PEOPLE are always bugging me to spend less time working. Ways to make my life
more productive"You've got to find other interests besides work," they tell me. "Continuing to work on your portable computer when you get home from the office doesn't count."
Even the work-related magazines I read are on my case. "Get a life!" shouted the latest issue of Fast Company.
When did working hard become such a bad thing and a life of leisure become so noble? Sure, I put in a fair number of hours at the office and more hours on work I bring home. Most of the personal projects I undertake in my "spare" time look a lot like work.
So what? How does that make me inferior to people who devote their lives to play instead of work?
As a journalist, a lot of my work involves reporting on the work of others. If I've learned anything, it's that I sure have it easier than people who spend long, backbreaking hours plowing the fields or extracting coal from a mountain.
I enjoy my work. It offers new challenges every day. I get paid to poke my nose where some folks think it doesn't belong. If I do my job well, I can perform a real public service. I like the people I work with and have a long history with many of them.
My work environment is quite comfortable. I have a high-end computer and printer, with a T1 connection to the Internet. I have a TV with cable and a VCR. I have a sofa and lots of interesting reading material. I have a small refrigerator and there's a microwave just down the hall.
What do I have to go home to that's any better? My kids are grown. I can work late and still get home in plenty of time to play with my dog and prepare dinner for my wife before she gets home from her late shift.
Rather than looking for ways to reduce my work, I look for ways to spend more time working and use that time more effectively. My greatest find a couple of years ago was the PalmPilot, a tiny computer that fits in my shirt pocket. It enables me to do useful work any time, any place.
When I set out for the office one day last week, the car battery died. I called AAA on my cellular phone for a jump, but was told I would have to wait 45 minutes for help. No problem. I took out my new Palm III and wrote half of my column from the car seat while I waited. I finished the other half while I waited for the shop to install a new battery.
My last flight to the Big Island was nearly an hour late leaving Honolulu.
No problem. I grabbed the PalmPilot and reviewed the many items on my calendar and to-do lists to see if I was using my time in line with my priorities.
On the flight, I studied my investment mix. While hard work is its own reward, it's nice that it also gives you a little money to invest.
THIS week, I arrived at an appointment to learn that the guy I was meeting had given me a start time 30 minutes earlier than he was ready for me to make sure I wouldn't be late and inconvenience him. I didn't reach for an antacid, but for my PalmPilot. I used the time to organize a new project.
The Fast Company article offered the old bromide that nobody ever lay on a deathbed wishing he or she had done more work. Hogwash. Several friends and former co-workers my age have died in the last couple of years. They wished they had been able to do more of a lot of things -- including work, at which they excelled.
So for those who tell me to get a life, I say get a PalmPilot and get back to work.
David Shapiro is managing editor of the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at editor@starbulletin.com.
Volcanic Ash runs every Saturday in the Star-Bulletin.
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