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time management

Huge changes in social awareness and values are possible. But for
now, work on the one part of society you can change—yourself.

Just What Can You Do About the Time Crunch?

Many of us feel that some or all of our life is out of control. It’s so
commonplace that the feeling has become a lifestyle, recognized
and capitalized on by advertisers. Advertisers sell things by con-
necting with consumers’ feelings and adapting their products and
services to accommodate those lifestyles. They aren’t saying that
we should feel out of control. They’re assuming that we do—and
offering a partial solution, a time saver, an island of tranquillity in
an ocean of chaos, one good product that works the way it should.

It should come as no surprise that the advertising community
is on to us; their studies, surveys, and focus groups are continu-
ally slicing and dicing our habits and preferences into smaller and
more manageable pieces. They know, for example, that in 2005
there were 126 billion “on-the-go eating occasions” in the United
States. That’s more than one per person per day for every man,
woman, and child—a lot of snacking. Energized by this knowl-
edge, food manufacturers are eager to supply the fuel (read: snack
food) that feeds our need to indulge and helps keep us on the go.
All this convenience adds up to a $63 billion a year business.

The food industry, who perfected the drive-through experi-
ence, consequently taught us how to eat while driving, an impor-
tant multitasking skill in today’s world. Most providers of goods
and services also design time-saving, convenience qualities into
their products and feature these characteristics in marketing
efforts. The computer hardware and software industries were built
on this premise, and stand as icons for productivity improvement.
Yet, the desire to manage time is such a universal imperative that
it continues to spawn easy-care clothing, labor-saving appliances,
electronic toll lanes, and shortcut products for every aspect of our
lives. Our cars can park themselves, we can pay for someone to

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