Always On

I was just taking stock the other day about how I spend the twenty-four hours in any given day. Much like any corporate employee, I have a combo phone/email device. I also have an iPhone for personal use. So, anyone can more or less contact me at any time. Like most connected citizens, I will probably respond to any ping, SMS, email or tweet as they come, whenever they come.

In the mornings, before leaving home, I check my mail (iPhone). During the walk to the station, iPod playing, I scour through the work device. On the train, it’s Twitter and blogging. In between meetings and, well, work, I flit between personal mail and Twitter (again) then topping off the commute home with more personal mail.

At home, after the family goes to bed, I cycle through blogs, email, Twitter and Facebook. It’s arduous and tiring to keep up with everything.

In such a hyper-connected society, am I missing out on real life and who I really am? Can this dedication to an online identity mean the detriment of my physical self?

The Way Ahead

In light of last week’s announcements, is it time to think about outside options, especially in these troubled times?

I’ve never experienced extremely difficult financial times and pondering what I would do should the worst happen is a new to me. Perhaps it’s a reflection of our (meaning, societal) affluence that I’d never really thought through what it could mean – cutting back on costs, thinking more wisely about saving/investing for retirement, paying school fees for kids, and generally living on much, much less. All these fiscally responsible things are just so darn new that I feel somewhat unprepared. It’s not that I feel that I won’t cope but more that I didn’t seriously plan for it and that I neglected being true to myself.

Perhaps this isn’t just about me, but the general surprise that has beset us all.

Tomorrow’s a Big Day

Tomorrow the company goes to the Market with our half year numbers. Along with that comes our long-awaited company restructure. So, my diary has been loaded thus:
- 9am: CEO presents the new structure
- 10am: Marketing Director explains ramifications to the department
- 11am: my GM tells us if we have a job or if it’s a spill and fill

Good times.

Break Up Imminent?

My company has had a bad run of late. Structurally we play in two large sectors: one purely local and the other both locally and on a global scale. The locally focussed business is THE market leader and an incredible generator of cash. The more global business, while one of many, is still a reasonably large player too, both in the local and global sense.

With a stock market focussed mainly on the next six to twelve months set of numbers, it is clear that the ill-performing unit is a dragging back the entire firm.

The quandry is if she company is split in two, it would open the possibility that the local business is swallowed up by any number of large global players. It’s funny how the best laid plans can still end up in a company disappearing forever.

The Beginning

Yes, 25368 is my employee number.

Yes, I’m trying to hide my identity.

Yes, I work in corporate job that I hate.

I am angry, despondent and frustrated all at once.

I know I have choices to make. Writing this is one of them.