The Real Reasons You're Working So Hard...

[Mike Temporale]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_40/b3953601.htm' target='_blank'>http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_40/b3953601.htm</a><br /><br /></div><i>"While much of America is watching Jon Stewart, Letterman, or Leno, you're stumbling out the office door into a car-service Town Car or groping for the clicker to the BMW in the company parking lot. Once home, you slug down a beer or the last of a bottle of white wine on the door of the fridge, stuff some leftovers in your mouth, and collapse into bed beside your sleeping spouse. A half-dozen hours later, you crawl to the shower, throw on a clean shirt, pour some coffee down your throat, maybe drop a kid or two at school, and jump back on the frenetic work treadmill that you can't shut off."</i><br /><br />The article goes on to state that 31% of college educated males are working over 50 hours a week, a 22% increase since 1980 and that 40% of adults get less than 7 hours sleep a night. I wouldn't know what to do if I started to sleep 7 hours a night. I've been living off 5-6 hours for so long that I can't even recall the last time I slept longer than that. Is there any hope of things changing in the future? We've got better and more powerful mobile devices, and software that allows us to do even more when we aren't in the office. Is you're company rolling out an 'Always-On' email solution so you can have a more relaxing weekend? I don't think so. I've worked for a couple sweat shops, and I don't miss those days. In my opinion, the only way to reduce our work hours is for us learn how to say no. What do you think? Are you stuck working long hours thanks to the technology that was aimed at allowing us to be more productive?

[Jason Dunn]

Yeah, there definitely is a dark side to technology. I'm fortunate working for myself, but I still have days where I'm doing email 18 hours out of the day and it can cause stress in my family. People are clamouring for push email on the Windows Mobile platform, but to me it seems like more of a curse than a blessing. :?

[Kris Kumar]

E-Mail was invented by a devil and Smartphone is the brainchild of a devil. :lol: Internet..Wi-Fi..Laptops..the list goes on.

I think we all can blame technology, but I agree with Mike. We should be able to say "No". We should not be obessesive-compulsive about E-Mail or technology.

I blame myself for my lack of sleep.

That is why it is important to be with someone who is not obssesive-compulsive about technology and schemes to take you away from it all from time-to-time. ;-)

[Kris Kumar]

Oh and since you asked for "The Real Reasons You're Working So Hard..."

- Job security
- Trying to do a better than better job to get ahead of others
- Trying to get a raise
- Trying to prove myself
- And of course, not knowing where to draw the line

[ricksfiona]

Oh and since you asked for "The Real Reasons You're Working So Hard..."

- Job security
- Trying to do a better than better job to get ahead of others
- Trying to get a raise
- Trying to prove myself
- And of course, not knowing where to draw the line

I completely agree with this. If you say 'no', someone else will say 'yes'. There goes your job security and you're stuck working at the sweatshop again, or for yourself.

I don't blame technology at all for working hard. It's all about scheduling certain tasks at certain times.

I used to spend so much time on eMail, but now I check it once in the morning, afternoon and evening. If it's really important, people can call me. This among other scheduling tips, I have a much less stressful life and have a little more to enjoy 'real' life now. BTW, I have my own business and wouldn't trade it for the best corporate gig.

[Pony99CA]

Remember when people thought that technology would allow us all to work less? People were wondering how we would handle all of the free time we'd have. How naive they were.

They assumed that if we could get the same work done in half the time, we'd get that extra time off. They forgot that business would more likely want us to get twice as much work done to increase their profits. So instead of being able to work 20-hour weeks, businesses now want people to do twice as much in the 40-hour weeks (assuming there are 40-hour weeks anymore).

Why can't "good enough" actually be good enough?

Steve

[Jason Dunn]

So instead of being able to work 20-hour weeks, businesses now want people to do twice as much in the 40-hour weeks (assuming there are 40-hour weeks anymore). Why can't "good enough" actually be good enough?

One word: shareholders. Public companies are psychotic in their pursuit of never-ending profit. A private company can set profit goals, and once they reach them, they can say "Ok, we did it!" - because they're the ones that decide when enough is enough. Public companies answer to shareholders, and shareholders can never get enough. I know I won't ever complain if one year my mutual fund grows 10% instead of 8%!

Watch The Corporation (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0379225/) - it was a real eye-opener. I'm a big free-market-small-government economy guy, but what some corporations have done crosses the line into insanity. There's something very, very wrong with our economy. :?

[IntrepidXJ]

Oh and since you asked for "The Real Reasons You're Working So Hard..."

- Job security
- Trying to do a better than better job to get ahead of others
- Trying to get a raise
- Trying to prove myself
- And of course, not knowing where to draw the line

I'm glad I don't fall into this category at all.

I work to live, I don't live to work.

- Never had job security, so not having to doesn't bother me. If I lose my job, I'll find another, been there done that before. I'm not worried.
- I'm not trying to get ahead of anyone. I'm happy with where I'm at.
- Of course I'd always like more money, but I'm doing fine with what I make now.
- I have nothing to prove to myself. Work is just a way to make money for the other things I enjoy to do.
- I do know where to draw the line, and it's at 40 hours a week. If they want more out of me, it costs them.....and many other things in my life come before working extra hours.

So I guess I'm not the average american worker, and I'm happy about that :D

[Pony99CA]

I work to live, I don't live to work.

- Never had job security, so not having to doesn't bother me. If I lose my job, I'll find another, been there done that before. I'm not worried.
- I'm not trying to get ahead of anyone. I'm happy with where I'm at.
- Of course I'd always like more money, but I'm doing fine with what I make now.
- I have nothing to prove to myself. Work is just a way to make money for the other things I enjoy to do.
- I do know where to draw the line, and it's at 40 hours a week. If they want more out of me, it costs them.....and many other things in my life come before working extra hours.

So I guess I'm not the average american worker, and I'm happy about that :D
I more or less agree with you. If I could pay my bills without having to work, I'd be quite happy.

The one place I disagree is about finding another job. When my last full-time employer laid me off (before going completely out of business) in July 2001, I got a great severance package. I thought I'd take a few months off that summer, take care of my daughter during her summer vacation and find another job when the economy improved. I wasn't worried.

After three years of basically being unemployed, I don't think I can be that nonchalant again. I'm now consulting with a few companies, but I'm not making anywhere near what I made during the dot com boom and I have no benefits at all. Finding a job isn't all that easy.

Steve