It's perhaps the most pervasive condition of the 21st Century.  We're constantly involved in multiple balancing acts, buried in lengthy to-do lists, and overwhelmed by everything that needs to be done in our "free" time.

Some folks thrive on this perpetual busy-ness, proudly wearing their "I'm so very, very busy" merit badge in some perverse, masochistic attempt to impress others or make themselves feel more important.  You know the type I'm referring to.  They're the ones in the video store proclaiming more loudly than necessary that they just have to get the call on their other line.

Ironically, the products of our advanced technology are a big part of the problem.  We have hundreds of TV Channels and we can record a program while watching another one. An almost endless number of Web sites are begging to be explored.   News is delivered across the globe instantly and incessantly.  This information overload makes us wonder if we got our circa 1970's wish of "having it all" and in the process opened Pandora's box.  What we really could use is a serious break from "it all".

I can't help but contrast our current times with my early childhood in rural Oklahoma.  I think I was 5 when we got our first TV and we made do with a shared party-line phone.  Nobody had really heard of computers yet, and a home with more than one telephone was rare and their owners risked being called "uppity".

The role of this technology that has been so eagerly anticipated, invited, and willingly accepted into our lives now needs to be clarified.  It needs to be recognized as a tool and not our master.   Many folks are beginning to realize that they really can survive without being on their cell phone constantly and that the world will almost surely not come to a screeching halt if they're not available 24 hours a day.

So how do we begin to regain control over these labor-saving machines, and the glut of information that we're compelled to absorb?  I'm not suggesting that we "pull the plug" cold turkey and live in a tent in the desert.  But I am suggesting that we may have let these changes subtly intrude into our lives, almost taking on a life of their own.  We need to regain control of the machines and ourselves.

We can begin to reduce the stressful feelings by recognizing that we are the ones in control.  We ourselves decide which articles to read, when and what to watch on TV, when to have our phones turned on.  We aren't obligated to be available to everyone all the time.  We shouldn't feel guilty if we feel like taking a break sometimes.

Now I'm at least as guilty as most people.  We have 3 computers, one at the office, one at home, and a laptop.  Keeping all three functioning requires a good amount of diligence.  We have just one TV, having disposed of the one in the bedroom.  I'm trying to minimize the time spent channel-surfing and I no longer feel compelled to watch something on TV even if nothing is interesting.

I've stopped exposing myself to news (in newspapers, TV, or on-line) about disasters, grisly crimes, and other depressing topics that I can't control or have a positive impact on.  

I don't wear a beeper and I don't give out my cell phone number to anyone.  We turn off the ringer on the phone and turn down the volume on the answering machine so we can have a little peace and quiet once in a while.  Yeah, we still have the answering machine on, but we don't feel compelled to respond immediately (and the telemarketers rarely leave a message).  It's important to remember that these things are for our convenience.