Convenience has been defined as, “the state of being able to proceed with something with little effort or difficulty”.
We are perhaps living in the most progressive society yet. Our lives are full of advances and conveniences, which are squarely aimed at providing people with more time to do the things they never seem to have enough time to do.
While a logical assumption on paper, I have yet to see how our modern day conveniences have truly afforded us more time.
Convenience = Time Right?
Parents these days seem to be running around in a continuous state of chaos and anxiety – a state I never remember my parents ever being in. Why has the extra time from our modern day conveniences not provided some relief?
The elderly of our society still find themselves sitting alone on any given day – void of the company and conversation, which brings their life meaning. Why has the extra time from our modern day conveniences not provided some relief?
When we’re not at work, logging more hours than we’re compensated for, we’re sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. Cars, buses, trains – regardless of the mode of transportation, our work-life balance has been unceremoniously obliterated. Why has the extra time from our modern day conveniences not provided some relief?
In Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie he writes, “In a strange way, I envied the quality of Morrie’s time even as I lamented its diminishing supply. Why did we bother with all the distractions we did?”
The conveniences of our modern day society have provided our lives with the luxury of more time. Rather than embracing this gift, we’ve decided to squander it – lost in a sea of distractions, which are entirely self-inflicted.
If we spent one week writing down everything we did, I think you might be surprised how much viable and precious time we truly waste on distractions.
There’s no reason why we shouldn’t have the time to spend with family and friends regularly; to start a hobby or try out a new one; to explore new environments or learn about old ones. The point of the matter is we have the time for everything we need and want to do in life. That’s one of the luxuries our modern day world has afforded us.
Sadly, we do a pretty good job of wasting most of it.
Daniel Willey once wrote, “There are far too many people that waste their time telling themselves that they don’t have enough time.”
