Some people believe that advancements in technology in the 21st century have allowed people to have more free time. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Some people believe that advancements in technology in the 21st century have allowed people to have more free time. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

In modern times, it is believed that advancements of technology can bring umpteen benefits which can help people to enjoy more free time, while others are skeptical about this.

To commence with, progress in technology has reduced time spent on daily activities, especially for the homemakers. Apparatus  like automated cleaning bots, automatic washing machines, and so forth, help save hours of manual workload. To corroborate, a study in UK shows that in 1980, seventy percent of people, particularly women who spend their week doing household chores like cleaning, cooking meals for their family, and so forth, they only watch television or listen to radio in their free time at home,but since the advent of modern machines, the numbers plummeted to forty five percent in 2017, and they spend more time enjoying leisure activities like going to public parks with their kids, watch drama in theaters, and so forth.

Similarly, modern tools like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and so forth, have benefited many professionals around the world. For example, in the USA during the pandemic in 2020, tech giants like IBM, EY, Accenture, and so forth restructured their platform, and services by using state-of-the-art machines and methods, making it easier for their employees to collaborate with other teams to manage and perform their daily tasks efficiently and quickly, instead of waiting for responses for their counterpart and stake holders endlessly.

In hindsight, technological evolution helps people at every walk of life; it benefitted people around the world due to its automated capabilities, eliminating the need to do repetitive tasks, and providing more free time.

Some people believe that advancements in technology in the 21st century have allowed people to have more free time. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

 Some people believe that advancements in technology in the 21st century have allowed people to have more free time.
To what extent do you agree or disagree with this statement?

Saved time 

• Eased up the burden of repetitive jobs, and preventing errors, thereby saving immense time

• Helping organize work and studies better 

• Even at home people are spared of the need to constantly monitor the household chores 

• Telecommuting and online classes 

NO 

• Learning new skills has become a perennial process 

• Rising expectations from employers; adoption of technology has led to streamlining of work processes and reducing staff, pushing workers to embrace more responsibilities 

• Distractions caused by social media makes one waste their time

Undeniably, the advent of the state-of-the-art tools and methods has radicalized the way mankind engages with work: at home, job, education, and other domains, but has it helped spare extra time, is something that needs a serious analysis.  

Availability of up-to-date aids has allowed circumvent the need to negotiate repetitive tasks: mitigating errors and enhancing efficiency, sparing moments, otherwise wasted in negotiating those tasks. This phenomenon has been specifically observed in occupations, like  manufacturing, warehousing, customer service, and healthcare, to name a few, where one  is subjected to perform complex tasks, and become prone to spending long hours battling with the  work. Those engaged in these realms report saving at least two hours per day.    

On a similar note, home makers have been the biggest beneficiaries of the modern devices and  appliances that have rendered household chores virtually effortless besides speeding them up, making their life uncomplicated. Now,  while cooking, doing laundry, cleaning floors, mowing lawns,  and  so forth, one is relieved of the onerous responsibility of consistently performing and monitoring the process ceaselessly, and can instead focus on other things, and finish their work quickly. 

Nevertheless, there are some complaining of being busier than  the past, particularly those working in domains that allow work from home: information technology, financial and  data analysis, and teachers, wherein the personnel report that their employers have pruned  the labor force, making it leaner, thereby burdening employees with extra responsibilities: they are expected to handle more work than yesteryears. 

In hindsight, barring a few less fortunate who have become victims of modernization, a majority report being able to break the mundane and gain some spare time for themselves. I feel that with the passing time, those suffering currently will also see light at the  end of the tunnel.