Internet Interruptus
In the BI era (Before Internet), a person could be reasonably sure that the day’s plan would come close to being followed. Up at 7:00, do exercises, feed the cat, shower and dress, quick breakfast, drive to work, get X, Y done, attend staff meeting at 10:30, get a good start on project Z, presentation at 3:00, come home, have a drink with spouse, eat dinner, watch some TV and to bed.
But now in the AI era (After Internet), the chances of carrying through on the day’s plan are slim. If you’re in the habit of constantly checking your laptop or phone, as most of us are, your plan is in the garbage by 8:00 am. A text from VISA tells you to call them immediately because of a possible fraudulent transaction on your card. A second cousin you hadn’t heard from in ages texts you to complain that he wasn’t invited to your son’s wedding. A friend wonders if you saw his communication of two weeks back and if so why haven’t you responded. Another friend has forwarded an article saying you must read this. You’ve set up an alert for price changes on a plane ticket you plan to buy and there’s a message in bold telling you NOW is the time to buy it.
Are you disciplined enough to do sensible triage; to say I can wait to respond on some of this but need to deal with others right away? Or better yet, are you philosophical enough to recognize that very little is really that urgent, and to remember that before the internet, you would not have been inundated in this way; at worst your assistant would filter some of these missives and choose a time to let you know what phone calls came in; at best you’d have received a letter, which you would not have seen till you got home, and back then everyone understood that no one expects an immediate answer to a letter. Can you do that? Probably not.
So, your head reeling a bit, you crawl back into the illusion that you have everything under control, and you make the VISA call — how can you not respond to this, when some unknown amount of your money might be at risk? You’re put on hold (“we’re experiencing an unusually high call volume”), and finally someone comes on the line and after verifying the city you were married in and your first pet’s name, asks how they can help. You explain. The person you speak to is in the Philippines and sounds almost as far away as she really is. She then asks you to hold for “a few seconds” while she looks into this. Five long minutes later she comes back to tell you that a $450 charge made a week ago by a merchant in South Africa looks suspicious. It does indeed, but you have such a busy life you cannot remember whether you did in fact charge something related to this (you’ve booked a trip to Africa for the summer). So you ask for more details. You’re told the name of a travel agency in Johannesburg. Can VISA check on this? No, they are not allowed to make international calls. But you could call them, perhaps on Skype, and here’s the number. I call, no answer (there’s a 7 hour time difference).
I look at my watch — all of this has taken 35 minutes. I rush to my 10:30 meeting. On the way my cell phone rings. It’s the lawn service telling me that the gate to my back yard is locked and they can’t get in to mow. Did I forget to open it? or was it my wife? I tell them to sit tight, and call my wife. I get her voice mail. I call the lawn guy back, it’ll have to wait till next week. I type a note to myself to deal with this when I get home.
Things are running behind so no lunch today. I get a little work done and at 2:30 I get in my car to leave for my presentation. Ten minutes in I realize I forgot to download a key file that I’ll need. Nothing to do about it now. Stuck in traffic, I call my second cousin who’s pissed that he wasn’t invited to my son’s wedding. To make up for it, without thinking, I invite him to dinner two weeks away, thinking I’m getting rid of an obligation; instead I’ve created another one and added a new problem — my wife will not be happy about this. OK, let’s move on. I should put it all out of my mind, turn on some music, relax for 10 minutes before my presentation. But no, my cell again and, of course, it’s urgent: The manager at my bank branch has been trying to reduce the unreasonably long hold (10 days) on a large deposit I made. No dice, HQ has its policies. Of course this means I have to juggle my finances for the month.
During my presentation things are going pretty well despite the lack of that key file, at least I think they are (half the 20 people in the room are looking at their phones). On the table in front of me my cell vibrates. I look down. It’s my accountant. Sorry, I say, I have to take this, and walk out of the room. He tells me the cost basis on two of my trades doesn’t make sense, and as we’re 3 days away from tax time, he needs it. …OK, I say, I’ll look into it and get back to you.
I go back to the meeting room (seems like a few people have left). I look up. “Now, where was I?”
