Lack of time

In the industrialized societies, committed to saving time by every possible means, people are increasingly confronted with the lack of time. The time available is increasingly segmented and committed by prior engagements and projects. Tangential or discretionary time, previously an amenity of life, especially in traditional cultures, has become an expensive luxury. Despite a preoccupation with efficiency, people have less time for themselves or for each other.

So much of the freedom of modern society is illusory. In an era of mobile phones and laptop computers, flexible hours and employment, loose family structures, all serve only to tie us in more tightly to the capricious and insatiable demands of the market, expressed above all in rising demands on our time.

If it weren't for the last minute, nothing would get done.