Silicon Valley epitomizes the high-tech, high-stress world in which home, community, and work become fused. That is why a team of academics at San Jose State University is conducting a 10-year study, called the Silicon Valley Cultures Project, of how tech workers integrate their work, family, and social lives. In one project, academics will spend two years tracking a dozen dual-career families to examine how they spend their time. Among the characteristics they have observed among professional couples is “multitasking” and information overload. “Knowledge work requires so much communication volume it’s just overwhelming,” says Jan English-Lueck, chairperson of the anthropology department. “Everyone talks about how you’re supposed to produce when three-fourths of your day is taken up with emails, and you have 3,000 emails piling up during vacation.” Borrowing computer lexicon, she feels that people suffer from a “hard drive problem,” when their memory simply fills up and can’t take anymore. “People then forget to pick up kids from preschool,” she says.

Of course, in this quintessential service economy there’s relief for that parental problem, too, provided you can afford it. Several organizations have cropped up in the Valley to shuttle kids to school and to Chinese-language, violin, karate, and other classes throughout the day — for about $9 per ride. At one such service, Kids Kabs in leafy Saratoga, Calif., interest is high. “We get 30 phone calls a day,” says founder Coreen Fujinami. “They’re often very stressed-out parents. They’re multitasking…. They’re well educated and they want the best opportunities for their kids.” Often overscheduled kids, she adds. “Sometimes kids just need to play, they need some down time too, though classes do keep them out of trouble.”

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