About a year ago, Business Week's cover story presented 21 ideas for the 21st Century. One of these ideas by Otis Port was entitled "The Mind is Immortal." Mr. Port suggests that within the next 50 years, our ability to track every moment of our life will be at hand, in effect rendering us immortal.

Port says that the technology is actually available today to do this, but adequate bandwidth and capital are in shorter supply. Port writes that organizations that eventually do this will have a tremendous advantage, "...when engineering teams can collaborate through so-called telepresence, managers can call instant meetings in virtual reality, and everyone in the organization has infallible memories and shared access to the group's knowledge."

The impact on group time management will be considerable. No doubt about that. It also seems to us at TMI that the impact of such technology on individual time performance will be enormous. Organized systems should help us to track the location of materials, saving enormous amounts of time locating paper in real space. 

But perhaps the biggest implication of "the soul catcher," is its impact on performance improvement. It will be as if we have constant video records of past performance so we can monitor it closely and improve dramatically. Speech instructors and coaches know that the best way to get fast improvement is to get people to either look at themselves on video or listen to themselves on tape. While painful to watch such "real performance," this type of scrutiny can instantly and dramatically help people to see how they need to change

As a Time Manager seminar leader I have often marvelled at the many excuses people create for not getting things done. I have long wondered what would happen if someone sat at their shoulder and simply observed how they really spend their time, instead of how they report how they spend their time.

It looks as if virtual technology is soon going to enable us to face reality without any excuses.

Janelle Barlow, Ph.D.
President
TMI, USA
 
 

Please submit your questions to Time Manager Questions and Answers. If you have questions, undoubtedly someone else has the same question. By asking a question, you'll help a fellow Time Manager user become more effective.
 
 

Previous "Time Manager Q & A Corner" pages: 
 

#1	Key Areas and Interruptions
#2	Daily Plans and Home Offices
#3	Result Statements
#4	Reading and Responding to E-Mail
#5	Sending E-Mail
#6	Filing According to Key Areas
#7	Setting up Files for the Whole Office
#8	Controlling Loose Pieces of Paper
#9	The Value of Time
#10	More on Results Statements
#11	Managing Time on the Road
#12	How to Get Time with Someone
#13	The Downside of Goals
#14	Thinking Types and Time
#15	Feeling Types and Time
#16	Intuitive Types and Time
#17	Sensate Types and Time
#18	What's Real about Strategic Planning?
#19	What Does Being Strategic Really Mean?
#20	How Perception of Time Influences Goal Choices
#21	The Four Immutable Laws of Controlling Your Desk
#22	Decision Making and Cultural Groups
#23	Paperless Office: Fact or Fiction?
#24	Exit Planning
#25	Speed: Does It Free Up More Time?
#26	Time in the 21st Century
#27	Open Office Plans
#28	The Costs of E-Mail
#29	How Do Senior Level People Manage Their Time?
#30	On Saving Time
#31	Paying the Ultimate Price with Time By Not Getting Enough Sleep
#32	Telecommuting and Productivity
#33	How Much Is Your Time Worth?
#34	Goal Setting and Change
#35	Making Career Decisions
#36	Controlling the Volume of Paper

Please submit your questions to Time Manager Questions and Answers by fax or e-mail . If you have questions, undoubtedly someone else has the same question. By asking a question, you'll help a fellow Time Manager user become more effective.

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