The Busy Fool Meets Father Time: Time Management in the Information Age - Softcover

Meldrum, Paul; Atkinson, Kirk

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0968872301 ISBN 13: 9780968872307

Publisher: Peakform Consulting & Training, 2002

Synopsis

The Busy Fool Meets Father Time is a fable in the tradition of The One Minute Manager and The Wealthy Barber.

Taking a working vacation from his more cosmic duties, Father Time visits Earth to try to restore calm to the frenetic pace of the Information Age. As his test case, he takes on Stu and Mary Meldorph, two upwardly mobile and somewhat overwhelmed professionals who have two young daughters.

Using humor,confrontation and flattery, FT, as he calls himself, helps Stu and Mary deal with the diverse array of demands on their time at work and at home.

They (and readers)learn practical techniques that enable them to stay focused, get comfortable saying "No," and to balance their personal and professional lives.

The Busy Fool Meets Father Time is a quick and amusing read, loaded with useful ideas.

About this title

About the Author

Paul Meldrum has trained and coached personal effectiveness to organizations for over fifteen years as founder of PeakForm Consulting and Training. He has worked in the public sector as a school teacher, a Director with Red Cross and a nationally-ranked swim coach. In the private sector he rose through sales and marketing from local to national management. Immediately prior to starting PeakForm he was president of Time/Design Canada.

Kirk Atkinson is a successful entrepreneur and co-author of ICE internal Consulting Expertise

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

"Life is good," Stu Meldorf thought as he backed out of his driveway.

Except for his cholesterol levels, a few extra pounds, occasional eye tics and the headaches, he felt his life was moving along pretty nicely, thank you. True, he was spending more than 70 hours a week on the job, leaving his wife Mary with most of the responsibility for their young daughters. He felt a little guilty about that. Fortunately Mary was a real trooper, balancing her child-rearing duties with her job as a supervisor at the local cable provider Call Center. As Stu often said, "No gain without pain." One had to expect some sacrifice and it was paying off. He had been promoted to Vice President, Western Region, for COM/nth.

Smiling happily, he drove past the renovated homes on big lots that made up his neighbourhood. Spring was his favorite season. For several weeks he would see the sun rise and watch the new leaves emerge day by day during his 6 a.m. drive to work.

"It's good to stay in touch with nature," he thought.

Approaching the stoplight at the freeway entrance ramp, Stu summarized his reverie with the single word, "Perfect."

A voice beside him intoned, "Perfect, indeed! The light's green. Let's move on. Later you'll remember that as a metaphor."

"Good Lord!" yelled Stu, trying to rationalize the reality of an old, apparently homeless hitchhiker sitting next to him in his sports-ute.

"Not exactly, but you're in the ballpark," responded the scrawny little man, he eyes dancing. "I'm Father Time."

Trying to maintain control in four-lane traffic, Stu revised the term hitchhiker to escaped madman and decided that co-operation might be the best tactic. "Where do you want to go?" he asked tentatively.

"That's what I'm here to ask you," said Father Time. "Wow, these leather seats are like butter."

From the polished oak dashboard,the seductive female voice of Stu's audio alarm system reminded him that he needed to contact their UK distributor before 7 a.m. Stuart didn't miss a beat. Without hesitation he recited the UK number to his hands-free wireless phone. Several minutes later he had completed the call.

"I repeat,perfect indeed. You're even more pathetic than I thought. You just interrupted a supernatural experience to make a phone call. You are the ideal subject."

"What do you mean, subject?" asked Stu despite himself.

"Lab rat, Guinea pig. I was trying to be gentle. Whoops-a-daisy!" The old man was playing with the electronic seat controls as he spoke.

Stu had exited the freeway. Though there would be few people at work, he had no intention of arriving at the office with his passenger. He parked on a side street.

"Mr. Time," he began.

"You can call me FT or you can call me Father T. You can call me Father or you can call me Time but you dassn't have to call me Mr. Time," said Father Time quoting a routine he's seen on "The Ed Sullivan Show."

Ignoring the interruption, Stu reached for his wallet. "I would be happy to pay for a cab to take you wherever you want to go. Here, I'll even contribute to your research." He extended several bills. "You must understand, I'm running late already and I've got a 7:30 conference call to prepare for. Please take the money."

"Really! This is too good. Now you're trying to buy Time!" The old man slapped his knee. "Wait until they hear that one upstairs."

Settling down, he continued. "Look kid, you'll have to excuse me. When you've seen as much as I have, it's difficult to be serious about anything for very long. Here's the deal. I have chosen you for a pilot project. I've studied thousands of people and you are the hands-down winner in the North American Middle Class Division." He paused for dramatic effect.

"Stu Meldorf, you are my Busy Fool."

Edition details

• Publisher: Peakform Consulting & Training
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0968872301
• ISBN 13: 9780968872307
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128