Smart Phone Myopia.

Last Summer I opined about the "Time Value of Time" for the Wharton Blog Network.  The article struck a chord with many job weary professionals.  Click 4: Time: The Ultimate Asset.  Less then one year later I've noticed another disturbing trend from my perch high on top of Aspen Mountain.  Smart Phone Myopia.

It's not a new trend...but it's clearly getting worse.  Smart phone myopia has almost completely replaced face to face interactions on the Aspen Gondola.  The gondola is my contact point to the real world.   

Skiing has always been a social sport.  Riding the lifts with friends and strangers is part of the equation. The gondola that runs top-to-bottom on Aspen Mountain (Ajax) seats six.  Aspen is"un-crowded by design"...or maybe its the $124 daily lift ticket price...but sometimes groups are merged.  This season we've had great ski conditions in Aspen so hopping into a packed gondola is not that unusual, especially when it's a POW day.

What used to be a pleasant 17 minute ride to the top... complete with friendly banter like "where you from?" or "what a day, huh?" has been replaced by each individual, almost as a reflex action, staring at their small screen.  Gotta check in. Gotta tweet.  Gotta get that memo out while riding the chair-lift.  I recently rode up with a family. Dad was checking the market, Mom was booking her massage, the kids were gaming, texting or instagraming all while jamming with their ear buds turned up to 11. They couldn't hear a thing, but not a word was spoken.  It cracks me up to see some of our older visitors texting at the speed of molasses and holding the phone an inch from their face to read their e-mail.   Battery life is reduced when it's freezing. Some people don't race for first tracks anymore...they rush to claim a spot at the charging station. 

I get it.  People are busy.  They have a lot going on.  Everyone is now carrying the entire knowledge of the free world in their pocket.  That's a lot of pressure and a lot of stress.  Aspen Skiing Company claims that their number one customer complaint is "poor cell service" on their mountains. I'm not sure if that's true, but they are apparently working diligently to get better coverage at 11,212 ft.

A bunch of type-A friends were out in Aspen for a "boys trip". At lunch one day, we played a game. Everybody put their "smarties" in the center of the table.  The first to reach for their device paid for lunch. The loser made it a full 30 seconds before responding to a ping.  "It might be important" he said as he flipped his black card on the table.

All I can say is... Oy Vey.

I guess it's a similar message to "The Time Value of Time".  Unplug a little. Look up from your phone once in a while. You might enjoy the view.

Colorado Bluebird at The Maroon Bells. Photo: AspenSpin.

Time: The Ultimate Asset

When I matriculated at Wharton in 1983 I was taught a very important concept. It's a simple one too..."the time value of money".  This basic principal was driven home hard at Wharton... over and over again.  The notion of the time value of money is the central precept in classic financial theory and it was hammered into my brain by a variety of Wharton professors, assignments, papers, group projects and caculations on my HP 12C. Adhereing to the time value of money and the related fundamentals of net present value, future value of a sum, future value of an annuity etc etc. eventually helped me to forge a successful career on Wall Street.

Face to Face texting.I found a career that was a perfect match for my skill set.  I worked in the "high net worth" group at Morgan Stanley in New York (before the Dean Witter deal). Basically, I was selling stocks and bonds to billionaires...and I was good at it.  The 90's Bull Market was flying high and I was in the right place at the right time.

My career progressed quickly and I adapted instinctively to the Wall Street model. I encountered important issues that I had not read about in my school books or on the spread sheets. Stress, time management, office politics, nepotism, staffing issues, taxes...complicated stuff like that.  For me, the stress related to managing money for people and especially managing the expectations of my clients was much harder than picking a fundamentally sound investment.  As the first internet bubble began to froth in 2000 and stocks were being valued on multiples of projected sales (rather than profits) I began to feel uneasy.  The euphoria and lack of fundamental valuations in the stock market did not allow me to sleep well at night. The stress was killing me.  A bad day in the S & P meant a sleepless night for me.  As the market began to plummet my health began to deteriorate.  

I needed to make a change.  In 2002 I did. 

Why ski Aspen, when u can work.For the past 10 years I've been a ski bum / blogger in Aspen, Colorado. Now I ski every day and party every night as the founder/ editor of AspenSpin.com.  I'm much happier & healthier. Blogging and ski bumming is not very lucrative (I often get paid in chapstick and t-shirts).

I now have a very different perspective than most Wharton grads about business and life in general.  My priorities have changed.  I'm not chasing dollars, I'm chasing experiences. 

Living in Aspen, I'm still exposed to BIG business.  In addition to skiing moguls...I get to interact with moguls when they visit Aspen.  About 50 members of the Forbes 400 have strong ties to Aspen.  Riding the Silver Queen Gondola on Aspen Mountain I get to meet and interact with America's business leaders.  

Just eyeballin' it,  I've noticed one thing about American capitalists, they don't know how to relax.  Even when they're on holiday, there is no down time. It has become a reflex action for business people to pull out their phones on the gondola to "get some work done" on the 17 minute ride to the top of the Aspen Mountain.   

You're on Vacay...let it go.I get it.  Business is tough.  Margins are slim. Competition is rabid. Business people need to stay on top of their work load or else it turns into a never ending to-do list.  I understand, people have responsibilities, families to support, mouths to feed, meetings to attend, conference calls to make, deals to do, companies to take over, profits to earn.  From the outside looking in it appears that there is no such thing as down time anymore?  How can business leaders think clearly when they never shut it down, they never log off...even when they're on vacation.

So what's my point.

It's all about asset allocation and diversification.  I have learned that TIME is one of the most undervalued assets in today's globalized, 24/7 ,hyper-connected, over-stimulated society. I call it the time value of time (formula available upon request).  Free time, relaxation, leisure...is crucial for any well rounded person, including CEO's.  Time is a precious commodity and no one knows how much of it they have left in their bank.  Time is often the most over looked asset when creating the portfolio of life. People buy gold to hedge the stock market...or go short against the box to diversify their assets. But do they ever take the time to decompress?

2 phones better than 1.I'm not suggesting that people shouldn't work hard.  I'm not intimating that being serious about your career and your business is a bad thing.  I'm just saying that everyone should take time to smell the roses.  Find a hobby or a passion that is outside the business world.  Read a book for cripe's sake.  Try leaving your phone in the locker room for an hour or two, you might be better off for it.  You might even do bigger & better things at work.

Time is the ultimate asset.  So spend your time wisely, don't waste it.  Live each day to its fullest.   It's OK to work hard...just give it a rest once in a while. Take a step back...and play hard too.

Take it from me...I'm a ski bum/ blogger...I know what I'm talking about.

*this article was written as a guest post on the Wharton Blog Network.

Another bluebird day at the offices of AspenSpin in Aspen, Colorado.