5 Percent Takes 20 Percent of the Time

Greetings friends,
It's been too long since I've posted anything here but with the new year starting, I have dedicated myself to writing on a more regular basis. The world continues to be comical to me most of the time so I hate not getting to share some observations and opinions from time to time. Especially since I can sleep this morning for some reason.
I'm getting ready to attend the Editors Retreat in Austin next month and it has me thinking about the craft of editing and what I do on a regular basis. For those of you who watch television or any kind of media for that matter, have you considered the very painful process of editing? Yes I said painful!
It seems, and it's been true for many years, that as an editor, I spend roughly 20 percent of the time on a project, on 5 percent of actual content. You would think with advances in computers and non-linear editing software, this would have improved over the last twenty years but for some reason, it's a part of the process.
We now do reviews via sites like yousendit where we have less interaction in person with clients. Although I like the fact that I can do the majority of my editing alone, there's a gap sometimes in the communication process that can often lead to multiple revisions.
So I guess we just plug along, try to stay creative, and hopefully bridge that gap in communication a little better when you can.