By Francesca Zampaglione, CPA, former PICPA Vice President, Professional Education

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I’m not really sure when we lost the notion, but there was a time when technology was supposed to make our lives more efficient. It doesn’t seem as if it has. There’s less time and more to do, and you better respond to that e-mail that you just received as you are reading this because the person on the other end of that message is expecting your reply in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…

We have to find time to learn more, do more and then do a little bit more, than that, but then we get stuck with having less time to do “it.” Did I lose you yet? Well, that’s what I mean with the title of this post. We are constantly moving, and it feels like we are trying too hard to live in the future when all that we really should be doing is living in the present.

Take continuing education for example. That’s what I do here for the PICPA. I need to make sure that our member CPAs have enough opportunities and options to fulfill their professional development needs to best serve their clients and employers, while meeting state licensing requirements. What’s interesting, however, is what’s happened over the past year both here in Pennsylvania, and across the country. I attended AICPA interchange in mid-July to share best practices with others from across the country who do my job,  and you know what’s interesting? All CPAs are looking at education differently. Why shouldn’t they? Yes, it’s required, but there’s no time! So, why not sit at a desk and take that class online? That’s exactly where the tremendous shift has happened. That’s not to say that it’s a bad shift, but it’s one that happened practically overnight. What’s interesting, too, is that there’s a shift toward smaller segments, like one-, two-, and three-hour options.

As I watch the participant trend toward smaller segments of learning, I wonder how much learning is actually happening. Are we multitasking our education much in the same way that we multitask our lives? Personally, I prefer to interact with others face- to- face, and have always felt that I get more out of an in-person environment. I believe that a lot of us still feel that way; it’s just that Father Time has other plans for us – plans that involve layers upon layers of decisions and prioritizing over and over again.

Well, as you might expect, my phone and e-mail are ringing off the hook. I would be interested in hearing and reading what your experiences have been. More importantly, I’d love to hear how the PICPA can help you get to where you are going; faster and smarter than you were expecting  – so that you too can get back to the work that is impatiently waiting for attention right at your fingertips.