Escaping the Madness

Tuesday 12th August

I am living a crazy life at the moment, dashing out to France as many times as possible this August, to be with my wife but also to escape the madness.  In between I am trying to cram in both work, which shows no sign of slowing – in fact the opposite, and seeing my scattered children.  Add to this 4 major birthdays in the month and life seems a roller-coaster I just cannot get off.  I am being dragged up to the dizzy heights only to hurtle down again.  I have managed to write nothing, barely scraping out this blog each day.  Taking work home to complete and then when it is over collapsing into a chair and fighting to keep awake.

I will be flying out again tomorrow, early in the morning.  And whatever awaits me there it must be better than this madness.  Every company now sends out invoices and statements by e-mail, which obviously saves them money.  But for the recipient it is a constant stream of stuff to download and print off and then wade through.  Most office workers now spend a third of their day dealing with e-mail and it is getting worse.  I can remember a time, before computers, when you were given the time and resources to do your job thoroughly.  It was understood that it took time to produce results and you were given that time.  Now, as so much is available at the touch of a button, or often several complicated touches of many buttons, there is no such thing as patience.  We want it now, and if you don’t send it back by return e-mail we will send you another reminder, and clog up your in-box even faster.

I fear for my children and even more so for my grandchildren in this new instant world.  Work is becoming harder and harder.  And yet, just think back a few years.  Companies tended to make big profits back then without all this computer analysis.  We all led less stressful lives.  We all managed to meet up without mobile phones, we had time to think about life.  The world may be spinning much faster but I don’t think the results are any better for it.  So, for a few days at least I will escape the madness.  Wish me well.