Monday, February 22, 2010

Just wondering - did Outlook change the way we work and think?

As I set here on the plane, I can see the person across the aisle and he has his outlook calendar open. It looks pretty much the same as mine, full. Is he sitting there as I have been sitting here, wondering where I might have a free 5 minutes tomorrow? Is he contemplating how to solve for the double bookings?

That picture of an Outlook calendar is how many over 50% of working folk, organize their day and go through their day. I don't even need to see his details to understand what his days look like.

A senior executive at that great company I work for, keeps 30% of his calendar free. I think this is a wonderful effort, because he is then available when people need to drop in. I don't think many of us do that.

So, I wonder if we should stop relying on Outlook to drive our days? I wonder if we have gone overboard with calendaring and on the hour meetings? Microsoft has an incredible influence on how we work. I am not sure this is a good thing. I'm just saying.

1 comment:

Chris said...

Is the problem Outlook or what we put into it? My life was just as crazy when it all went into a hard copy planner...