T I M E M A N A G E M E N T
- Important things don’t necessarily require a lot of time.
- You’re mistaken about your priorities.
- You aren’t putting your time where your priorities are.
Let’s examine each explanation.DOeS The WaY Y OU SpenD Y OUr Time TrULY reFL eCT Y OUr
VaLU eS?
the Myth of “Quality time”
Two strong social forces combined to move Harriet Nelson and
June Cleaver out of the kitchen and into the workforce.
First, we began to require two salaries to keep up with our
increasing material expectations. Today, nearly everyone owns an
automobile (most households have more than one), and virtually
all American homes contain a television. Three-quarters of U.S.
households also contain a computer and cell phone. These are con-
sidered necessities rather than luxuries by half of Americans.
At the same time, women began giving public expression to the
notion that being “just” a housewife didn’t allow them to develop
fully or to take their place as equal partners with men in society.
They didn’t just need jobs; they wanted careers.
As more and more former stay-at-home moms took jobs out-
side the home, their own expectations as well as those of society
changed. “You can have it all” translated into “You must do it all.”
Surveys noted that the distribution of housework didn’t change
in many homes even when the woman took an outside job. After a
full day’s work at the office, many women came home to another
full day’s work.
The term quality time was born.
As women joined their husbands in having less and less time
for the kids and for their partners, social thinkers (i.e., freelance
magazine writers) developed the theory that a little bit of very