This week’s reading by Judy Wacman discusses the issue of our time-poor society due to the proliferation of technology and machines. Instead of freeing up time for leisure and relaxation, technology has increased our pace of life and everyday life seems more rushed. She is interested in how we can make more time by developing our time management skills. And to do this Wacman suggests an examination of the aspects in our lives which are slowing down and speeding up.

Apart from technological change, she attributes time impoverishment to major shifts in the nature of work, composition of families, parenting, and trends of consumption. Consequently, a ‘digital detox’ does not necessarily suffice to create more time.

Wacman contends that a reformulation of working time, a reducing of work hours, is probably one of the most straightforward ways to lighten time pressure. However that is not always within the control of the worker as a capitalist economy gives employers the power to delegate hours, and also inflates desire for consumption. Gender issues also come into the question as unpaid and paid work within the household must also be added to the equation in the reformulation of work hours. Finally, the question of the work-life balance comes into the picture with the distinction between these two parts of life becoming increasingly blurred.

Other important points she notes are the social connotations of ‘being busy’. A person who is constantly busy with work appears more successful while a person with too much free time implies failure. As a result, a reduction of work hours is less and less desirable.