What ever happened to the 2 day work week I was promised?

Paul Cutajar wrote a post about how the Blackberry has impacted his life.  I got to thinking about the devices and gadgets that have changed mine through the years.

I remember when I was a kid, reading a newspaper article about what life would be like in the 21st century.  It predicted that there would be so many labor-saving devices, that instead of working 5 days and having 2 days off, we would all be working just 2 days a week and taking 5 off.  I could hardly wait.  I knew that when I grew up I wouldn't have to work the long hours and my dad did.  I'd have it easy, and I'd travel or otherwise goof off 5 days a week!

Fast forward:   I remember when I had just been working in a law office for a short time and we got one of the first fax machines of anyone we knew.  Once our clients found out and got their own fax machines, our work become much more difficult.  We could not plan our days the same way because if you wanted to work on Client A's project and Client B called and asked where his document was, you'd have to drop A's and get B's done so you could fax it over.  Since I had a caseload of anywhere from 30-50 open files, this was often difficult to juggle.  Everyone thought his work should get done first - and right now while he waited.

Even then, however, the attorneys didn't type their own documents.  We would dictate them and hand the tape to a secretary to type.  This gave a little excuse for getting a document out in a few hours.  It couldn't be typed until it was dictated, then had to be proofread and reprinted before it could be faxed.  Before fax machines, the client never expected to get his document in less than a couple of days.

Next came attorneys having computers on our desks, so that the turnaround time was cut further - no need to dictate it wait for the secretary to type from dictation.  That forced even more pressure to get the "urgent" things out more quickly.  Anything that wasn't most urgent got done by working late because even they were expected to be ready first thing in the morning.

We figured that was about as far as it could go, and then we all got email.  Why wait for a fax when we could send everything directly through the computer -  and it was more legible as well.  At least we had to be at the office to receive the calls from clients and work on our matters.

Then - you guessed it - we got smart phones.  Now our clients could reach us at night, on weekends, or any time the mood struck, and since we all had state of the art computers at home, and since they could email to our phones, we needn't wait until office hours to review a document, did we?  "Surely it would take just a few minutes to look at it and let me know what you think while I'm on the phone."

Now since I began working full time in real estate and shut down my law office, I have become completely dependent on my phone, my computer, my newly acquired netbook, and my other gadgets that didn't even exist when I started practicing law.  Most of the time I don't mind hearing from my real estate clients in the evenings, as it is far less stressful than when I practiced law.  The only trouble is, that is my time for blogging and posting on the other social media sites. 

What can we expect next?  I'm excited to find out.

But ... what ever happened to the 2 day work week I was promised?  I often feel that I work a 10 day work week!

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Full time real estate services in Fair Oaks CA, with friendly professionalism, 20+ years experience. I work hard to give my buyer or seller a low-stress transaction. "Happy clients make me happy."

For all your real estate needs or questions, call me at (916) 705-8951 or visit my website at www.SusanNealFineProperties.com.