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Struggling to find times to
eat with your partner and kids? Is your last two-week
vacation a distant memory? Feel like work is taking over
your life?
You're not alone.
Americans are stressing out
and burning out from jobs that have them working nearly
nine more weeks per year than their European counterparts.
Some Americans and
Canadians have organized an annual "Take Back Your
Time Day" to call attention to the problem. Consider
these items from the "Take Back Your Time"
handbook:
--Between 1979 and 2000,
married couples aged 25-54 saw their total number of hours
of paid work rise by 388, about 12 percent.
--Almost 40 percent of
workers put in more than 50 hours per week.
--26 percent of American
workers don't take any vacation time.
--Since the 1980's, work
hours have risen by about half a percent annually.
Meanwhile, various devices
have brought the workplace into the home. "The lines
between work and home have become so blurred that the only
way you can tell them apart is that one has a bed,"
writes "Work to Live" author Jo Robinson.
Experts say "time
poverty" is hurting our marriages, our physical and
mental health, our civic life, our kids and the
environment.
Maybe you feel the
pressure: A lack of time for exercise or healthy eating.
Being electronically leashed to your job when you crave a
chance to relax. You or someone in your family putting in
ever longer hours at work for fear of being
"downsized."
Then there are the more
subtle signs. Ever notice how dining with friends requires
combing your calendars for a few precious hours nearly a
month away? Or maybe your dog looks under-exercised and
lonely.
It wasn't always so.
Around 1900, American
working hours were declining. Economics books and articles
predicted the continuing expansion of leisure time, writes
leisure scholar Benjamin Hunnicutt.
Hunnicutt notes that in a
1920's speech, biologist Julian Huxley said a two-day work
week was inevitable because "the human being can
consume so much and no more...."
In the 1930's, Hunnicut
says, economist John Maynard Keyes observed that
"when we reach the point when the world produces all
the goods that it needs in two days, as it inevitably
will...we must turn our attention to the great problem of
what to do with our leisure."
Also in the 1930s, the
Kellogg cereal factories began a 6-hour workday. Hunnicut
says productivity rose, workers lavished timed on their
families, and commercial recreation and nonprofit
organizations flourished.
Yet, here we are, 70 years
later, with complex economic, political and cultural
realities leading to ever-shrinking windows of time for
nurturing ourselves and our ties to each other.
What to do?
Activists suggest a number
of steps you could take as an individual:
--Schedule once-a-week or
once-a-month family times.
--Talk with coworkers and
supervisors about ways to reduce after-hours phone calls
and e-mails.
--Reclaim breaks and lunch
time, even if you have to start small.
--Decrease the number of
days you "stay late" at work.
--Read your company's
policies on vacation time.
--Organize a civic or
religious gathering to discuss time issues.
--Claim a block of time for
cooking slow food, cuddling your pets, making music or
photographing something beautiful.
You can also join with an
organization. Advocacy groups around the country are
organizing teach-ins, conferences and discussion groups
about overwork. An "It's About Time"
coalition" is bringing the issue to the attention of
candidates for public office. Learn more at
www.timeday.org and www.worktolive.info
(c) 2004 Norma Schmidt,
Coach, LLC
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About
The Author
Norma
Schmidt, Coach, LLC, specializes in
helping women who are both professionals
and parents to create balance. She offers
teleclasses, workshops and individual and
group coaching. Norma also publishes
"The Balance Point," a free,
bi-weekly e-zine. Visit http://www.NormaSchmidt.com |
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