I feel like I just discovered fire. I created my first template with ChatGPT today to automate estimate creation for our company. I can now write an estimate in about the tenth of the time it took me yesterday. Now the question: Who gets to benefit? Do I get to finish my workday three or four hours sooner and go to the gym so I can be the best I can be at work tomorrow and in the future? Or does my employer just give me ten times more estimates to do in a day? Technology like smart phones and email are supposed to leverage and liberate our time, but they have really just allowed us to cram more work and more communications into the same long ass day, for the same pay. I guess the only way to leverage technology for your own benefit is if you are self employed. I would love to share this tool with others in the company, but I’d just be shooting myself in the foot.
Discussion
I pretty much went thru the same thought process as you as I was reading your note lol. I was thinking yeah just keep quiet to your boss about your extra time - until some other smart arse figures it out and tells them (or they do) but at the same time thinking you need to leverage this to your own benefit by working for yourself. But I wonder how many of us would still screw ourselves over though and keep using the "free time" that technology buys us. The world moves on so fast and the expectation to keep pace with everything is always there! I think it takes such discipline and development of our personal core values, mindfulness and constant checking in with ourselves to find a life balance we're happy with. That's without any consideration of what it takes to earn enough to live, of course.