Clearly, based on the mantra “I am so busy”, we have filled the hours we save through technology. Filled them to the brim, it seems.

So, maybe we do more now. And by doing more, we accomplish more. And by accomplishing more…then what? Have we solved more social problems? Have we cured that which ails us? Are hungry people less hungry? Do homeless people have access to more shelter? We are clearly doing more, but are we doing better?

I love technology. I love social media. I love being able to communicate quickly and with ease. I do not want to go back to the time when notebook referred to a spiral-bound book of lined paper. But, I also want some of my time back. I want to spend those hours I have gained with people. Thinking. Slowing down and paying attention to the world. Formulating really good ideas to solve our most pressing social challenges. I want to use the precious time we save through technology not to do more, but to do better. How about you?

Patricia Kimball is the owner/founder of Ideactive Solutions and is a featured blogger.