In celebration of the summertime change, we are demanding to ban all kinds of clocks: alarm clocks, wrist watches, public clocks, and software-clocks in smartphones, tablets, PCs and laptops.
The clock is the symbol of repression of the working class: we have to appear at a certain time at the office or factory. We need to CLOCK in to get a time STAMP on a card and fines if we miss the DEADline of a project.
The alarm clock is often waking us up in the middle of a deep sleep phase, causing us to feel absolutely whacked during the day.
It’s the symbol of mistrust. Instead of a certain result or responsibility, business-owners demand a fix chunk of your time. Is this freedom or slavery?
I have lived for 3 years in Egypt, and experienced something very interesting there. The all middle east has a completely different concept of time. There, everything is based on the NOW. NOW we chat and play backgammon or football on the street. NOW we sit and talk about a business. Meeting tomorrow? “Bokra, insha allah!” (You stupid white bread), everybody knows that tomorrow means never!
They are right. Because tomorrow never comes. It’s always now, as you can see in this video from OSHO:
It needs a huge effort to work against your inner clock, and make appointments at certain times. This is unnatural, and needs clocks and alarms as a support.
One day, my mother decided to simply not use an alarm clock any more. She was simply thinking about whatever she wanted to do the next day, and was waking up on the minute she needed to, by her INNER CLOCK !
As I heard it, I tried the same – and discovered that also I was waking up always at the right time.
Already as a young child, I took down the wristwatch that I got for my 10th birthday, to never ever wear it again. I did it instinctively at the moment when secondary school started. Gymnasium, the moment where the simple life of childhood ended and the serious life started, with grades, fines and all kinds of pressure and stress.
Abolish the clock! Let the children come to school when they have woken up, had their breakfast in their time and want to see the others and learn something new. Make teachers their servants, helpers to achieve knowledge.
Let workers come in when they want!
According to a recent Gallup survey of US-employees, remote workers have in general a higher engagement as their caged colleagues. Most engagement you find from employees that work 40-60% of the overall time remotely. Huh?
Managers, sit with your workforce and let them develop goals that you can agree to, individually and as a team. Let them check in regularly, as much as they need. Act not as their commander of time and certain actions, but as their coach. Make agreements and set them free! You will see how they become happy and your business will thrive.
I am working since 20 years in the (online-)marketing and publishing business. During this time, I have experienced a huge movement away from the telephone and meetings as the primary source of communication, to E-mail or nowadays even Facebook, Xing / LinkedIn, Whatsapp or collaboration software like Podio or Slack.
This is good!
Meetings are mostly a waste of time, even business-research knows this. According to the consultancy Bain, 15% of the working time in the surveyed 17 big companies was used for unnecessary, badly organized, and inefficient meetings.
Abolish the clock!
Give power to small teams of 3-7 people. Let them come together and work how they like.
Trust the inner feelings of the people. They know when it’s time to work, and when it’s time to play and celebrate.
Even the new opening times of offices and shops could naturally follow the sun. Then you see a sign like this on the doors: “We are closed from dusk till dawn. But don’t come too early and after lunchtime, because we like our breakfast and siesta.”
Instead of making it necessary of talking physically to people in offices, we should anyway develop great web-applications where we can deal with all needs in a very time-efficient way. Minimize bureau-crazy!
You can see the amount of freedom you have, on the absence of clocks and deadlines in your life.
Freedom to the people!
Freedom to the heart and gut!
Ban the clock !