‘Harried and Hurried’: time shortage and the co-ordination of everyday life

CRIC

The University of Manchester & UMIST

Dr Dale Southerton, Elizabeth Shove & Professor Alan Warde

CRIC Discussion Paper No 47 October 2001

Published By: Centre for Research on Innovation & Competition The University of Manchester Ground Floor, Devonshire House Oxford, Road Manchester, M13 9QH

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'Harried and hurried':

time shortage and the co-ordination of everyday life

Dale Southerton (The University of Manchester)

Elizabeth Shove (Lancaster University)

Alan Warde (The University of Manchester)

Abstract Being ‘harried’, the ‘time squeeze’ and ‘time famine’ are popular phrases in

contemporary society. This paper begins by surveying five strategies that

individuals are claimed to employ in their negotiation of the ‘time squeeze’.

Having identified strategies, five mechanisms are advanced as the source of

experiences of being ‘harried’. Employing an analytical scheme in order to frame

the strategies and experiences of the harried, it is argued that the distinction

between task allocation and co-ordination illuminates the source of the

contemporary time problem. This leads to six hypotheses regarding the

conditions and circumstances of harriedness. These hypotheses primarily

concern non-paid work experiences of time, although it is argued that the work -

non-work distinction could be misleading in the analysis of harriedness. In

conclusion, it is argued that strategies for managing time are individual

responses to a collective problem of co-ordinating movement within time and

space. This is therefore a story of constraints that centre on the disordering of

time – space trajectories and the de-coupling of socio-temporal rhythms and

everyday routines, which make timing and sequencing key features of everyday

life.

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1. Introduction

It is commonly perceived that the pace of daily life is accelerating and that there is an

increasing shortage of time. Time famine, the time squeeze, the harried leisure class,

the search for ‘quality’ time, are topics of public discussion and of more and less

popular social science books (Demos, 1995; Schor, 1992; Hewitt, 1993; Linder,

1970). Many people feel that they have insufficient time, that they are always busy,

and that they will not accomplish those things most important to them. There are

many competing diagnoses of the predicament, most of which assume that there is

some substantive basis for these concerns. Accounts like those of Linder (1970),

Cowan, (1983), Schor (1992) and Cross (1993) try to explain why, despite it being

possible for most people to have more free time and a more relaxed pace of life, they

perversely opt to remain harried. The puzzle is deepened by time budget evidence.

For example Robinson and Godbey (1997) show that, paradoxically, Americans felt

more rushed in 1985 than in 1965, despite having substantially more free time. By

contrast, Leete & Schor (1994) argue that the ‘time squeeze’, or more accurately the

squeeze on free time, is very real. Their time budget analysis of total hours worked

per year within the market place, indicated that full-time employed Americans worked

138 hours more in 1989 than they did in 1969.

Time budget evidence is itself subject to much dispute (Adam, 1990; Gershuny and

Sullivan, 1998) but what all time budget accounts take for granted is that the volume

of work, whether paid or unpaid, has direct implications for how time is experienced in

daily life. This is derived from a straightforward equation: more work reduces the

amount of free time and produces the sense of a ‘time squeeze’. While this may be

quantitatively true, analyses of the distribution of work and ‘free’ time do not

adequately account for perceptions of time shortage and being harried. On this basis,

debate concerning the ‘time squeeze’ should be less about the amount of free time

available in everyday life and more about peoples’ experiences of being rushed and

harried.

To give just one example of such an approach, Zerubavel’s (1979) impressive

ethnographic study of hospital life detailed the rhythms and cycles through which time

is experienced within an institutional setting. Shifts, staff teams and their working

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rotas, the schedules of meal times and times for administering medicine: these

institutionalised rhythms determined the temporal structure of everyday life. What is

important about Zerubavel’s work is its demonstration that socio-temporal

organization effects experiences of busyness more than the volume of time worked,

as illustrated by the ‘rush’ of day shifts compared with the ‘quietness’ of the night.

Taking our cue from this observation, we argue that the problem of time shortage is at

heart a problem about how time is ordered, individually and collectively, and about

how this ordering is experienced. We therefore begin with a review of accounts which

describe the lives of the harried and which document the ways in which such people

handle the pressures of time. This provides a baseline from which to explore the

specific problems to which these coping strategies represent a response. We go on to

consider the dimensions of harriedness as a means of understanding the kinds of

intensification, for instance in the proliferation of activities or in the demand for co-

ordination, which might affect perceptions of time use. This leads us to the view that

individual strategies for managing harriedness and for containing the pressures of

allocating and co-ordinating activity have the paradoxical effect of generating time

pressures of their own. Individual strategies are inextricably linked to the collective

temporal order of society. Here too we detect a dynamic process of feedback and

mutual intensification: strategies for time management generate new pressures, which

require new strategies in response. By starting with individual experiences of

harriedness and gradually edging back towards the social ordering of society we offer

a sharper perspective on the many generalised accounts (for instance dual burden

theories, ideas about reflexive modernization, flexible capitalism or the work-spend

cycle) which claim to explain the temporal re-ordering of society. However, because

the accounts reviewed almost exclusively focus on time outside of paid employment

the analysis presented within this paper is largely restricted to non-work

temporalities.1

2. Strategies for managing harriedness

Much empirical research provides evidence of experiences of harriedness and the

strategies that people adopt to manage this time related problem. Such strategies fall

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into two generic categories, which either suggest that the pace or number of activities

in daily life must be altered or, that individuals increasingly attempt to impose temporal

order onto their everyday life. Within these two categories, five strategies are

apparent: doing less; doing things faster; doing things in parallel; serial sequencing;

and, ‘storing and shifting time’. The first two strategies are about changing the pace of

activities, the latter three concern ordering tasks.

Doing less

is a strategy that revolves around the allocation of fewer activities within everyday life

as a means of reducing senses of being harried. Examples include Schor’s (1992)

research entitled the ‘Overworked American’, which suggests that ‘down-shifting’

individual levels of consumption is necessary to break the work-spend cycle. This is

because Schor (1992) and Cross (1993), identify the ‘time squeeze’ as a

consequence of consumer culture, people work more to consume more and ‘free-

time’ is squeezed by both practices. Darier (1998) follows a similar line of argument by

espousing lazyness as the answer to overcoming the ‘busy-self’, a consequence of

‘constant increases in activity as a valued life-purpose’. Such increases in activity are

the source of being harried, and the only strategy for managing this ‘problem’ is for

individuals to reduce the volume of their activities. All advocates of ‘down-shifting’

express a concern with environmental sustainability and appropriation of this strategy

can most readily be associated with social groups that have ethical concerns for the

environment, groups often labelled as ‘greenies’.

Another, rather different option in the doing less strategy revolves around employing

services, or someone else, to do the work for you. Gregson and Lowe (1994) chart the

re-emergence of domestic service in the 1980s, suggesting that affluent middle class

households are increasingly likely to use marketed services, rather than self-service

certain domestic tasks. Such services might include employing a general household

cleaner or nanny. Of course, this is not a contemporary practice and formal domestic

servicing has a long history in the middle classes. Moreover, Warde et al (1991)

demonstrate that middle class families may employ some services but the bulk of

domestic work remains subject to self-servicing. Nevertheless, employing someone to

take care of particular tasks is one strategy for managing the time squeeze by ‘doing

less’ and, presumably, reducing senses of harriedness.

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Doing things faster

is not simply the opposite of doing less or doing things slowly (which is a form of

lazyness). This is a strategy of increasing the pace of daily life by reducing the time

required to complete particular tasks. Evidence of this can be found in research that

focuses on changing domestic technologies and practices. The emergence of many

labour saving devices also save time by either doing a particular task for you or by

doing that task faster. However, Cowan (1983) suggests that one of the ironies of

domestic labour saving devices is that people do more housework, even if the time

spent on individual tasks is less. Prominent examples include the washing machine

and the vacuum cleaner, both of which reduce toil and the time it takes to complete a

particular task. The irony for Cowan is that people simply wash their clothes and

vacuum their carpets more frequently. The strategy of ‘doing things faster’ involves

the use of many domestic technologies that reduce the duration of particular tasks in

order to spend time on preferred activities.

Expanding this strategy are claims that leisure activities have speeded up. For

example, Roberts (1976) argues that the changing speed of dancing, from the slow

tempo of the ball room to the frantic speed of the disco, is indicative of changing

orientations toward the use of time. More importantly, the amount of time required to

learn ‘appropriate’ dance steps and techniques has significantly diminished. This

change is undoubtedly a cultural change that owes as much to changing types of

music. However, Roberts’s argument is a general example of claims that suggest

people devote less time too one particular activity with the possible aim of fitting more

activities into daily life.2

Doing things in parallel

is a strategy of conducting many activities simultaneously. Sullivan’s (1997) time

budget analysis indicated that the experience of domestic labour for many women is

one of ‘multi-tasking’. Completing multiple tasks at the same time is in many ways

related to the strategy of ‘doing things faster’ through the utilization of labour saving

devices that allow simultaneous completion of many tasks. However, multi-tasking is

about more than simply turning the dishwasher and the washing machine on at the

same time. This is because doing things in parallel suggests that everyday life is an

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experience of juggling many activities simultaneously. Indeed, this is exactly the

argument that Thompson (1996) makes with reference to the experience of managing

everyday tasks for mothers of young children who are employed in paid labour. An

example is mother cooking dinner while watching the children and keeping another

eye on when the washing machine cycle ends. For Thompson, doing things in parallel

is therefore one of many strategies employed in the process of juggling the complex

array of tasks in everyday life.

Serial sequencing

refers to the imposition of order on the sequencing of tasks by individuals. This is a

strategy that reflects the possibilities of controlling and planning time. Diaries, lists,

notice boards and various electronic personal organising devices are all devoted to

providing greater opportunities for attempts at efficiently planning everyday activities.

Shaw (1998) argues that at the core of different gender experiences of time is degree

of control. Due to ‘moral and normative’ expectations placed on women through

domestic obligations, women’s time is open to greater interruptions. Like Thompson

(1996) and Hochschild’s (1997) claims that women are required to juggle multiple

tasks, Shaw suggests that the strategy of making lists and sequencing them in a way

that might reduce the possibility of interruption is an essential way of managing time.

By serial sequencing, it is possible to order activities and time use in a manner that

allows for a degree of control, and in Hochschild’s case, provides the opportunity for

reserving ‘quality time’ for the family.

Time storing and shifting

is a strategy identified by Silverstone (1993) to explain the relationship between socio-

temporal structures and domestic technologies. Domestic technologies, such as the

television, are intimately linked to the socio-temporal organization of everyday life. For

example, television schedules impact upon the temporal rhythms of everyday life

through the timing of particular genres of programmes. Children’s television coincides

with school finishing times, the news with the end of the ‘adult’ workday. However,

other technologies, such as the video recorder allow time to be stored in the form of

recording programmes and shifting them to be watched at another time. Shove and

Southerton (2000) point to a similar benefit of the freezer, which also stores time by

freezing food for later consumption. Silverstone’s key claim is that domestic routines

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and practices are embedded within wider socio-temporal structures which are

produced and re-produced by collections of domestic technologies. The ability of

many such devices to store and shift time therefore points to a strategy that allows for

the re-ordering and re-sequencing of activities that were previously subject to rigid

temporal constraints.

By focusing upon strategies that individuals employ to ‘cope’ with ‘harriedness’, it has

been possible to reveal some contemporary experiences of this time problem. What

all strategies indicate is that being ‘harried’ is not necessarily a consequence of a

‘squeeze’ on free time. For example, ‘doing less’ or ‘doing more’ might suggest that

free time may be ‘squeezed’, but they also imply individual and collective responses to

‘managing time’. The three strategies of ‘doing things in parallel’, ‘serial sequencing’,

and ‘time storing and shifting’ directly indicate that managing time-use is a necessary

response to the requirement for ‘juggling’ everyday tasks and activities. In sum, the

five strategies identified in this section suggest that the experience of being ‘harried’ is

more an experience of how time is ordered and managed, than a response to time

being ‘squeezed’ by changing hours of work or rising levels of consumption.

3. Explaining the experiences of the harried

In this section, we attempt to go beyond re-stating and re-describing the lives of the

harried to uncover, and more precisely define, the mechanisms which produce their

experience of time. We try to isolate the generic mechanisms that seem to underlie

both popular concerns about feeling harried and the practical strategies that people

have adopted in response. We do this by trying to be explicit about the possible

sources, at a micro and personal level, of alterations in the temporal ordering of

everyday life. In pinning down the problems to which the harried respond we talk

about the emergence of more or fewer tasks, tasks lasting longer or being completed

faster, sequences of activity being interrupted, and there being too many or too few

institutional constraints.

Problem 1: more activities

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Absolute increases in the activities undertaken will create the effect of a shortage of

time. This explanation does not necessarily account for the sense of being harried,

because even if people work longer hours they may do so at a slow or relaxed pace,

or one which varies from day to day. However, the act of ‘fitting more in’ to a finite

amount of time may create what Darier called the ‘busy self’, something which might

be welcomed or despised.

Problem 2: Fragmentation of tasks

As well as increasing in volume, activities appear to be divided into ever-shorter

episodes, creating a more fragmented experience of time. This may reflect the

Taylorization of household tasks. Hochschild’s (1997) study of family and daily life

found that the home is becoming subject to the efficiency principles that Taylor

originally applied to the workplace. Accordingly, while time in the domestic sphere

might still be experienced as task orientated (O’Malley, 1992), the application of

Taylorism suggests that tasks are broken down such that each takes an increasingly

small block of time. To the extent that the same task is completed in a shorter length

of time, an impression of greater haste will follow. The existence of more discrete

activities probably encourages a more conscious management of time, which in itself

produces a sense of being ‘harried’.

Problem 3: Disrupted flows

Lack of control over one’s environment, or the other people in it, is a further source of

feeling harried. The idea of disrupted flows can be described as increasing chances of

interruption and the unfolding of unexpected events. Sullivan (1997) and Shaw (1998)

describe how interruptions significantly effect experiences of time. Women not only

undertake a greater volume of tasks within particular periods of time, but their ‘free

time’ is open to abrupt endings or interruptions as a consequence of domestic

obligations and child care.

Interruptions are but one of a number of forms of unpredictable events. There are

many others like traffic jams, delays on public transport, the computer crashing, or

other people being late for an arranged meeting, all of which result in the passage of

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time and movement in space not flowing as expected. In this respect, disrupted flows

may create holes or pockets of empty time (as when sitting at a train station awaiting

a delayed train). Unanticipated holes of inactivity may exacerbate senses of being

harried if tasks scheduled for one particular block of time have to be deferred and

pushed into another.

Problem 4: Too many or too few institutionally timed events

Institutionally timed events describe socio-temporal cycles, including workplace

patterns such as lunch times, tea and coffee breaks, arranged times for meetings,

and family meal times. In addition, they involve socio-temporal structures such as

television programme schedules, school times, cultural distinctions between the week

and weekend. The potential list of institutionally timed events is extensive, though it is

debatable whether that list has increased in recent years. In a society where there are

many collectively observed patterns to the timing of events, the co-ordination of

activities is in some ways simplified. If worktimes, mealtimes, playtimes and bedtimes

occur at the same chronological point in the day for most people, then it is easier to

predict where someone else will be and to meet them. On the other hand, a high level

of institutionally timed events also increases the potential for disrupted flows (if one

has to go to school at 9.00. or the cinema at 19.30 then other activities have to cease

to make that possible). In such a situation, an unexpected event which disrupts one

person’s schedule may in turn disrupt the schedules of many others.

This list is the result of a first level sifting of the temporal challenges to which the

strategies of doing more or less, of multi-tasking, planning, scheduling, and storing or

shifting time appear to relate. Our next step is to review this experience-based

catalogue of temporal unease in terms of an explicitly analytic scheme which

distinguishes between four dimensions of temporal organization: periodicity; timing;

duration; and sequence. This exercise allows us to locate experiences of harriedness

in terms of the (changing?) social organization of time along these dimensions.

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4. Analysing harriedness In this section we use Fine’s (1996) framework to position and analyse the strategies

and experiences of the harried. In the terms of this scheme,

‘Periodicitiy refers to the rhythm of the activity; tempo, to its rate or speed;

timing to the synchronization or mutual adaptation of activities; duration, to

the length of an activity; and sequence to the ordering of events.’ (Fine

1996: 55)

We believe that the four dimensions of periodicity, duration, sequence and timing

equip us to give a parsimonious description of the mechanisms which underlie the

experience of harriedness. We treat each in turn.

Periodicity

refers to the frequency with which certain activities or events occur. Some activities,

like eating, come round frequently. Some activities almost certainly occur more

frequently now than in the past, for example washing clothes several times a week

instead of just on washing day, or taking a shower daily instead of a bath weekly.

Perceptions of speeding up or of being rushed follow as the same events come round

faster and we do the same things more frequently.

The escalation of activities and their fragmentation both relate to the dimension of

periodicity. The relevant strategy to reduce or eliminate this problem is ‘doing less’.

For example, delegating to others (get a nanny to look after the children), withdrawal

from some activities (perhaps espousing voluntary simplicity), reducing the frequency

of an activity (go to mass quarterly rather than weekly) or, reducing expectations of

standards of output (wear less clean clothes).

Duration

refers to the time allocated to a task. This may be more or less. If I work more

intensively at dusting, my work rate will go up and I will accomplish the same effect in

a shorter period of time. The duration of the activity will have been reduced. On the

other hand I could allocate more time to playing tennis. Instead of playing for one

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hour, I could play for two. This would fill up more units of clock time. Machines may

help to reduce the duration of some activities (washing clothes no longer takes all

day). This is a process of reducing the amount of labour required for a particular task.

The sense of rush may come from doing tasks faster than before and of speeding

them up. Or it may be the cumulative effect of doing more things, each one quickly,

which increases the sense of having to face many different tasks in a brief period of

time. In this case relevant responses include those of multi-tasking and of doing either

more or less, all being means of handling the proliferation of activities and the

multiplication of episodes.

Sequence

refers to the order of events. Some things must be done before others. For example,

shopping for food must precede its cooking. Much of time-management is addressed

to sequencing. Whether by accident, or because of the constraints of the

organizational schedules or those of other people, disruptions to a planned order of

preferred or obligated activities increases the sense of harriedness. This may be the

consequence of having to undertake a series of activities in an order which requires

more than the optimal amount of time. A trivial example might be having to return to

the supermarket to finish shopping for food because an appointment with the doctor

was pressing. Among the solutions are the techniques of time planning, the diary and

the list are monuments to the problem of sequence. Time storing and shifting devices

also hold the promise to enhance control over sequence. The automobile is,

compared with public transport, precisely such an instrument, allowing greater

flexibility of route. Other devices, like the freezer, allow the re-shaping of sequences,

for example eliminating the need to go shopping before cooking.

Timing

refers to the synchronization or mutual adaptation of activities. Arguably, achieving

synchronization of activities is the most difficult aspect of temporal organization in the

late modern world. Faced with enhanced capacity for spatial mobility, more

individualized decision-making, fewer binding temporal routines, and more flexible

working hours, synchronizing activities that require face-to-face contact becomes

increasingly difficult.

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Among the solutions to this problem might be re-routinization, the adoption and

specialised use of a range of technological devices which aid communication (like the

mobile phone, the motor car), and time-shifting devices like the video. A more general

issue is the extent to which the scheduling of public events and activities (the start of a

film, the hours of the bank) constrain personal itineraries and space-time paths,

raising problems of both sequencing and synchronization.

When used to order experiences of harriedness, this four part scheme collapses into

two. Of these four dimensions of temporal organization, the first two are concerned

with allocation of time, the second pair with its co-ordination. Allocation is a matter of

periodicity and duration. It is a matter of the total number of activities and the absolute

amount of time devoted to each. The total number of activities (task intensity) cannot

be irrelevant but as we have suggested from the start, this is not in itself sufficient to

explain the experience of harriedness. In addition, there are two types of co-

ordination: synchronization and sequencing. These are matters of timing and

sequence and are more truly problems about the ordering of time. In practice,

individual strategies represent attempts to handle the simultaneous consequences of

increased task intensity in the context of a greater or lesser capacity to co-ordinate

self and others.

Starting with a review of strategies adopted by the hurried and the harried, we have

grouped the mechanisms and underlying problems and re-described that grouping in

terms of a more formal analysis of time. The table below summarises the moves we

have made this far.

Figure 1. Describing and analysing harriedness

Described strategies

Implied problems Dimensions of time

Core themes

doing less,

doing more,

multi-tasking

more activities,

fragmentation

periodicity,

duration

Allocation and task

intensity

Planning, disrupted flow, sequence, Co-ordination

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storing and

shifting/re-

scheduling

too many or too few

institutionally time

events

timing - capacity for

scheduling and timing

5. Individual allocation and co-ordination of time

So far we have been dealing with static classifications. We now use this analytic

distinction between allocation (and task intensity related to periodicity and duration)

and co-ordination (related to sequence and timing) to show how individuals might

retain or lose control of their time - space trajectories, and how their responses have

‘real time’ implications for the future. We do this by advancing six hypotheses that can

be understood by the relationship between the two dimensions of task intensity (i.e.

increasing or decreasing problems of allocation), and the capacity for scheduling and

timing (i.e. increasing or decreasing capacity for co-ordination). For example, if task

intensity is very low, there are few benefits associated with a capacity co-ordination.

However, if task intensity is high, then capacity for co-ordination and thus scheduling

(with other people and between activities) will become more pressing. In such cases,

exercising control and having autonomy of movement in time and space becomes a

powerful resource. In this way, the following hypotheses connect experiences of

harriedness to levels of autonomy in a manner which relates to changing abilities to

order the timing of events and control their proliferation. They further recognise the

interdependence of allocation and co-ordination in generating the conditions and

circumstances of harriedness.

The problem of co-ordinating activities will be greater:

(1) if there are too many activities to be accommodated.

This suggests a threshold, which is a relatively straightforward question of the volume

of time required to accomplish those activities, after taking account of the extent to

which the duration of each has been minimised. The trade off between duration and

quality is one of some importance as a feature of intensification.

(2) if there are few collectively constraining institutional routines.

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To the extent that there was bed time and play time, and that most institutions

operated to a common pattern of temporal organization (which flexibilization disrupts),

then there are some common time markers which guarantee the whereabouts and

whenabouts of individuals, and their availability for engagement in common pursuits.

The temporal organization of employment has (or had) such a function. For example,

at the weekend everyone had free time at the same time. Similarly the temporal

organization of factory work was such that most people started and finished at the

same time, adopting similar meal and bed times to suit these working hours.

These two hypotheses relate to the possibility of macro social change, for

instance associated with the Taylorization of activity, or the loss of collective

routine. The next pair concern individual circumstances, such as the density of

personal networks and the extent to which external events are likely to

intervene.

(3) if activities involve other people.

Whereas, pace actor network theory, activities requiring the co-operation of only

inanimate objects and pet animals demand comparatively little co-ordination, those

which entail the mobilization of other people are constrained by the fact that other

people are to some extent autonomous agents with their own plans and projects and

who are therefore somewhat unpredictable.

(4) if one is particularly prone to be subject to unpredictable events.

This is probably built into childcare, where there are emergencies which will interrupt,

and though these emergencies can be predicted in general, one never knows when

they will occur. Too much travelling will have some of the same impacts, because of

traffic jams and delays on public transport. While these are not necessarily anxiety

provoking they are a source of greater inability to keep to a schedule.

These two hypotheses relate to the density of social networks and the

probability of disruption. Both concern the extent to which individuals are

connected to wider social networks. The last pair of hypotheses relate to the

ability to control ones own schedule and those of others.

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(5) if one has too limited control over own schedule.

However, if an individual has no control, then there is no problem of co-ordination and

time-space path is a mix of fate and predetermination. If an individual has total

control, there is no problem either. It is in the interstices that the problems are likely to

be most severe. With limited control, but being required to respond to problems of co-

ordination, or to achieve co-ordination, things get difficult - having responsibility for

small children, or being part of networks (including, say teenagers) whose behaviour

cannot be controlled makes it difficult to go out in the evenings or organise a family

meal.

(6) if other people have considerable control over their own schedules.

The more powerful an agent, or the less constrained an agent, the harder it will be to

co-ordinate with that person. This is the issue of people liking (or simply having) the

autonomy to control their own schedule, and is presumably pretty typical of young

people, single people, those in positions of authority. The more that other people in an

individual's network have greater control over their own time than does the individual,

the more problematic co-ordination will be for the individual. Except again for an upper

threshold where, if others have very high control, then they might accommodate the

tight constraints of that individual.

These hypotheses touch upon questions of macro as well as micro levels of co-

ordination. They suggest that privatization (engaging more in private and solo

activities) is a potential response to the problem of collective co-ordination. This begs

a further line of questioning: was collective co-ordination the effect of institutionalised

routines and it is that which is now in deficit? One might surmise that the more

networks a person is connected to, and the more autonomy they have in the

organization of their own schedule, the harder will be the task of effective co-

ordination. Does this imply that the decreasing size of households and the greater the

reach between networks, is what lies behind perceptions of a growing problem of co-

ordination? In response to these questions, the next section reflects on the

relationship between individual strategies and the social-structural allocation and co-

ordination of time.

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6. social-structural allocation and co-ordination of time

In short, systems of collective co-ordination seem to be on the move. Is it this which

generates the types of problems and pressures we have described, and which

explains the individual experience of harriedness? The following examples illustrate

what we take to be relevant features of the collective dynamic of co-ordination.

Fragmentation and disrupted flows represent ‘external’ constraints which prompt

individuals to generate personal schedules in order to facilitate the co-ordination of

their own movements in time and space with those of others (who are also subject to

disordered time - space trajectories). Individual efforts to manage time - space

trajectories, so as to generate ‘quality time’, represent just one example of personal

struggles to re-create a form of temporal order. Critically, these are individual

responses to a collective problem. In the absence of any collective ordering,

individuals have no option but to plan and schedule if they are to have a hope of co-

ordinating with the time and space paths of others.

The process of de-routinization is perhaps associated with a decrease in the range

and scope of institutionally timed events. Both point to a decline of routines

associated with traditional temporal rhythms, meal times and the timing of

employment patterns being prominent examples. Like the process of fragmentation,

de-routinization generates a greater need for scheduling everyday time - space

trajectories in order to co-ordinate with others. What distinguishes these two

processes is that de-routinization also places an emphasis on timing rather than time

or sequence per se. This is because for a schedule to work, it needs to be timed to

correspond with the schedules of others. This is a tricky task if it is accepted that

routine temporal rhythms are no longer so rigid, making ‘being in the right place at the

right time’ more problematic. Consequently, harriedness is not only a result of

constraints centred upon the fragmentation and disrupted flow of time and space

trajectories, but also of the declining relationship between socio-temporal rhythms and

everyday routines. It is this which makes timing, in addition to scheduling, a key

feature for the co-ordination of everyday life.

If fragmentation is a constraint that amplifies the need for schedules and de-

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routinization is a constraint that emphasises timing, then notions of the speeding-up of

everyday life are both a symptom of harriedness and a constraint that reinforces the

perceived problem. The need to manage and co-ordinate daily schedules serves to

reify everyday tasks and activities that require co-ordination, and thus generates the

impression that the pace of everyday life is increasing. However, this sense of

speeding-up is, in itself, a socio-temporal constraint which leads to further planning

and co-ordination. In short, the impression of speeding-up is a consequence of

changing socio-temporal constraints which, at the same time, reinforce perceived

needs to control time through mechanisms like schedules, diaries, lists, and personal

organisers which then become constraints in their own right.

All the above examples point towards the difficulty of co-ordination within collective

daily life. Our discussion of the imperative for co-ordination is essentially a story about

collectivities, about social networks and the density of interfaces between objects and

between human interactions. While this paper has focused mainly on non-work

experiences of time, we suggest (following Hochschild, 1997) that the relationship

between work and non-work experiences of how time is organised should prove

instructive in furthering the understandings of the mechanisms identified. Scheduling

and co-ordinating is as much, if not more so, a challenge of the world inside paid

employment as it is outside of it, and it the inter-relationship between the two that is at

the core of harriedness.

This is also a story of the constraints that infringe upon social relations and which

place an emphasis upon individuals to manage, control and co-ordinate their time with

others. To suggest that contemporary everyday life is a DIY society of time - space

management might be to overstate the point, but our analysis of the harried does

suggest that strategies for managing busyness have, and will, become increasingly

salient in everyday social practices. Their adoption has further consequences not just

at the level of the individual but for the co-ordination of society as a whole. We have

made some headway in trying to explain the privatization of time and the associated

experience of harriedness, but what are the long term implications of all this

personalised scheduling for the character of the social-structural order? To address

that question we need to consider the dynamics of task intensity (and allocation) in

relation to sequencing and timing (i.e. co-ordination) at a societal as well as an

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individual level and, in doing so, we need to take note of the mutually constitutive

character of such arrangements.

1 The purpose of this paper is to develop an analytical framework for understanding how changing socio-temporal structures impact upon processes and capacities of final consumption. As a position paper, it serves to outline some key issues for exploratory research concerned with changing experiences of time, consumption and the innovation of convenience devices and services. As part of CRIC's core funded research programme, the project will move beyond conventional dichotomies of work and home to examine how they connect and influence contemporary experiences of a 'time squeeze'. Consequently, changing temporalities of the workplace will be important in the project development. 2 Other examples can be found in debates concerning ‘omnivorousness’ (Erickson, 1996), a process which argues that people engage in more cultural experiences but with less depth of engagement. A second body of literature discusses ‘rationalisation’ and claims that people increasingly measure the time it takes to complete an activity with the intention on completing the same task faster on the next occasion (Young, 1988), jogging being the most cited example.

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References

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Cowan, R. S. (1983) More Work for Mother: the ironies of household

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Cross, G. (1993) Time and Money – The Making of Consumer Culture.

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Hochschild, A. R. (1997) The Time Bind: when home becomes work and work

becomes home. CA Henry Holt.

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Linder, S. B. (1970) The Harried Leisure Class. Columbia University Press.

O’Malley, M. (1992) Time, Work and Task orientation: A critique of American

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Roberts, K. (1976) The Time Famine. In Parker, S. (ed.) The Sociology of

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Robinson, J. & Godbey, G. (1997) Time for Life: the surprising ways that

Americans use their time. Pennsylvania State Press.

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Schor, J. (1992) The Overworked American: the unexpected decline of

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Shaw, J. (1998) “Feeling a list coming on”: gender and the pace of life. Time &

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Sullivan, O. (1997) Time waits for no (wo)men: an investigation of the

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Chicago Press

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CRIC Working Paper, Discussion Paper and Briefing Paper Series

The working, discussion and briefing paper series is an important vehicle for CRIC to present its preliminary research results.

• Working Papers are 'finalised' pieces of work. They will often relate quite closely to published work but may contain more detail or data than would be appropriate for an academic journal. Some of these papers may be the basis for future monographs. They have an ISBN number.

• Discussion Papers are used by the Centre to communicate quickly work in progress to our audiences. Typically these papers will be submitted for publication to academic journals after revision.

• Briefing Papers are prepared for specific, usually non-academic audiences. They provide a concise account of the main conclusions arising from a piece of CRIC research.

The working, discussion and briefing paper series are edited by Professor Rod Coombs. All working and discussion papers are refereed outside of CRIC. All papers are available for downloading at http://les1.man.ac.uk/cric/papers.htm, or alternatively to have a paper emailed to you contact Sharon.Hammond@man.ac.uk.

CRIC Working Paper Series

1 Compound Learning, Neural Nets and the Competitive Process

J S Metcalfe, M Calderini June 1997

2 Taxation Regimes, Competition and the Transformation of Employment Relations: a Case Study of the UK Construction Industry

M Harvey June 1997

3 Technology Foresight: Implications for Social Science

I Miles Sept 1997

4 Evolutionary Concepts in Relation to Evolutionary Economics

J S Metcalfe Jan 1998

5 Outsourcing of Business Services and the Boundaries of the Firm

R Coombs, P Battaglia June 1998

6 Knowledge Management Practices for Innovation: An Audit Tool for Improvement

R Coombs, R Hull, M Peltu June 1998

7 The Complexity of Technology Dynamics: Mapping Stylised Facts in Post-Schumpeterian Approaches with Evidence from Patenting in Chemicals 1890-1990

B Andersen Dec 1998

8 Technological Expectations and the Diffusion of ‘Intermediate’ Technologies

F Lissoni Aug1999

9 Emergent Innovation Systems and the Delivery of Clinical Services: The Case of Intraocular Lenses

J S Metcalfe, A James June 2000

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CRIC Discussion Paper Series

1 The Evolutionary Explanation of Total Factor Productivity Growth: Macro Measurement and Micro Process

J S Metcalfe June 1997

2 ‘Knowledge Management Practices’ and Path Dependency in Innovation

R Coombs, R Hull June 1997

3 Equilibrium and Evolutionary Foundations of Technology Policy

J S Metcalfe Sept 1997

4 The Diffusion of Household Durables in the UK

A McMeekin, M Tomlinson Sept 1997

5 The Contribution of Services to Manufacturing Industry: Beyond the Deindustrialisation Debate

M Tomlinson Sept 1997

6 Research and Technology Outsourcing

J Howells Nov 1997

7 Patterns in UK Company Innovation Styles: New Evidence from the CBI Innovation Trends Survey

R Coombs, M Tomlinson Jan 1998

8 Innovation Dynamics in Services: Intellectual Property Rights as Indicators and Shaping Systems in Innovation

B Andersen, J Howells Feb 1998

9 Lifestyles and Social Classes

M Tomlinson Feb 1998

10 Employment Creation in Small Technological and Design Innovators in the UK during the 1980’s

B Tether, S Massini Feb 1998

11 Small and Large Firms: Sources of Unequal Innovations?

B Tether Mar 1998

12 The Hunt for S-Shaped Growth Paths in Technological Innovation: A Patent Study

B Andersen May 1998

13 An Analysis of Subsidiary Innovation and ‘Reverse’ Transfer in Multinational Companies

M Yamin June 1998

14 Does the ‘Social’ Have a Role in the Evolution of Consumption

M Tomlinson, A McMeekin June 1998

15 Enterprise Restructuring and Embeddeness – An Innovation Systems and Policy Perspective

M Teubal July 1998

16 Distributed Capabilities and the Governance of the Firm

R Coombs July 1998

17 The Construction of the Techno-Economic: Networks vs Paradigms

K Green, R Hull, V Walsh A McMeekin

Aug 1998

18 Innovation Systems in a Global Economy D Archibugi, J Howells J Michie

Aug 1998

19 Managerial Culture and the Capacity Stance of Firms

J Michie, C Driver Aug 1998

20 Consumption, Preferences and the Evolutionary Agenda

J S Metcalfe Oct 1998

21 Firm Adjustment Routines and Product Market Selection Under Imperfect Competition

M Currie, J S Metcalfe Nov 1998

22 The Conduct of Expert Labour: Knowledge Management Practices in R&D

R Hull Nov 1998

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23 Comparing the Innovative Behaviour of ‘British’ and ‘Foreign’ Firms Operating in the UK

M Tomlinson, R Coombs Dec 1998

24 Co-Evolution Within Chemical Technology Systems: a Competence Bloc Approach

B Andersen, V Walsh Jan 1999

26 The Learning Economy and Embodied Knowledge Flows

M Tomlinson Feb 1999

27 Firm-Level Capabilities in Risk Management: Empirical Analysis of Organisational Styles and Trends

W Cannell Feb 1999

28 Innovation Systems in Transition

M Fritsch, C Werker May 1999

29 The Management of Employment Change: The Role of Organisations in the Restructuring of Work

D Grimshaw, K Ward, H Beynon, J Rubery

Sept 1999

30 Standardisation and Specialisation in Services: Evidence from Germany

B Tether, C Hipp, I Miles Oct 1999

31 Genetic Modification as a Bio-Socio-Economic Process: One Case of Tomato Puree

M Harvey Nov 1999

32 Experiments in the Organisation of Primary Health Care

R Hull, B Leese, J Bailey Dec 1999

33 Copyrights & Competition: Towards Policy Implications for Music Business Development

B Andersen, V James, Z Kozul & R Kozul Wright

Jan 2000

34 An Evolutionary Model of Industrial Growth & Structural Change

F Montobbio Feb 2000

35 Who Co-operates for Innovation within the Supply Chain and Why?

B Tether July 2000

36 Shaping the Selection Environment: ‘Chlorine in the Dock’

A McMeekin July 2000

37 Expanding Tastes?: Cultural Omnivorousness & Social Change in the UK

A Warde, M Tomlinson, A McMeekin

July 2000

38 Innovation & Services: New Conceptual Frameworks

J Howells Aug 2000

39 When and Why Does Cooperation Positively of Negatively Affect Innovation? An Exploration Into Turbulent Waters

H Alm, M McKelvey Nov 2000

40 Between Demand & Consumption: A Framework for Research M Harvey, A McMeekin, S Randles, D Southerton, B Tether, A Warde

Jan 2001

41 Innovation, Growth & Competition: Evolving Complexity or Complex Evolution

J S Metcalfe, M D Fonseca, R Ramlogan

Jan 2001

42 Social Capital, Networks and Leisure Consumption A Warde, G Tampubolon April 2001 43 Analysing Distributed Innovation Processes R Coombs, M Harvey,

B Tether May 2001

44 Internet Entrepreneurship: Linux and the Dynamics of Open Source Software

M McKelvey June 2001

45 Institutions & Progress S Metcalfe June 2001

46 Horndal at Heathrow? Co-operation, Learning and Innovation: Investigating the Processes of Runaway Capacity Creation at Europe’s Most Congested Airports

B Tether, S Metcalfe June 2001

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CRIC Briefing Paper Series

1 New Analysis of the CBI Innovation Trends Survey

M Tomlinson, R Coombs 1997

2 Small Firms and Employment Creation in Britain and Europe. A Question of Expectations

B Tether Mar 1999

3 Innovation and Competition in UK Supermarkets

M Harvey June 1999

4 Industry-Academic Job Links in the UK: Crossing Boundaries

Dr J Howells Sept 2000

5 Universities, the Science Base and the Innovation Performance of the UK

R Coombs, J S Metcalfe Nov 2000