ay life, causes people to try to accomplish more during day. Charles refers to this as "turning up the speed dial on our social treadmill . . . and the next day [the] world is spinning just a little bit faster" (1999, p. 28). Multi-tasking has become a skill that is much in demand.
After explaining the concept of compressed time she then goes through several steps that help the reader claim back their time and their life. These solutions include evaluating the activities in one's life and prioritizing what's important by taking a serious look at one's values and purpose and then eliminating those things that do not fit anymore. As she points out, multi-tasking does not always have to be the solution. Allow for enough time to do things well and one at a time. However, Charles also has several other coping mechanisms such as the "Quick Stop!," which is the practice of mentally saying, "Stop!", taking a breath and analyzing the situation more clearly. Another coping mechanism Charles calls "Reality Bite." This means realistically assessing the situation, for example the long line, the bad traffic, or whatever problem and understanding that these things happen. There is nothing to about them except be grateful that they don't happen all the time. Take a deep breath and put up with it until it's over.
Chapter 3: Communication Overload (pages 59-89)
Charles devotes this chapter to the second trend, noting that most people hear or read much more news, data, opinion, and information than people did 50 years ago. In addition, many news shows, internet services, talk shows, and other programs, give off the attitude that their program is a "must see" program. People will be incomplete if they don't listen to the latest newscast, watch the latest interview, or see the latest episode of a particular television series. Yet, most of this data is either repetitive, unnecessary, or charged with unsolicited opinion and innuendo. Si...