Have you ever felt like life is speeding up? Or perhaps our days are getting shorter? I understand that since the massive earthquakes of Sumatra, Chili and Japan, scientists claim the earth is spinning faster and shaving milliseconds off our days, but I think there’s another phenomenon that’s speeding up life … the self-imposed marathon on the hamster wheel.

As a human race, we strive for technology to improve life. We want things to be easier, more efficient and live life fuller. We strive for breakthroughs to free up our time so we can do more of the things that matter to us. Unfortunately in our quest to improve life we create our own rat race. In fact, sometimes I feel like I’m on the hamster wheel looking for an exit strategy, but the wheel is spinning out of control.

"When my day flies by, and I wonder where it went, it’s an indicator to slow down because that’s the only way to get off the hamster wheel."

As I introduce new technology to my business, I find there are four phases in any learning curve:

• First, there’s the incompetence phase, where I can’t imagine that I’d ever save time using the new technology. Do you remember setting up your first computer? Or any new software? It’s during this learning curve that I’m tempted to ditch the new and return to the old.
• Then there’s the competence phase, where you begin to use the new system properly and see the light at the end of the tunnel.
• That’s followed with the amnesia phase, where you can’t remember what it was like before the new technology. What’s a fax machine? Or a pay phone? I remember sitting in my parked car, talking to clients on a pay phone through my car window on the Garden State Parkway. When was the last time you saw a phone booth?
• Then lastly, there’s the obsolete phase, the introduction of something new which renders your company’s system obsolete, again.

Unfortunately, the way technology is rapidly growing, the period between the incompetence phase and obsolete phase is slim to none. This creates a flux within our business and we routinely feel forced to adapt as new technology is introduced, and hence the cycle begins again.

As we move forward in this technological world of constant change, anticipating that the advancements will free up our time so that we can live fuller lives, our minds are constantly working to keep up. Our android phones are with us at the dinner table, we’re monitoring emails while on vacation, glimpsing our phones upon waking and responding to text messages before retiring. We justify it to ourselves because in a down economy, employers are expecting more from their employees, and competition gets steeper with every passing moment.

It is no wonder that life seems to rush by. We’re trying to do it all. We’re trying to keep up with technology so that our business remains competitive, and while we’re with our family we’re not fully present. I have learned that the answer isn’t to boycott new technology and hope to take back simpler days, because they’re long gone. There are a few tips that have helped me through this rat race, and I wanted to share them:

• I make reasonable efforts to understand and keep up with changing technology.
• My android has been banished from the dinner table.
• When I’m with my family or business associates, I’m present and in the moment for them, and only them.
• I give myself a well-deserved break from time-to-time. This could simply be turning off my phone and computer and taking a walk, or closing my eyes to turn inward for ten minutes.
• I’ve noticed that when I take the time to let someone know they’ve done a good job on something, I receive fewer hiccups or complaints related to that individual.
• I write down business intentions every day and just before I leave my office I review my list and evaluated how I did.

The one thing I have learned is that when my day flies by, and I wonder where it went, it’s an indicator to slow down because that’s the only way to get off the hamster wheel.

 Are you caught in the wheel? Don’t jump - slow down.

Photo: by Mylius at Doenertier82 at the German language Wikipedia,