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Working To Live

Written by: Alvah Parker

Article Overview: Over coffee a friend told me that her brother who is an attorney had given up his job in a large NY law firm to practice in a smaller firm. When I asked her his reasons for doing that she said he wanted to “work to live not live to work.”

Working To Live

Over coffee a friend told me that her brother who is an attorney had given up his job in a large NY law firm to practice in a smaller firm. When I asked her his reasons for doing that she said he wanted to “work to live not live to work.”

According to Business Week and The Kiplinger Letter job seekers in the US are going to be in demand in the not too distant future. Already IBM announced it would be adding 10,000 jobs. This is really good news for the many unemployed who have had two very discouraging years.

It is also good news for the employed who have been doing double duty covering the work left by laid off peers as well as their own. (I am curious to know if this is true in other countries. I know it is true in the US.) Both publications note that as soon as the job market opens up many of these over worked and under appreciated employees are going to bolt.

Both articles go on to suggest that companies must identify their most talented employees and start to reward them with raises, bonuses and benefits in order that they stay. Is this bribery to keep them working those long hours?

It seems to me that if companies want to reward their most talented employees the first thing that they ought to do is to give them a life other than work! Not only would it be good for the employee, it would be good for the company and also the country.

Companies can’t expect their employees to be creative if they don’t give them time to breath and think. The pace of work when you are covering for two or three other workers isn’t conducive to coming up with innovative ideas. Most companies today expect their employees to work many more than the 40 hours they are paid for. No wonder employees are fed up.

With both parents often working 50 to 60 hours a week the next generation is being deprived of attention from their parents. Demands of the job and parenting leave everyone too exhausted to enjoy each other.

The month of October has been designated National Work and Family Month in the US. Approved on September 5th by the Senate this is an acknowledgement that they agree that reducing the conflict between work and family life should be a national priority. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?!

Going along with National Work and Family Month is a grass roots campaign to declare October 24, 2003 the first Take Back Your Time Day. (http://www.timeday.org) It is your opportunity to "just say NO" to the overwork, over-scheduling, and overstress that threaten to overwhelm our lives, and yes to work/family/life balance.

According to the website Americans average a little over 2 weeks vacation a year while Europeans average 5 or 6 weeks. Overwork threatens our health, our marriages, families and friendships. It may even be one cause of the growing neglect and abuse of pets.

If this resonates with you and you’d like to make others aware of the problem, one thing you might do tomorrow (October 24th) is to initiate some conversations with others on the following topics:


How does overwork, over scheduling and busy-ness affect your life?

What steps are you taking in your life to take back your time?

How can our society change to be more "time" and “family” friendly?

So what should businesses do to keep their most talented employees? Perhaps it is encouraging them to spend more time with their families and/or enjoying some well-deserved time off. If that employee is someone who prefers to work to live, it’s time for him/her to find out what life is all about!


Take Action:


Have you some vacation time saved up? Let your boss know you are going to use it up and then do it! Spend a day resting and enjoying doing nothing!

Keep a record of your hours. Are you working more than 40 hours a week? What are your life priorities? Does your schedule reflect your priorities?

Make sure you are “one of the talented employees”. If not then start a plan to get yourself in that position so that you have some leverage to make requests to your boss.

Read Take Back Your Time - Fighting Overwork and Time Poverty in America by John de Graaf, Editor available on the website http://www.timeday.org.

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  Accentuate the Positive: What’s Already Working in Your Life?

Article Tags: creative, job seekers, long work hours, reward, vacation time, worklife balance



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