Friday, April 9, 2010

Timesaver...or not?




I thought this was an interesting article from Real Simple which was featured on Yahoo:


It talks about modern conveniences that in theory are supposed to save us time but in the end we spend more time on them.

The one that really rung true with me is the DVR. Don't get me wrong. I think it is one of the most awesome inventions EVER but I definitely spend more time watching TV now than before DVR. In the old days you either had to watch your show live, pop in a good old VHS tape or miss it and pray for a rerun.  Even if you were at home during prime time you had to hope that your dad wasn't going to want to watch a basketball game during "Friends" or that your two favorite shows didn't air on the same night at the same time (the horror!). These days I don't miss a thing and even if I forget to fire up my trusty DVR  I can usually find what I missed on the internet. Between sitcoms, dramas, reality and home improvement shows my DVR is definitely full. It may not save me time but it sure makes watching TV a lot more convenient and fun!

Some other interesting "time-saving" items mentioned in the article...digital cameras, email and the Roomba. 

I know for me all of this technology can definitely eat up my time. Sometimes I drop my kids off at school in the morning with the best of intentions to go to the gym or get the house picked up. I sit down for just a minute to check my email and inevitably end up wandering over to facebook to read some status updates and plant some Farmville crops. Then it's onto Google Reader to see if my favorite blogs have some new posts. Before I know it it's almost noon and I'm still in my PJ's with the breakfast dishes on the table...I might as well squeeze in an episode of Grey's Anatomy before I shower and head to pick up my baby from preschool. Awful, but sometimes true.