Life is undeniably chaotic. It doesn't seem to matter how many gadgets we get, what new devices there are on the market to save time, we are always short of the stuff. Time and tide certainly wait for no man and the more we have, the more we try to cram in. Scientists are constantly working to find the elixir of life so that me can continue on this mortal coil even longer, cramming our lives with more and more.
There's nothing we cannot do now apart from stop and enjoy time. It has got to a point where people even pre-arrange their holidays in order to cram in as much as possible, filling their days with activities in order to feel like they have had their monies worth and done as much as possible.
All these new inventions that we get to make our time more 'our own' just don't seem to help. We have machines to cook, clean clothes, dry clothes, wash dishes in fact, pretty much everything yet there is still not enough hours in a day. On top of this, we are trying to do so much that we constantly need to buy gadgets that serve as reminder services to tell us of other things we have to cram in.
Reminder services come in the shape of notes and alarms on mobile phones, again with emails - they come with their own calendar that will alert you and provide a reminder service so that you don't forget important dates. People are carrying more and more gadgets such as electronic diaries to provide a tailored reminder service for that all important meeting, that all important date or simply reminding us where we live!
Are we any better off for all this gadgetry? Well, in one sense we are but we need to keep it in perspective. It's great to have a washing machine, I mean, can you imagine trying to fit in carting your load down to the nearest river and scrubbing it clean amid your busy schedule? Working mothers would be non-existent!
Computers and mobile phones have been an absolute god send when it comes to instant communication. The exchange of information that used to take weeks now takes minutes, even if it's coming from the other side of the world.
However, when we are needing electronic reminder services to tell us of events going on in our children's worlds that we promised to attend then something is seriously wrong. If we need a reminder service to tell us we actually have children, then we need to re-evaluate our lives, and quickly!
It's not just us either. Living life in the fast lane has become such an everyday occurrence that our children also need these reminders. They have their own gadgets to remind them of school commitments, after school activities, dates with friends and all sorts of deadlines that they are already expected to commit to at even a young age. This is the way of the world these days but is it right?
What happened to good old fashioned pen and paper, notes stuck to the fridge as reminders or one paper calendar on the wall? Our lives have become that complicated that we will be needing reminders to breathe next. It would seem we are all trying too hard to do too much in too short a space of time and it all comes at the expense of the things that really matter.
Social expert Catherine Harvey looks at the way even children need reminder services in order to keep up with everyday commitments.
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