“Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.”– Oscar Ameringer
Well I continue to struggle to gain control over my insane To Do List! Time management experts tell you to categorize tasks into important and urgent. Important things make life cool, fun, exciting, profitable or all of the above. The urgent tasks need to be done now, now, now. Things that are important and urgent are the things you should do first. Things that are neither important or urgent probably aren’t going to happen so you may as well scratch them off the list. The problem in my life is that the urgent stuff piles up because I’m busy working on the important stuff! That would all be fine except there is a reason they are called urgent. The more of them that stack up, the more stress I feel. The urgent things in life are a bit like broccoli. You know you should do them. You just don’t want to. I have another word for it, it’s called, “but first syndrome.” – you know, I’ll do it “but first I need to ….”
Well the classical business model is to hire more labor and/or increase productivity, typically through technology. In our case, we have increased the hours of our admin and we have hired a design firm to take over our flyer production. We’ve also been using an intern to get some of our task backlog cleared up. On a personal note, I went to a higher end Bluetooth headset ($200 Plantronics) and am using Siri to dial my calls, send and read emails, text messages and schedule appointments. I am also in process of transitioning to a Microsoft Surface as my computer and tablet and hope to eliminate the piles of handwritten notes that here to date, have had to be scanned into deal folders.
So why do I tell you all this? To illustrate how things are changing and how the working poor are going to be displaced by robotics and people automating more simple menial tasks. I remember my first computer and wondering how useful could it be. I remember my first smartphone and wondering why everyone didn’t have one right away. Let me just tell you, Siri (and its super sister Viv (coming soon), Cortana, Amazon’s Alexa, IBM’s Watson are all going to be a part of your life before you know it. Google’s CEO Sundar Pichal says the next evolution is AI (Artificial Intelligence). Soon we will all have intelligent assistants helping us through our day. On top of all that, think about the increase in productivity as we move to driverless cars. Imagine how much work you could get done during that 30 to 40-minute commute or drive to an appointment.
So we all know that productivity gains are good for our economy, GDP and Stock market but what impact will it have on our real estate. Take Carl’s Jr as an example. They are looking to bring back automated order kiosks and automated cooking lines The reality is that the working poor will be displaced by robotics. I am seeing security guards being replaced by cameras. Some are now live monitored where a guard can address a trespasser and tell them to leave and blast them with sound or light if they don’t.
Thankfully two of the faster growing sectors healthcare and technology are strong sectors in San Diego and probably why we have about 5% more people employed than at the peak in 2007. The unemployment rate in San Diego is now at 4.5%.
If you own real estate with a large bank or restaurant space, you might want to start thinking about how you can downsize and keep them in a smaller footprint. The 5-8,000 SF bank or restaurant is fast becoming a dinosaur with both looking at more like 3,500 SF now.
Well, as we keep our heads down getting all of your important and urgent tasks done I hope that you too are not infected with “But First Syndrome” …hope you enjoy the story.
Regards,
It’s like when I decide to do the laundry -1 start down the hall and notice the newspaper on the table. Okay, I’m going to do the laundry – Butfirst I’m going to read the newspaper.
Then I notice the mail on the table. Okay, I’ll just put the newspaper in the recycle stack, Butfirst
I’ll look through that pile of mail and see if there are any bills to be paid.
Now Where’s the checkbook? Oops! There’s the empty glass from yesterday on the coffee table.
I’m going to look for that checkbook, Butfirst I need to put the glass in the sink.
I head for the kitchen, look out the window, notice my poor flowers need a drink of water. I put the glass on the sink and dam it, there’s the remote for the TV on the kitchen counter.
What’s it doing here?
I’ll just put it away, Butfirst I need to water those plants.
Head for the door and Ack! Stepped on the cat. The cat needs to be fed. Okay, I’ll put that remote away and water the plants. Butfirst, I need to feed the cat.
At the end of the day: The laundry isn’t done, the newspapers are still on the floor, the glass is still not in the sink, the bills are not paid, the checkbook is still missing, and the cat whizzed on the remote control.
AND,
When I try to figure out how come nothing got done all day, I’m baffled, because I KNOW I WAS BUSY ALL DAY!
I realize this condition is serious… and I should get help… Butfirst I think I’ll read all my e-mail!
