I have now gone more than 10 years without wearing a watch. I always believed that it was not necessary. I could always check the clock in my car, most boardrooms and offices have clocks in them, and of course, my cell phone has the time for me to check regularly. For some reason recently, I have felt the compelling need to purchase a watch. I don't know what has come over me...I am trying to focus less on time, yet feel the need to buy a watch. Maybe it is because time pieces have changed and are now appealing to the eye, or maybe it is because I am constantly checking my Blackberry to see what time it is in a meeting to ensure I am not late for my next one. Whatever the reason, a watch will be my next purchase and I hope it does not increase my obsession with time.

I read somewhere that someone with an executive-type personality looks at free time as an opportunity to book more meetings. They are very organized, but also set up a lot of meetings. That describes me to a 'T.' My calendar is usually quite full with meetings as I feel that I can never meet too many people and you never know which relationship will produce results. I am selective about who I meet with, but still have many meetings nonetheless.

Hopefully buying a watch will not increase my obsession with time, only reduce the number of times I pull out my blackberry to ensure that I am sticking to my time agenda. For some reason it seems less obnoxious during a meeting to look at your watch than it does to look at your Blackberry.

Last week, my wife and I spent four days in Algonquin Park, about three hours north of Toronto, camping and canoeing. Beautiful wildlife, beautiful scenery, great exercise…but the best part about it – no cell phone reception. Now I am the first to admit that I rely fairly heavily on my Blackberry to stay in touch with clients and friends and family, but this was a nice change. No email, no phone calls, no text messages and no interruptions for four whole days. It made me realize that life without my Blackberry goes on.

Does this mean that I had some epiphany that will change my life? No, but it was nice to get away from things for a few days and it made me realized that instant communication is not always necessary. Email and cell phones have created an expectation of immediate results, that we need to return emails and phone calls within minutes. This is not always the best way to do business. Sometimes we need to spend some time thinking about our decisions before we communicate them.

Try going a day without you cell phone and see what happens. It is a liberating experience and one that may change your perspective just a little on how to best use technology.

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