Coming to terms with the speed of work and life

From time-to-time, I am reminded that life can pass us by. My almost-four year old reminded me the other day that he was old enough to do things himself. I was preparing to take garbage cans to the curb when he grabbed a wheeled can and began to pull it up the hill toward the street. I feigned an attempt to assist him, but was so curious at his new-found ability that I backed off and let him proceed. His statement that �I can do this myself� left me pondering how quickly he had developed in both his physical ability and conversation skills. It seems as if it was a few months ago that he was an infant. I was struck with how quickly he had developed. Had I really been a spectator in the first three years of his development?

This experience has made me aware of just how busy we have become in our work and personal lives. So busy, we miss important things going on all around us. It seems as if each step we make toward efficiency in life propels us forward to pack more unimportant things into our lives. Is our relatively new-found speed the enemy? I�ve come to understand that it really depends on how we use it.

I have many colleagues who shun mobile devices such as Blackberries. Their excuse always seems to be that they do not want to be slave to the urgent, but is the device really the enemy or is it how we use the device? The speed at which we communicate and manage various tasks in our daily lives using tools such as mobile email, text messaging and online purchasing creates opportunities for us to do more in other areas of our lives. In his book entitled The Age of Speed, Vince Poscente recommends harnessing the power of speed to create more time to enjoy that which is important to us. Instead of moving faster to pack more into our lives, we should move faster and become more efficient at the least important things in order to spend as much time as we can in those areas of our lives that are truly important. We should increasingly find ways to use speed to create time. Think about the things that are most important to you. Wouldn�t you like to spend more time doing them?

As we head toward the Thanksgiving Holiday, think about just how efficient life has become. Find the extra time created by these efficiencies. �Bank� that time, and spend it on what is most important in your life.

On behalf of the management team at Wolfgang have a pleasant and safe holiday. We are truly thankful for your contributions to our collective success.