Bringing you up to speed.

27 years ago, I wrote the following article titled, “Don’t become obsessed with speed: save some time for the things you enjoy.” I thought I would reproduce it here in its entirety, complete with its outdated references to such things as speedy memos and videos. We had no iPhones, iPads, email or instant messaging in those days, and yet we complained about the fast pace of life. It had taken about 38 years for radio to be adopted by 50 million people, and when TV came along it took only 13 years. But it only took iPad two years and Google Plus 88 days. Speed continues to increase. How are you coping? Here’s the article.
September, 1991.
“Ever get the feeling you’re being rushed through life with little opportunity to enjoy its pleasures enroute? Stopping briefly at O’Hara international Airport in Chicago, I was confronted with the following fast food outlets for travellers in a hurry:
Speedy Buns and Rolls.
Ice Cream Express.
Hasty Pastry.
Deli in a Hurry.
Lightning Lounge.
Bun on the Run.
Mexican in a Minute.
Fast Far East.
These names seem to exemplify the prevailing atmosphere in North America. No longer is rapid transit a mode of transportation; it’s a way of life. People don’t seem to be as concerned with where they are going as with how soon they get there. Who has the time to set goals, plan and determine a course of action?
Get rich quick schemes, accelerated learning and rapid advancement are valued far more than quality relationships and the more tranquil lifestyle. Our society seems to place an unhealthy emphasis on getting things done quickly. We have fast foods, instant puddings and TV dinners. We are wooed by rapid transit, express lanes, fast checkouts and even quickie divorces. We use hasty notes, speedy memos and travelling requisitions. Fast living is in vogue.
We have electronic tellers, moving sidewalks and vending machines that dispense everything from nylons to videos. Escalators allow us to run upstairs faster. Self-serve service stations, bag-your-own supermarkets and stand-up restaurants help to keep us on the move.
Even company names reflect the value of this haste: Speedy muffler, Road Runner, Speed Queen, and Quickasair. Pizza parlours guarantee 30 minute service. Signs promise no waiting.
Time management courses are particularly appealing because they explain how we can get things done faster. Oh, they contain valuable counsel, such as the importance of family time, leisure and personal goals; but even the seminars are being conducted more quickly to meet the demands of people in a hurry. Three-hour and even one hour courses are becoming more popular. Most people seem to be after a quick fix for what ails them.
With speed seems to come a lack of control. We get the feeling we are being whisked through life as though there is a plan for our life, but we’re not in it. And just as to do lists create the impression that crossing off items is a measure of progress, so are we being conditioned to believe that speed is a measurement of accomplishment.
How is all this affecting the quality of life? Already liquid breakfasts allow us to skip time at the table, electronic games replace the need of a partner, and everything we could ever desire is being piped onto our TV screens, eliminating the necessity for social interaction. Where will it end?
It’s great to be able to save time. But to what end? Some people have become so obsessed with saving time that they are cutting time off those things they were trying to save time for. The objective of time management is to spend less time on meaningless activities and routine activities so we will have more time to spend on the meaningful activities. It is not meant to reduce the time being spent on those meaningful activities.
Some of us enjoy a leisurely meal with our family, a night out with their friends and conversation with other human beings. Some of us even enjoy shopping in person, dawdling in a restaurant, or getting exercise the old-fashioned way, walking.
Hang onto those things you enjoy. Don’t allow yourself to be swept along by the tyranny of the times. Make sure you are not shaving time from what you consider quality time.
There’s a story about a speeding motorist who gave this explanation to a policeman who had stopped him: “Officer, this road is so dangerous that I was hurrying to get off it.” He could just as well have claimed that life is so dangerous and that he was hurrying to get through it. Many of us behave as though this were true.
There is certainly nothing wrong with becoming more efficient at accomplishing more in less time; but let’s not be blinded to the fact that speed sometimes distracts us from our values and life goals. Efficiency is doing things in the best possible way; but effectiveness is doing the best possible things. Those things are activities which reflect our values.
During goal-setting sessions people were asked to list the personal activities that were most rewarding, enjoyable and productive. Most people were able to do this with little difficulty. When asked to record the date or month they last perform such activities, they had trouble recalling it because it had been so long ago.
It’s one thing to set goals. It’s quite another to ensure that our daily and weekly activities reflect those goals. This requires constant review as to what we are doing. And it is difficult to review while going at breakneck speed.
Let’s not keep pace with the crowd; but keep pace with our plan – constantly reviewing our progress towards the goals that we have set.”
July, 2018.
Well, it’s 27 years later, and life doesn’t appear to have slowed down any. Have you managed to maintain adequate time for those things that you really enjoy, and that reflect your values? Or has your iPhone just dinged, stimulating a shot of dopamine, which now compels you to access Twitter to confirm that one of your one-liners has just been re-tweeted by one of your 1200 followers?