Work Life Balance and Forgetful Men
Have you ever forgotten a Birthday? Overlooked an Anniversary? Failed on Valentine’s Day…..and other important personal dates?
If you have, you are in good company! Many of us need to juggle busy lifestyles in the attempt to maintain a good work/life balance. In my busy corporate life I was always desperately searching for a greeting card and gift service that helped busy people in business like me to achieve the ever illusive work life balance through what would be described as an innovative service. In this article we look at a solution.
You know, what I sought was an organisation that would provide an extensive, quick and easy to use card library and extensive gift range all in one place but I did not find one. Specifically what I yearned for was a service that would allow me to select then forget as they took care of all this for me, and would:
• make sure the greeting card(s) and gift(s) I selected were dispatched to chosen recipient(s) in good time
• remind me in advance, by SMS or email, so I was not surprised to receive the appreciation of my chosen recipient(s). A service where I could select, apply my own personalisation and order as many cards or gifts as I wish, in one go, in advance, but only pay just prior to dispatch. This would thereby negate the need for ‘revisits’ triggered by some of the irritating reminder systems
• give me peace of mind and relieve me of any after the event heartache associated with forgetting to let someone know they are special and ‘I’ remembered ‘them’
It has long been apparent to me that I was not alone in my desire to find a solution to the problem. Looking up some data in 2005 it was confirmed to me, and the men and women of the UK (ditto the wider world), that the long and commonly held view, ‘men particularly forget’, birthdays, anniversaries, valentines day and a variety of other special dates, really was true. I have pieced together the following information, ten facts, on the subject which is tabulated below:
# 1 Men who forgot a minimum of one special occasion pa: 19%
# 2 Men made to suffer by their partners as a result: 14.5%
# 3 Women made to suffer by their partners for forgetting: 4%
# 4 Time spent by men finding a card: Minimum / First found
# 5 Time spent by women finding a card: Hours
# 6 Women that wanted a nice card not the first to hand: 74%
# 7 Women that desired a card rather than other greetings: 74%
# 8 Men who believed a unique or personal card was important: 1 in 10
# 9 Number of men that do not have time to look for cards: 66%
# 10 Men funding a dinner date after forgetting: 20%
Additionally, and whilst wandering around a recent exhibition for greeting cards publishers, I learned from a number of stall holders that the UK greeting card industry is amazingly worth around of £1.9 billion per year, that’s more than UK tea and coffee sales put together. Surprisingly it is the most successful greeting card industry in the world with over 800 publishers producing in excess of 2.6 billion greeting cards per year for the greeting card hungry UK public. I also learned that the average number of greeting cards sent per person per year is a whacking great 55 (see UK retail sales figures below in £m)!
Flowers & pot plants £1,409,
Greeting cards £1,155,
Chocolate (counter) £1,048,
Chocolates (boxed) £671,
Chocolate (blocks) £411,
Fizzy drinks £1,290,
Ice creams (handheld) £788,
Crisps £740,
Savoury snacks £611,
Nuts £124,
Gum £211,
Batteries £265.
During 2005 a small group of people teamed-up to develop a service, the type of which I had envisioned in this article, in a bid to help busy people, men but not only men, no longer be part of such statistics on forgetfulness. So, in future don’t be a statistic, find an online greeting card company that enables you to quickly select cards and gifts all in one place for chosen recipients, in advance, and you will ensure that a reprimand from a partner; family member or friend for missing a celebratory date is banished to the past.
If you have, you are in good company! Many of us need to juggle busy lifestyles in the attempt to maintain a good work/life balance. In my busy corporate life I was always desperately searching for a greeting card and gift service that helped busy people in business like me to achieve the ever illusive work life balance through what would be described as an innovative service. In this article we look at a solution.
You know, what I sought was an organisation that would provide an extensive, quick and easy to use card library and extensive gift range all in one place but I did not find one. Specifically what I yearned for was a service that would allow me to select then forget as they took care of all this for me, and would:
• make sure the greeting card(s) and gift(s) I selected were dispatched to chosen recipient(s) in good time
• remind me in advance, by SMS or email, so I was not surprised to receive the appreciation of my chosen recipient(s). A service where I could select, apply my own personalisation and order as many cards or gifts as I wish, in one go, in advance, but only pay just prior to dispatch. This would thereby negate the need for ‘revisits’ triggered by some of the irritating reminder systems
• give me peace of mind and relieve me of any after the event heartache associated with forgetting to let someone know they are special and ‘I’ remembered ‘them’
It has long been apparent to me that I was not alone in my desire to find a solution to the problem. Looking up some data in 2005 it was confirmed to me, and the men and women of the UK (ditto the wider world), that the long and commonly held view, ‘men particularly forget’, birthdays, anniversaries, valentines day and a variety of other special dates, really was true. I have pieced together the following information, ten facts, on the subject which is tabulated below:
# 1 Men who forgot a minimum of one special occasion pa: 19%
# 2 Men made to suffer by their partners as a result: 14.5%
# 3 Women made to suffer by their partners for forgetting: 4%
# 4 Time spent by men finding a card: Minimum / First found
# 5 Time spent by women finding a card: Hours
# 6 Women that wanted a nice card not the first to hand: 74%
# 7 Women that desired a card rather than other greetings: 74%
# 8 Men who believed a unique or personal card was important: 1 in 10
# 9 Number of men that do not have time to look for cards: 66%
# 10 Men funding a dinner date after forgetting: 20%
Additionally, and whilst wandering around a recent exhibition for greeting cards publishers, I learned from a number of stall holders that the UK greeting card industry is amazingly worth around of £1.9 billion per year, that’s more than UK tea and coffee sales put together. Surprisingly it is the most successful greeting card industry in the world with over 800 publishers producing in excess of 2.6 billion greeting cards per year for the greeting card hungry UK public. I also learned that the average number of greeting cards sent per person per year is a whacking great 55 (see UK retail sales figures below in £m)!
Flowers & pot plants £1,409,
Greeting cards £1,155,
Chocolate (counter) £1,048,
Chocolates (boxed) £671,
Chocolate (blocks) £411,
Fizzy drinks £1,290,
Ice creams (handheld) £788,
Crisps £740,
Savoury snacks £611,
Nuts £124,
Gum £211,
Batteries £265.
During 2005 a small group of people teamed-up to develop a service, the type of which I had envisioned in this article, in a bid to help busy people, men but not only men, no longer be part of such statistics on forgetfulness. So, in future don’t be a statistic, find an online greeting card company that enables you to quickly select cards and gifts all in one place for chosen recipients, in advance, and you will ensure that a reprimand from a partner; family member or friend for missing a celebratory date is banished to the past.