The Five Mega-Realities and You

Time Management

The Five Mega-Realities and You
by Jeff Davidson



The vast majority of Americans say they feel they are always in a hurry. This article explains the five mega-realities that contribute to such feelings of overwhelming time pressure.

Suppose that all of society was in a hurry (this seems like an adequate assumption). Mounting evidence attests that time has become the most valuable commodity in our society. A study titled, "Time Pressure in the 90s," conducted by Hilton Time Value Surveys, found that folks feel just plain rushed:

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TIME-PRESSURE IN THE 90s

77% of people surveyed selected "spending time with family and friends" as their top goal in the 90s.

66% said they would put more emphasis on "having free time."

38% report cutting back on sleep to make more time.

33% said they are unlikely to be able to make time for their ideal weekend.

33% said they don't accomplish what they set out to do each day.

31% worry that they don't spend enough time with their family and friends.

29% constantly feel stress.

21% said they don't have time for fun anymore.

20% report calling in sick to work at least once in the past year when they needed time to relax.

Why Such Feelings Of Time Pressure?

In my book, Breathing Space, I identified five mega-realities that unconditionally impact everyone all the time. The factors include:

an expanding volume of knowledge

mass media growth and electronic addiction

the paper trail culture

an over-abundance of choices

population growth

Knowledge

Everyone in America fears being under-informed. The enormous volume of new knowledge broadcasted and published in every field exceeds our ability to keep pace. More words are published and broadcast in a day than you could ingest during your life. America leads the world in sheer volume of information generated and disseminated.

The impasse of this over-information era is that the time necessary to learn the rules for effective living now exceeds your lifetime. This is why so many time management books fall wide of the mark: they list dozens--if not hundreds--of rules, when you are already following more rules for being effective in your career and life than you can keep track of.

The key to winning back your time is to be more effective at being rather than doing. If this sounds like mumbo-jumbo, let me say it another way: Winning back your time means having less to do--not more--and this "less" means identifying what's important to you.

The effect of the mass media on our lives continues unchecked. More than four out of five households own VCRs in America. In 1972, three major television networks dominated television‑‑ABC, NBC and CBS. Soon there will be 500 full-power independent television stations. Many cable TV subscribers receive up to 140 channels that offer more than 72,000 shows per month. With its sensationalized trivia, the mass media over-glut obscures fundamental issues that do merit concern, such as preserving the environment or feeding the poor.

Paper Trails

Like having too much data and eyewitness reports, having too much paper to deal with makes you feel overwhelmed and overworked. Americans today are consuming three times as much paper as ten years ago. There are two basic reasons why society spews so much paper:

* We have the lowest postal rates in the world.

* We have the widest base of paper-generating technologies.

The typical executive receives more than 225 pieces of unsolicited mail each month--about 12 pieces daily. The average family receives more than 200 catalogs that they did not request on top of those they did request.

An Over-abundance of Choices

Having choices is a blessing of the free market economy, but it's overwhelming, increases time expenditure, and is a mounting form of exhaustion. More than 1260 varieties of shampoo are on the market. More than 2000 skin care products are for sale. Seventy-five different types of exercise shoes are available, each with scores of variations in style, functions, and features.

Population

From the beginning of creation to 1850 A.D. world population grew to one billion. It grew to two billion by 1930, three billion by 1960, four billion by 1979, and five billion by 1987, and six billion is en route. Every 33 months, the current population of America, 257,000,000 people, is added to the planet.

Each day, world population (births minus deaths) increases by more than 275,000 people. Geometric growth in human population permeates and dominates every aspect of our earth, its resources, the environment, and all living things.


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Jeff Davidson, MBA, CMC, is a popular conference speaker and author of 28 books, including Breathing Space (Feb 2000). For books, videos, cassettes, or presentations, visit http://www.BreathingSpace.com, FAX (919) 932-9982, or call (919) 932-1996.