This story from the NYT hit home with me today. Not a surprise -- people are feeling busy and feeling frustrated by how they feel. Here's the money quote:
Edward M. Hallowell, a psychiatrist and author of “CrazyBusy: Overstretched, Overbooked and About to Snap” (Ballantine Books, 2006) writes about how he knew he had crossed into the dark side from busy to crazy busy when he got mad at a rotary phone while staying at a vacation house.
Unable to use a cellphone, he was driven nuts waiting for the dial to return to start.
Then calming himself, he timed how long the dialing actually took: 11 seconds.
It's a great example of how technology sets expectations and changes our view of the world. Last week, I was at a house with no broadband - only dialup. Top speed was 48kbps -- a glacial crawl that had me ripping out my hair. But wait...it was just a few years ago -- five or so -- when I lived solely on dialup when out of the office, and would have considered that speed stunning. My first modem was a 5kpbs screamer. But now, acclimated to broadband anywhere, what was once a blessing is now a curse.
I'm not giving up on broadband, but some of the suggestions in the story are worth considering. It's Saturday -- I'll be less busy today.