Wajcman talks about time, work vs. leisure, and technology and how it all effects the way we live our lives. She has a particular focus on how developments in technology have effected the way we think about time, and how rather than freeing up more time for leisure technology has instead blurred the lines between free time and work, and may have altered the way we perceive free time and the activities we partake in. She describes shifts in work hours and the whole work-life/home-life structure as being one of these changes, arguing that we as a society set the pace of our lives, not the technology we invent. In fact, she argues that newer technology supports a more connected or more luxurious lifestyle rather than a fast paced one, but it does open doorways to fast living such as through online shopping. This has given rise to a high-speed culture, and in response to this slow living movements have rooted themselves in society in an attempt to counter this. However Wajcman suggests that this is not an effective way to find more time for leisure, it just questions the society’s current obsession with fastness. Instead she suggests that the fast pace of life can be a creative inspiration, and that it doesn’t necessarily mean less free time, if only you allow for that time and don’t underestimate the importance of leisure and taking time out every now and then. I find these concepts hard to relate to, not in that I don’t agree that life is fact-paced or that there is importance put on efficiency and immediacy in our society, but in that I don’t know what to do with this information other than to realise that when I’m working, or when the lines between work and social/domestic/leisure time becomes blurred, I should be aware of it and maybe think about how much ‘free’ time I’m actually getting.
