Technology is not an unmixed blessing. Now that it's possible do things faster than ever before, there are expectations that we can and we will do just that.
Last Friday I was working with clients till 2:00 pm. When I turned my phone back on, I had an email and a voice mail from the listing agent on a short sale that other clients are hoping to buy. She had sent me a document that she wanted signed by my clients and returned to her that same afternoon. No pressure!
(I'll write more about this short sale after the fat lady has sung.)
However, Peter and Kris were not at work last Friday afternoon; they were enjoying a getaway weekend in New York City! I called Peter's mobile, and he picked up. "I've emailed you a document that you need to print, both of you sign, and scan back to me," I told him. But how? "Ask your iPhone to find the nearest UPS Store," I suggested. Sure enough, there was one a half-block away. I received the signed document just minutes later.
So, this is a success story, right? From Raleigh, North Carolina, to the streets of New York, a document gets sent, signed, and returned in less than half an hour. When technology works, we love it.
But the only reason we were asked to turn the document around in a nanosecond was because technology makes it possible. Look at the side effects foisted upon us by that expectation -- pressure, urgency, stress.
In this instance, the best-case scenario worked out. I could have been with clients and ignoring my phone till 5:00 instead of 2:00. Kris and Peter could have been in a museum or at an event with their phones turned off -- they were on vacation, after all. But I'm afraid our success only increases the likelihood of more such demands in the future.
Just because an instant response is possible doesn't mean that it's reasonable. Must everything be urgent? What kind of an environment are we creating for ourselves, if every single thing is urgent? Not a healthy, balanced one, for sure.
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