Time in a Throttle

I was thinking the other day as I sat at my computer about how the business of real estate, and I guess everything else, has changed with the advent of this machine. Around the time of the new millennium advent, some radio station had a quiz and promised a prize for anyone who could name the largest change in the office. People guess computers, but even in 1999 they weren't as widely used as they are today. The winning answer was the ballpoint pen. Amazing! Didn't you start out using the old ink pens with ink bladders and different nibs? Blue/black ink was my favorite.

But I digress.

I got to thinking last week after getting a listing and getting it over to the seller for signatures, to the office and the board office and into the MLS system that I'd done an awful lot of work in a very short time. The whole procedure used to take much longer...and longer than that if you had an out of town seller, which I did. The computer made it a cinch to pull up the forms the seller needed, email them to him, get signed copies around to pertinent parties and move on to the next project. So, now what. That one project alone would have kept me busy for at least a day or more in the 90's. Now, it was done by noon. How could I fill up the rest of the day? I know, I need to do MORE work. Is this what this little time saver on my desk was really designed to do? Instead of making work get done faster, it simply gave me more time to do more work? I'm fortunate to work in an industry where I can set my own hours. What about the people who work 8 to 5 doing jobs that used to literally take from 8 to 5 to do? If the boss catches you playing freecell or exchanging jokes and chain letters, he can make you pretty miserable. So...are you working harder? Is it a chore to think up things to do to look busy? I'm just sitting here between listings pondering over the extra time as a blessing or curse, or considering if it really exists.

FYI...freecell.com has a screen to play on that looks like a spreadsheet. But you didn't hear that from me!