The question is often asked why we never have any spare time in modern life, in spite of a glut of "labor-saving" inventions and the growth of production efficiencies. Here are a few thoughts about why we are so busy:

1. Poor Choice Management. Manage your life, not your time. Modern society suffers from an unwillingness to say, "No." Faced with too many options and too much pressure, we respond with too many yesses. There is an old proverb somewhere that says, "To accomplish more, do less."

2. Inefficient Learning. We rush through things, learn them partially, and must repeat the work. Or what was learned gets pushed out by too much other new information. Slow down, and learn a few lasting things.

3. Fewer Support Structures. We do more of our own secretarial work, have fewer helpers, less delegation. Sometimes support workers are not as dependable or committed and cannot be relied on to do a good job. People are so busy with their own tasks that they no longer help us with ours.

4. Higher Expectations. Rather than having more leisure time, we have less because we expect to do more and others expect us to do more. We try to match the pace of a fast society. "Ah, tomorrow is Saturday, a day for leisure. Let's go to the amusement park in the morning, a movie in the afternoon, and to dinner with our friends in the evening. Then we will still have time to see that video, check our mail, and watch the news before bed."

5. The Freeway Effect: We are so overloaded and tired that we get less done. We waste time frittering and procrastinating because we are too tired (mentally, physically, or both) to get ourselves working.

6. The Smorgasbord Effect. Our choices are like a smorgasbord at a restaurant, so many, that we try to take a little of each and thus overload our plates. It has been noted that we are often afraid to make deliberate choices because we realize that every choice precludes others. So some people put off making a decision just to keep their options open. Others simply try to say "Yes" to everything.

7. Maintenance Time Costs. The products we buy require maintenance time. Computers, cars, VCR's, copiers, all need attention. The more items we have, the more time we spend maintaining or taking care of them--not using them.

8. The Change Effect. We live in constant change. The psychological stress of change can be dealt with, but the main effect of change is a time expenditure for a learning curve.