Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
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16 October 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com FROM THE TRENCHES By Randy Johnston Balancing Your Life On The Cloud – Put That Silly Thing Down! Typically, in this column, I strive t o p r o v i d e f a c t u a l e x p o s u r e t o products that will help you service your clients better and not repeat marketing opinions or sales biases. As you have may have noted in this issue, there is coverage of the "Cloud Today and Tomorrow." A lthough many of you know me for my tech- nology recommendations and stra- teg ic adv isement on tech nolog y, many of you do not know me for my background in the physical sciences and psychology. In these professions, I' ll have to claim that I'm a rank amateur with casual knowledge through reading other experts, and observing clients, team members, family, and myself. I'm hopeful that the observations in t h i s c olu m n , a nd t he re s ou rc e s provided in links and named articles, will make you pause long enough to help you think through your future work/life balance, par ticularly in light of the cloud, mobility and other t e c h nolo g ie s t h at h av e b e c ome pervasive and invasive. Some of you have seen me go of in meetings this year on a "rant." Tis column is not intended to ofend, but simply give you a few ideas to consider that I h a v e n o t s e e n o t h e r s i n t h e accounting profession say. It was probably motivated by an article in the July/August Discover Magazine "A U s e r 's G u i d e t o R a t i o n a l Tinking" by Christie Aschwanden, wh ich I noted i n my Tw it ter a nd Facebook feeds. Vacations and Time Off, A Waste Of Time and Money, Or Not? Cloud technologies enable us to work any where, any time on any dev ice (A A A). However, I'm thinking that we need to have the discipline to NOT work extended hours and in so many places. Time of is important as some obser vations show. St ud ies have shown a drop of efectiveness when extended hours are worked. According to the OCED, the level of GDP per capita and productivity is much higher in European countries where the work week length is short and vacations are taken. "Save the A merican Vacation" by Jack Dickey in Time Magazine, May 21,2015 was another reminder of the value of vacations as illustrated by H& M . Note f u r t her Jack Dickey reports that Bart Lorang , CEO of FullContact pays a $7,500 bonus so employees have a "paid paid vaca- tion" with the catch: the employee must disconnect entirely from the ofce. No email, no phone calls. Not bei ng d iscon nected du r i ng vaca- tions or taking a minimum amount of time of have been covered in the Economist and other publications frequently over the last few years. Earlier this year, an interesting piece called "8 Ways To Disconnect From Technolog y A nd Get More Done!" by Dr. Frank Lipman dis- cussed productivity gains from not using technolog y. Clear ev idence that multi-tasking is inefective at all ages, but particularly in students, is also being reported in the literature. A n e x a m p l e o f h o w t o m a n a g e mu lt i-t a sk i ng bet ter i s fou nd i n " How Mu lt it a s k i n g Hu r t s You r Bra i n (a nd You r Ef fec t iveness at Wo r k) " b y J e s s i c a K l e i m a n i n Forbes, Jan 15, 2013. Tere are years where I have planned and taken one week of per month. In other cases, I have taken upwards of a month of to see Europe or to spend extended time in Australia. In retrospect, I achieved just as much in those years as I did in the years where I thought I didn't have time for a vacation. What Gives You Balance? So why this topic in this column? I'm concer ned t hat professiona ls a re spending too much time work ing, a nd not t a k i ng enoug h t i me for vacations, time of in the evening and on weekends with family and to enjoy friends. I'm not one to tell you how to live, but it is clear that balance should be maintained. As a lifelong learner, I've had the opportunity to meet and learn from many great people. One lesson I was fortunate to learn early in my career f rom Zig Ziglar was work/life ba lance in seven areas: Intellectual, Family, Social, Career, Financial, Spiritual, Physical, which is sometimes referred to as the W heel of Li fe. T he idea t hat you had to choose to spend time in each area and keep the "main thing" the main thing was a good lesson to learn early in my career. Likewise, taking time alone and t o b e q u i e t i s i m p o r t a n t t o m y menta l hea lt h a nd wel l-bei ng. I n today's connected 100% of the time societ y, I believe mental health is suf fer ing. Since many of you pr i- m a r i ly work a nd l ive i n a si ng le location and only travel occasionally for business or pleasure, it is easy to fall into the same habits day a fer day, week afer week. If the habits 1 6 O c t o b e r 2 0 1 5 • w w w . C P A P r a c t i Randy Johnston is executive vice president and partner of K2 Enterprises and Network Management Group, Inc. He is a nationally recognized educator, consultant and writer with over 30 years' experience. He can be contacted at randy.johnston@cpapracticeadvisor.com . G et a Life! Tis was a popular saying when I was younger. I h a v e a c o n c e r n a b o u t people who can't disconnect from technology. Unfortu- nately, being a technology innovator or being a Luddite has very litle to do with physical age, but with atitude. Phrases like "Tink young" or "you're only as old as you think you are" or "act your age" mean different things to me at this stage in my career than they did earlier in life.