But are you really part of Gen X, Chris? What if it’s more about the way you use media than the year you were born that defines the generation you belong to? Check out the “Generation Y Quiz” on Penelope Trunk’s blog – http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/06/25/what-generation-are-you-part-of-really-take-this-test/ – and I think you may be singing a different letter of the alphabet very soon.

But are you really part of Gen X, Chris? What if it’s more about the way you use media than the year you were born that defines the generation you belong to? Check out the “Generation Y Quiz” on Penelope Trunk’s blog – http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/06/25/what-generation-are-you-part-of-really-take-this-test/ – and I think you may be singing a different letter of the alphabet very soon.

But are you really part of Gen X, Chris? What if it’s more about the way you use media than the year you were born that defines the generation you belong to? Check out the “Generation Y Quiz” on Penelope Trunk’s blog – http://blog.penelopetrunk.com/2007/06/25/what-generation-are-you-part-of-really-take-this-test/ – and I think you may be singing a different letter of the alphabet very soon.

The tension comes from all of us who are happy as clams working on our passion projects whenever and perhaps even all the time (probably much longer than a 40 hr work week, since we are our work), interacting with a larger world that operates on a fixed schedule for many logical and reasonable reasons. Infrastructure. Governmental functions. Things we can’t do by telecommuting.

So how do we create a world that is happening more and more 24 x 7 with golbalization, with our need to sleep and not miss anything? Our circadian rythms that say a regular sleep wake cycle keeps us healthy and sane? Do we let our kids of -gen whatever we are calling it now- eschew all schedules all together?

I don’t know the answer, but I do know it’s about more than old vs. new. It’s about work creep beyond 9 to 5, doing what you love so there is no boundary between work and play, yet making sure some sort of understanding exists where companies support your boundless enthusiasm for work and compensate you accordingly for work done.

And some things, we’ll always want to happen during daylight hours- like trials- do you want Jury duty on the weekend? How about 2 am to 6 am? Do you want the only available pediatric appointment to be at 4 am on Thursday?

We’ve just got to find a way this all works logially and together, and where the entrepreneurial don’t feel needlessly constrained by what they see as outdated rules, and the traditional work hours don’t totally go away so we still have sleep and work/free time boundaries.

The tension comes from all of us who are happy as clams working on our passion projects whenever and perhaps even all the time (probably much longer than a 40 hr work week, since we are our work), interacting with a larger world that operates on a fixed schedule for many logical and reasonable reasons. Infrastructure. Governmental functions. Things we can’t do by telecommuting.

So how do we create a world that is happening more and more 24 x 7 with golbalization, with our need to sleep and not miss anything? Our circadian rythms that say a regular sleep wake cycle keeps us healthy and sane? Do we let our kids of -gen whatever we are calling it now- eschew all schedules all together?

I don’t know the answer, but I do know it’s about more than old vs. new. It’s about work creep beyond 9 to 5, doing what you love so there is no boundary between work and play, yet making sure some sort of understanding exists where companies support your boundless enthusiasm for work and compensate you accordingly for work done.

And some things, we’ll always want to happen during daylight hours- like trials- do you want Jury duty on the weekend? How about 2 am to 6 am? Do you want the only available pediatric appointment to be at 4 am on Thursday?

We’ve just got to find a way this all works logially and together, and where the entrepreneurial don’t feel needlessly constrained by what they see as outdated rules, and the traditional work hours don’t totally go away so we still have sleep and work/free time boundaries.

The tension comes from all of us who are happy as clams working on our passion projects whenever and perhaps even all the time (probably much longer than a 40 hr work week, since we are our work), interacting with a larger world that operates on a fixed schedule for many logical and reasonable reasons. Infrastructure. Governmental functions. Things we can’t do by telecommuting.

So how do we create a world that is happening more and more 24 x 7 with golbalization, with our need to sleep and not miss anything? Our circadian rythms that say a regular sleep wake cycle keeps us healthy and sane? Do we let our kids of -gen whatever we are calling it now- eschew all schedules all together?

I don’t know the answer, but I do know it’s about more than old vs. new. It’s about work creep beyond 9 to 5, doing what you love so there is no boundary between work and play, yet making sure some sort of understanding exists where companies support your boundless enthusiasm for work and compensate you accordingly for work done.

And some things, we’ll always want to happen during daylight hours- like trials- do you want Jury duty on the weekend? How about 2 am to 6 am? Do you want the only available pediatric appointment to be at 4 am on Thursday?

We’ve just got to find a way this all works logially and together, and where the entrepreneurial don’t feel needlessly constrained by what they see as outdated rules, and the traditional work hours don’t totally go away so we still have sleep and work/free time boundaries.