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I travelled a great deal for my work, more than half of the time, and to many countries; so far, over sixty. Along the way, I have noticed a curious phenomenon that I want to share with you.

In what we call the developing, or underdeveloped, countries, I enjoy my time more. I am less stressed. Time moves slowly. In developed countries, and especially in the United States, time flies so fast that before I notice what has happened, it is already time for dinner, and then time to sleep. Where did the day go? I feel stressed. There is so much to do, and I am always behind, forever trying to remember all the things I have not done and still need to do.

In the underdeveloped countries, where technology has not yet caught up, there is plenty of time to talk, to laugh, to relax. Time moves slowly. In the developed world, technology is advancing at a dizzying pace, and it is supposed to make life easier. Artificial Intelligence gives me an agent to handle part of my work, scheduling, reminders, storing information so I can find it again. My Tesla drives itself; I enter an address, press a button, and it takes me there. On the face of it, technology should make life simpler and free up time for other things. But does it?

Technology has indeed shifted the doing of things from my own hands to the machine, but at the same time, it has multiplied the volume of information I must handle. I am overwhelmed by WhatsApp messages, text messages, emails, and voice messages. It is an endless avalanche. And because a phone call is now so effortless to make, I receive calls from every corner of the world. By making it so easy to share information, technology has unleashed a tsunami of it, and it is astonishingly easy to drown in it. I am busy from the moment I open my eyes until the moment I close them, without a minute to spare between assignments, calls, and problems I must solve. So time flies. And it is all thanks to the help of technology.

In the underdeveloped countries, where technology has not yet arrived, you can still enjoy the company of others. You can savor a meal, laugh, and have an easy conversation — without stress.

To take back control of my life, I erased every social media application from my computer and my phone. I am trying my assistant to screen my calls and emails.

It helps, but not enough. I am still overwhelmed, and time still flies far too fast.

Does anyone have ideas?