:: netwoman's blog ::

Busy People

Canadian Heather Menzies has just published a new book called No
Time: Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life (Douglas and McIntyre, 2005).

Menzies is one of the most trenchant feminist critics of technology in Canada. I reviewed the book for the Globe and Mail this past Sat., the entire review is at by Leslie Regan Shade

Excerpt:
'Mom, you work too hard," my teenage daughter tells me. "You never stop . . .
you carry that laptop around with you, even while you're watching TV."

"Well," I say defensively, "I just told someone I would get back to them on something . . . and a student e-mailed me about her paper topic, so I should respond . . ."

I fear I'm one of those multi-tasking, high-achieving and frequently frazzled adults to whom Heather Menzies refers in her compellingly honest and evocative book, No Time: Stress and the Crisis of Modern Life. Like the Canadian academics she studied on a time-use survey, I find myself seduced and sucked up in the thrill and flotsam of e-mail to colleagues near and far away, to the rush of roaring across an ocean to another gab-fest conference, to the inevitable time-suck of managing grants and students and juggling administrivia.

So, for many of us, Menzies's latest book will be an urgent wake-up call to slow down, reflect on our family and work priorities, and talk among ourselves. It's often not until the infrastructure -- whether physical or emotional -- breaks down that we engage in inner contemplation and a renewal of community connections.

posted by Netwoman @ 1:59 PM