By Bobbi Barbarich
The following three statements are uncategorically true: walking, talking human clones (to do the dishes and take out the garbage, of course) are at least a few decades away, teleportation machines do not yet exist and there are only 24 hours in a day. Until these things change, you’d better have a backup plan – at least if you want to make time for your job and the big reason you have one: • your life.
“We’re allowing the ‘work barrier’ to infringe on our family and leisure time, which are so critical to our well-being,” says Chris Higgins, a professor at the University of Western Ontario’s Richard Ivey School of Business and co-head of the landmark National Work-Life Conflict Study. The study identified precisely how much Canadians – whether their collar is blue or white – are clocking in and how well they balance rising living costs and increasing demands on their time. Technology is an obvious factor, but so is corporate anorexia (fewer staff doing more work) and organizations that reward long hours instead of efficiency.
Not that you can peg it all to the boss man. Higgins cites cartoonist Walt Kelly’s famous maxim, “We have met the enemy and he is us,” as a morsel of working-class wisdom. “The enemy is us!” Higgins says. “You can’t have balance if you want a high-profile career and a perfect family,” he says. In other words, there are only ever going to be 1,440 minutes in a day, so we’d better teach ourselves how to fit our work and personal lives into them. get started with this step-by-step plan.
1. STRESS LESS
THE DIAGNOSIS
Over the past 20 years, employers have cut staff and spread tasks among fewer employees. Accordng to Higgins’ research, in 1991 about one in 10 participants worked 50 or more hours each week; 10 years later that number rose to one in four. This “role overload” is partly why employers spend $3 to $5 million each year in lost productivity and sick pay, and why half the organizations in the survey reported high absenteeism (employees who miss more than three days over a six-month period). “It makes financial and productivity sense to hire the hardest worker, despite the impact on his or her health,” Higgins admits. “The employee who works 60 hours a week will certainly be referred over the one who puts in 40.”
THE SCIENCE
Studies consistently show that people under significant stress are more likely to develop life-threatening illnesses such as cardiovascular disease. Under stress, your body releases a hormone called cortisol, which increases inflammation and restricts blood flow. Your thought and memory skills are taxed, your immunity weakens, your problem-solving ability drops and your relationships are strained. Stress breeds more stress. Organizations with healthy employees produce higher quality work, report less absenteeism and workplace accidents, better staff retention and more satisfied clients.
THE TREATMENT
“A happy worker is a healthy worker” should become everyone’s mantra. Employers who encourage employees to manage their own time are likely to be more efficient. If you stay an extra hour every day, ask if you can take it later. Any organization that wants to make “Best Workplaces” lists shouldn’t overlook such employees when it comes to promotions, raises and rewards. If yours is more like a toxic friend, then seek out one that respects the work-life balance. Of course, it works both ways: Be honest about timewasters, such as updating your Facebook status at 2 p.m.
Many of us, meanwhile, should exercise discipline. If you don’t keep track of your overtime, for example, your boss might assume that you’re completing your tasks on company time. Record how often your work phone rings during that dinner with friends. Log time spent catching up on weekends and holidays. And don’t become a CrackBerry addict. (You know who you are.) It’s a cliché because it’s true: every interruption breaks concentration, wasting more time while you re-focus.
Category: Career Track, Entrepreneurship, First Job, Work
